8

A torch has a melee attack which deals 1 fire damage.

Torch: A torch burns for 1 hour, providing bright light in a 20-foot radius and dim light for an additional 20 feet. If you make a melee attack with a burning torch and hit, it deals 1 fire damage.

Can I, a thief rogue with a shortsword in my other hand, use that attack as a bonus action in any way, perhaps with my Fast Hands feature or Two-weapon Fighting?

Thomas Markov
  • 148,772
  • 29
  • 842
  • 1,137
inthemanual
  • 12,186
  • 7
  • 54
  • 91

3 Answers3

13

Fast hands would not work, but per the two weapon fighting rules:

When you take the Attack action and attack with a light melee weapon that you’re holding in one hand, you can use a bonus action to attack with a different light melee weapon that you’re holding in the other hand.

Also, per the improvised weapon rules:

Often, an improvised weapon is similar to an actual weapon and can be treated as such. For example, a table leg is akin to a club.

And a club is listed on the weapons table as a light melee weapon. However: a club is two pounds while a torch is one pound (if desired, this Q&A illuminates using a torch as an improvised weapon).

Avoiding the brilliant pun of a torch clearly being a 'light' weapon, you might instead get the bright idea to ask your DM if you could just use a lit table leg as a torch ;)

Someone_Evil
  • 48,298
  • 8
  • 167
  • 257
Matt Vincent
  • 12,981
  • 4
  • 47
  • 69
  • 2
    I don't suspect the rules would expect torches to be considered similar enough to a club, since they are given a specific difference in damage type. – inthemanual Mar 10 '17 at 23:20
  • 9
    "This discussion illuminates...." How do I simultaneously groan and slow-clap in text? =D – nitsua60 Mar 11 '17 at 00:23
4

From the rules (PHB p.195):

Two- Weapon Fighting

When you take the Attack action and attack with a light melee weapon that you’re holding in one hand, you can use a bonus action to attack with a different light melee weapon that you’re holding in the other hand.

As the torch is not a light melee weapon, no.

However, the Dual Wielder feat (PHB p.165) says

You can use two-weapon fighting even when the one- handed melee weapons you are wielding aren’t light.

So, if you have this feat, maybe. You see, a torch isn't a "melee weapon", light or otherwise- it's an "improvised weapon". If your DM rules that it is sufficiently like a "melee weapon" that it can use those statistics then this feat would allow you to use it.

Community
  • 1
Dale M
  • 210,673
  • 42
  • 528
  • 889
  • 1
    Is a torch a one-handed melee weapon, or a non-weapon object that you can make an attack with? – inthemanual Mar 10 '17 at 23:22
  • @THiebert Depends on if the DM would rule it close enough to an actual weapon (I.E., club) to 'treat it as such' as per PHB p.147; depending on if you feel this can be generalized, once you're at the point where you can treat it as a type of weapon it counts as a weapon. I could see arguments for not doing it since it has unique rules for what to do if it hits while lit. – CTWind Mar 10 '17 at 23:56
2

RAW - No, at least not without taking the Dual Wielder feat first mentioned by Dale M.

Fast Hands is right out, as it allows you to use your bonus action to either make a Sleight of Hand (Dex) check to disarm a trap or open a lock, or to take the Use an Object action.

The rules for Two-Weapon Fighting state:

"When you take the Attack action and attack with a light melee weapon that you're holding in one hand, you can use a bonus action to attack with a different light melee weapon that you're holding in the other hand."

Unfortunately, a torch is not classified in the rulebook as weapon, light or otherwise. It is only given a weight, a cost, and the information you have listed in your question. This would make it an improvised melee weapon, which is not light. The Dual Wielder feat provides a workaround by removing this requirement (which is a hefty price to pay for 1 point of fire damage).

If you desperately wanted to use a torch to attack without sinking a feat into your character, you may be able to ask your DM to allow it, since it weighs as much as a dagger (a light melee weapon), and less than other light melee weapons.

Reibello
  • 4,158
  • 27
  • 40