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Situation:

A dagger is thrown at a monk. On that attack, the dagger multiplies into 2 or 3 daggers in mid-air, each dagger with its own rolls for attack and damage. The daggers move one after another such as a line like:

— — —

As a reaction to that one Attack action, can a monk use Deflect Missiles to deflect all of those projectiles, since all of them were thrown on a single Attack action and will be arriving simultaneously?

V2Blast
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MajinMonkey
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1 Answers1

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No, the monk cannot deflect them all. The magic dagger is making three separate attacks.

Each attack roll is a separate attack. The dagger is essentially performing the same mechanic as the extra attack class feature for the player. Deflect missiles can only handle a single missile from a single attack.

Starting at 3rd level, you can use your reaction to deflect or catch the missile when you are hit by a ranged weapon attack. When you do so, the damage you take from the attack is reduced by 1d10 + your Dexterity modifier + your monk level.

The question is a magical item powered re-hash of: Does deflecting missiles work against multiple missiles at once?

GcL
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    Might also be worth bolding "a ranged weapon attack" - the reaction is used on one such attack, not multiple. – V2Blast Apr 19 '19 at 19:09
  • @V2Blast thanks. That also jogs my memory about thrown weapons not being ranged weapon attacks. – GcL Apr 19 '19 at 19:15
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    Actually, thrown weapons are ranged weapon attacks. They're just (mostly) made with melee weapons. From weapon properties: "Thrown. If a weapon has the thrown property, you can throw the weapon to make a ranged attack. If the weapon is a melee weapon, you use the same ability modifier for that attack roll and damage roll that you would use for a melee attack with the weapon." Basically, almost every attack is either a melee or ranged attack, and either a weapon or spell attack. They are ranged weapon attacks. – V2Blast Apr 19 '19 at 19:17
  • @V2Blast I thought the ruling was daggers, spears, and javelins were not ranged weapons. – GcL Apr 19 '19 at 20:56
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    They aren't ranged weapons; they're melee weapons used for ranged weapon attacks. – V2Blast Apr 19 '19 at 21:03
  • @V2Blast answers like this and the sage advice "No, the Archery feature benefits ranged weapons. A melee weapon, such as a dagger or handaxe, is still a melee weapon when you make a ranged attack with it." Is attack with ranged weapon a "ranged weapon attack" and a thrown dagger a "ranged attack" ? – GcL Apr 19 '19 at 21:08
  • Let us continue this discussion in chat. – GcL Apr 19 '19 at 22:33