I'm playing D&D 5e and my character is a dwarf fighter. He has two throwable handaxes, and I thought it would be really cool if they could come back to me just after throwing them on someone (like Thor do with Mjolnir). That could be either a boomerang-ish move or some magic (enchantment).
Is there a way to make this possible?
I'm just starting the game as a 1st level character and planning for the future.
Eldritch Knight (Fighter subclass) gets at 3rd level Weapon Bond which includes:
Once you have bonded a weapon to yourself, you can't be disarmed of that weapon unless you are incapacitated. If it is on the same plane of existence, you can summon that weapon as a bonus action on your turn, causing it to teleport instantly to your hand.
You can have two such weapons, but it does eat into your action economy a bit.
A 2nd level Artificer (Eberron:RftLW p. 63) has access to the Returning Weapon Infusion which includes
[The weapon] returns to the wielder's hand immediately after it is used to make a ranged attack.
Notably, you can only have one instance of a given infusion going, though if you're able to have two artificer's at work, should be able to get it on both. Though, as Eberron content may not be applicable to a campaign, Ask your DM is Artificer is right for you.
A number of magic items do things similar to what you want, but acquiring one will obviously require cooperation from your DM and reskinning them to an axe doubly so.
The very rare warhammer Dwarven Thrower requires attunement by a Dwarf and returns to your hand after being thrown. If you're set on your Dwarf using axes you DM may have one be an axe instead.
The legendary warhammer Whelm also return to your hand, and your DM might be persuaded to have Whelm be an axe in your campaign world.
The magic item Dancing Sword returns to your hand after being throw/it's done flying around, and could easily be reskinned as an axe.
Choosing the Eldritch Knight archetype would be the easiest way to get what you're looking for, but assuming you would rather go for an item, here are some ideas:
The Dwarven Thrower is a "very rare" magic item from the Basic Rules on p. 167 which has the following features:
You gain a +3 bonus to attack and damage rolls made with this magic weapon. It has the thrown property with a normal range of 20 feet and a long range of 60 feet. When you hit with a ranged attack using this weapon, it deals an extra 1d8 damage or, if the target is a giant, 2d8 damage. Immediately after the attack, the weapon flies back to your hand.
Proficiency with a warhammer allows you to add your proficiency bonus to the attack roll for any attack you make with it.
It also requires that you be a dwarf, but that wouldn't be a problem for your character.
Another way to get this effect would be to have an artificer in the party that could give one of your axes the "Returning Weapon" Infusion (Eberron - Rising from the Last War, p. 63), giving it
This magic weapon grants a +1 bonus to attack and damage rolls made with it, and it returns to the wielder’s hand immediately after it is used to make a ranged attack.
Other than that, your DM may be open to allowing you to pay for (or find a weapon with) an enchantment similar to that of the infusion I mentioned above
At third level you can choose a martial archetype (subclass) for your fighter.
The archetype Eldritch Knight has the feature weapon bond which makes it possible to summon no ded weapons into one's hand:
Once you have bonded a weapon to yourself, you can't be disarmed of that weapon unless you are incapacitated. If it is on the same plane of existence, you can summon that weapon as a bonus action on your turn, causing it to teleport instantly to your hand.
This means, you can throw a hand axe and use your bonus action to get it back.
Note that you can bond to both axes with this feature but you can only summon back one per turn since this uses your bonus action which you only have one of.
Otherwise, there are some specific magic items allowing thrown weapons to come back. See this question:
Is there an official 5e equivalent of the the Blinkback Belt from Pathfinder?
If you have some string, you could attach it to your axe. You'd have to negotiate with your DM about the mechanics of pulling it back to you, and whether/how it's going to affect your throw (for example, attaching string might affect the balance and weight of the axe). If you know (or are) an Artificer or a good tinker, you could always trying to fashion a spring-loaded reel or something to do the pulling?
On the upside, this idea doesn't require you to adopt a particular martial archetype, or acquire particular magical items.
On the downside, there's a constant risk of the string breaking, getting cut, tangling, or being used against you by an imaginative opponent. Also, the length of the string would limit your throwing range.
(Disclosure: I took some inspiration from the Chain of Returning used by the character Grog in the Critical Role webseries. This is a very low-fi, non-magical rehash of the same principle.)
Returningjust had a regular gold cost. \$\endgroup\$