Critical Hit from Thrown Dagger

Question

I am trying to find out if a dagger can threaten a critical hit on a 19 when thrown as its crit range is 19-20. I am making a Flying Blade Swashbuckler and am interested in throwing daggers as my method of attack. The rulebook says:

Thrown Weapons: The wielder applies his Strength modifier to damage dealt by thrown weapons (except for splash weapons). It is possible to throw a weapon that isn’t designed to be thrown (that is, a melee weapon that doesn’t have a numeric entry in the Range column on Table: Weapons), and a character who does so takes a –4 penalty on the attack roll. Throwing a light or one-handed weapon is a standard action, while throwing a two-handed weapon is a full-round action. Regardless of the type of weapon, such an attack scores a threat only on a natural 20 and deals double damage on a critical hit. Such a weapon has a range increment of 10 feet.

Another member of my party believes it would not due to that second-to-last sentence:

Regardless of the type of weapon, such an attack scores a threat only on a natural 20 and deals double damage on a critical hit.

Similarly, this would also mean a starknife would not receive its ×3 critical modifier if thrown. Please help me understand why this would or would not occur. I can't find a clear answer for this anywhere.

Answer 1

A thrown dagger has a crit range of 19-20

The rules for throwing a weapon make a distinction between two kinds of weapons:

1. Weapons designed to be thrown, defined by being melee weapons that have a defined Range. These use the normal statistics of the weapon when thrown.
2. Other weapons, which use the special rules you already quoted when thrown.

Since the dagger does have an entry for range (10 ft), it can be thrown using its normal statistics, that is, its critical threat range is 19-20 and it does x2 damage on a crit. Similarly, a thrown starknife does x3 damage on a critical.