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The SRD says about Arrows that

An arrow used as a melee weapon is treated as a light improvised weapon (-4 penalty on attack rolls) and deals damage as a dagger of its size (critical multiplier ×2). Arrows come in a leather quiver that holds 20 arrows. An arrow that hits its target is destroyed; one that misses has a 50% chance of being destroyed or lost.

Is an arrow that's successfully used as an improvised melee weapon destroyed?

"Seriously? Who Cares?"
I'm buying gear for a level 6 solo campaign character who's not a spellcaster, and EL 6 is when creatures start to get weird... and sometimes incorporeal. Rather than putzing around with ghostblight (CAd 122), ghostoil (AE 34), ghostwall shellac (Du 90), or whatever I figured I'd just buy an arrow made of serren1 (BE 38) for 80 gp 5 cp and stab ghosts with it--y'know, if the ghost has it coming.2 I want something reusable rather than throwing cash at an alchemist after every ghost battle for capsules, vials, or paints, and the level 6 Wealth by Level is stretched pretty thin after the +1 valorous greatsword. So, yeah, alternatives to this strategy are acceptable, but preface them with an opinion about the question.

  1. A single arrow of adamantine (DMG 283) for 60 gp 5 cp wouldn't be bad either.
  2. Ghosts always have it coming.
Hey I Can Chan
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1 Answers1

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Yes.

There is no reason to assume that the quoted statement about arrows breaking pertains only to ranged attacks. If you hit someone with an arrow, it breaks. If you miss, there's a 50% chance that it breaks.

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MrLemon
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    And if the arrow is used as an improvised melee weapon, and the attacker fails to hit his foe, does the arrow have a 50% chance of being lost or destroyed? – Hey I Can Chan May 26 '14 at 12:09
  • @HeyICanChan Arrows are really fragile compared to daggers. Imagine smashing a thin wooden dowel with a flake of steel attached to the end into someone's shield or the rock wall behind their head. Surviving 50% of misses could be considered generous... – SevenSidedDie May 26 '14 at 19:02
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    @SevenSidedDie I wish I could, like, actually see that. Be down at the archery range and watch the arrows shatter into splinters upon hitting their targets. That'd be awesome. "Be careful with those arrows, kids," the range manager would says. "Tap 'em on the ground too hard and POP right in your hands!" – Hey I Can Chan May 26 '14 at 22:24
  • @HeyICanChan The "compared to daggers" part is pivotal. :) Arrows shot into a archery target aren't meeting armour, rocks, and trees, nor need to be pulled out of same before they can be reused, which is why D&D has them break or simply get completely lost at some point between hitting something besides the target and retrieving (not necessarily on impact). Meanwhile, stabbing someone with what's effectively a really fragile and poorly-constructed dagger is liable to make it break for different reasons that just happen to maybe justify the same 50% lossage rate. – SevenSidedDie May 26 '14 at 22:29
  • @SevenSidedDie So you're saying An arrow that hits its target doesn't mean an actual, for-reals archery target? That's... interesting, and, seriously, maybe warrants an answer to this question. – Hey I Can Chan May 27 '14 at 13:26
  • I once shot an arrow into a stone wall. It didn't break. – Jean-Luc Nacif Coelho Mar 19 '15 at 21:47
  • @Jean-LucNacifCoelho The arrow or the wall? – Hey I Can Chan Apr 18 '15 at 13:39
  • The arrow. The wall did =( – Jean-Luc Nacif Coelho Apr 18 '15 at 19:40
  • If someone has actually studied medieval archery, including arrow composition, durability and re-use, let them speak up with citations. The rest of us are best-guessing based on mundane modern materials and fabrication techniques and equipment. What little backup I could actually find on the googles for this shows that there's simply an enormous disconnect between D&D archery and real archery - and some vague stuff about how arrows did get collected and some vague stuff about having to be repaired. – doppelgreener Jun 19 '15 at 01:42
  • the 50% chance on miss only applies to ammunition used as ammunition, if you miss, nothing happens if you are improvising melee – DanceSC Jun 19 '15 at 03:16
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    @DanceSC If you can make that into an answer with legs, you should. Despite this question's age, Xolag still wants to stab stupid ghosts with arrows! – Hey I Can Chan Jun 19 '15 at 11:45
  • Medieval arrow contruction notes (found on goolge) #Once the shaft was ready, the arrowhead was attached using tendons and sinews. This kept the head secure, until the tendon got wet. Once wet, the arrowhead would become loose and easily separate from the shaft. So, when the arrow penetrated the body the arrowhead would loosen from its contact with blood and other bodily fluids. Dr. Bill explains the worst thing a friend could do was to try to remove the arrow by pulling on the shaft, which would cause the arrowhead to be left behind forcing the doctor to search for the projectile.[6]# – KilrathiSly Dec 16 '18 at 23:32
  • THat explain very easily why the arrow is no longer re-usabe if it penetrated the body, therefore broken. arrows were not built the same way as their modern counterpart... And is you shot the arrow in a metal part or a rock or even a tree, there are good chances it would break on contact or be stuck so hard in the material as to be non-recoverable – KilrathiSly Dec 16 '18 at 23:34