What happens to a thrown weapon after it hits or misses?

Question

Patty the Chatty Monk throws her handaxe at a growling wolf. It hits!
So... what happens?
This question is asked for the intent of further understanding the Object Interaction rule and also to add flavor to combat encounters. What happens to a thrown weapon after it is used?

On a hit: does it fall to the ground near the target's feet? Does it impale/latch/stick to the target? What about armored targets?

On a miss: does it land on the ground near the target's feet? Or does it travel the maximum distance (assuming there's nothing blocking its path) in a straight direction before landing? Can it accidentally hit a different target?

In any case, can anyone pick it up and use it again?

Answer 1

It's a subject of the DM's ruling, depending on the situation

"Thrown weapons" include all things a creature can throw. You can throw a knife, a boulder, a glass bottle, a dead goblin, anything. If it hits a shield, it can stick or it can bounce away. A glass bottle will probably be shattered. If it misses the target completely then it falls somewhere behind the target, and so on. Since 5e rules only distinguish "hits" from "misses", the additional details are up to the DM.

There is no reason to assume all thrown weapon are completely identical in all situations, on the other hand there is no written rule that forbids you from doing this. A DM is free to provide specific details in each case, or completely ignore this issue for the sake of simplicity.

Basically, the rules don't say. That's how D&D differs from tactical wargames: it's the DM's job to make rulings; the DM is an active game facilitator, not just a rules-enforcing neutral arbiter.

The rule of thumb is thrown weapons stay somewhere on the battlefield until the end of the combat, then you are able to recover them all. This works by analogy with the ammunition, PHB p. 146, since thrown weapons and ammunition work the same way in most cases; the only differences is using STR instead of DEX in some cases and the chance to accidentally destroy a piece of ammunition:

At the end of the battle, you can recover half your expended ammunition by taking a minute to search the battlefield.

But tables differ so ask your DM.

Can it accidentally hit a different target?

5e rules assume an attack can either hit its target, or miss completely. There is the "hitting cover" optional rule (DMG p. 272), which can be used in this case if you want to.

Further reading:

• When creatures provide cover against attacks, can they be hit?
• Can you throw a hand axe upwards over a wall and into a group of enemies?

Specific beats generic

There are specific traits and features which address thrown weapons and ammunition explicitly. For instance, Deflect Missiles monk feature lets you catch a piece of ammunition and throw it back:

If you catch a missile in this way, you can spend 1 ki point to make a ranged attack with the weapon or piece of ammunition you just caught

Answer 2

The weapon is over there

Where “over there” is is entirely up to the DM.

On a hit: yes, yes, what about them?

On a miss: yes, yes, definitely no.

can anyone pick it up and use it again? Assuming they have hands (or something similar), yes.

Except for definitely not hitting anyone else, the rules don’t deal with this so you can do whatever you like. You can be consistent or spontaneous, it’s entirely up to you.

Some things to consider:

• “Hit points represent a combination of physical and mental durability, the will to live, and luck”. A hit does not necessarily mean the weapon made physical contact - a hit can be anything that depletes a) physical durability b) mental durability c) the will to live d) luck or e) any combination of a to e. An axe slamming into a wooden beam a fraction of an inch from the target’s ear can be as much of a “hit” as one that draws blood.

• Similarly, a miss can physically make contact. An axe contemptuously brushed aside. Or one that, despite striking true is pulled out by the target who locks eyes and smiles as he licks his own blood from the blade. These can all be misses.

• A miss on an agile opponent is more likely because of a clear miss while one on a heavily armoured opponent might make contact but not penetrate.

• Ranges are effective ranges - a hand axe can be thrown further than 60 feet so long as you don’t care what it hits. Therefore a miss can go further than you think. Or it could hit the ground at the target’s feet. Or at the thrower’s feet if they really stuff up.

• Rule of cool. A savage monster that ignores a half dozen hand axes buried in its flesh is cool and evocative. So is a bad ass who pulls it out and throws it back. Or a grappled PC stretching to reach the axe the threw earlier. Don’t limit your options.