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My barbarian Gus uses a Greataxe, a two handed weapon. While raging in combat against harpies, a round passed without Gus taking damage. On his turn, all harpies were out of his melee range, and he had used all his javelins. To maintain his rage, he slapped the fighter with an unarmed strike. The DM ruled that Gus could not make a unarmed strike, as he was wielding a 2 handed weapon. I argued that he was not wielding the 2 handed weapon, just holding it; my DM didn't see the difference, and as long as Gus held a 2 handed weapon his weapon attacks must be made with that weapon. In the end I dropped the weapon, slap the fighter, then pick up the weapon as a free object interaction. Then he reminded me that rage is only maintained by attacking a hostile opponent, but that's not important here.

I understand that a 2 handed weapon only requires 2 hands when you attack with it, and my DM agrees with that. The only debate is whether you can, while holding the weapon with 1 hand, make an unarmed strike with your other hand. The description for unarmed strikes seems to imply that you could make an unarmed strike with full hands:

Instead of using a weapon to make a melee weapon Attack, you can use an Unarmed Strike: a punch, kick, head-butt, or similar forceful blow.
Melee Attacks

Even if I did have full hands, could I have head butted the fighter here? Was my DM correct in this ruling, or was I?

Laurel
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Jon Aristotle
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    Are you actually checking your own understanding on the rules of two-handed weapons and unarmed strikes (which I doubt as you've cited the relevant rules and presented your own conclusion already), or are you asking for help convincing your DM to play by those rules? – Stop Being Evil Mar 16 '21 at 05:46
  • @StopBeingEvil I know that DND is not a perfect real life simulator, and usually you need a free hand to do most actions. I'm unsure if there is something I am missing that would back up what my DM ruled. – Jon Aristotle Mar 16 '21 at 06:10

1 Answers1

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You can make an unarmed attack when holding a two-handed weapon.

You quoted the relevant parts covering what an unarmed strike is, and also correctly stated that you can hold a two-handed weapon in one hand when not using it to attack.

You can make an unarmed strike when both of your hands are busy holding something else. You can even make an unarmed strike when your hands are tied or cuffed. An unarmed strike is just an attack that does not use a weapon, and nothing in the rules forces you to attack with a weapon just because you are holding or wielding one.

Mauro Scarpaleggia
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