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D&D 5e's Mythic Odysseys of Theros includes a magic item called the two-birds sling. The item provides a +1 to attack and damage rolls made with it, and further provides:

When you make a ranged attack with this sling and hit a target, you can cause the ammunition to ricochet toward a second target within 10 feet of the first, and then make a ranged attack against the second target.

Meanwhile, the cantrip magic stone imbues pebbles with magic that allows one to

make a ranged spell attack with one of the pebbles by throwing it or hurling it with a sling.

This ranged spell attack "adds your spellcasting ability modifier, not the attacker’s," to the attack and damage rolls, and on top of that the pebble deals better damage than a normal sling bullet (i.e., d6 versus d4).

How do these game mechanics interact? For example, imagine that Drew Druid casts magic stone and hands three magic pebbles to his ally Filippa Fighter. Filippa, being an 11th-level fighter with the Extra Attack feature, has three attacks to make on her turn. She uses her two-birds sling to hurl each of the pebbles as a ranged spell attack. Each attack hits, and as it does, Filippa gets to make another attack. But what kind? The sling's description merely says "a ranged attack" -- which conceivably could be a ranged spell attack (because Filippa used a magic stone pebble) or a ranged weapon attack (because she used the sling). And what is the damage dealt by these additional attacks if they hit?

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The spell ends on each stone after the first attack.

Magic stone says:

Hit or miss, the spell then ends on the stone.

So the second (ricochet) attack will be a ranged weapon attack using the usual to hit (+prof+dex+1) and damage (1d4+dex+1) of the sling, not a ranged spell attack and damage of magic stone, because the spell ended on the stone after the first attack.

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  • \$\begingroup\$ Does it matter that a pebble isn't, so far as I can tell, explicitly contemplated in the PHB as ammo for a sling? E.g., would it be an improvised weapon attack, or at least a situation calling for a DM to rule on whether the pebble is close enough to a bullet to count as a normal attack? I really wish the designers had been a little more specific with this item. \$\endgroup\$
    – screamline
    Commented Sep 10, 2021 at 20:13
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    \$\begingroup\$ @screamline The developer meeting for that one was probably pretty stupid. "We need to have slings in the game." "Cool, so a weapon for druids who like to collect rocks." "No, we need to make a special, cooler ammunition type than just rocks." "Okay...what did you have in mind?" "Sling bullets". "What the hell are sling bullets?" "You know, bullets, but for a sling." "So pebbles?" "No." \$\endgroup\$ Commented Sep 10, 2021 at 20:16
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    \$\begingroup\$ But apparently sling bullets is what the historians are calling them, so maybe Jeremy is on to something, see this article. \$\endgroup\$ Commented Sep 10, 2021 at 20:21
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    \$\begingroup\$ @screamline When I quit trying to find precision and consistency in the D&D rules, my life got a little bit easier, and my games got a little bit funner. \$\endgroup\$ Commented Sep 10, 2021 at 20:26
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    \$\begingroup\$ Sling bullets are a historical thing. Clay and lead were common; the main thing was to make them all the same size and weight so you could take advantage of reliable aerodynamics. (But lead is best because it's denser so it hits harder.) You could sling rocks, but finding a rock smooth enough to fly true was a bit of a trick -- that's why David specifically took time to go down to the river to select stones before facing Goliath. You can't just grab some random rock off the side of the road and expect to hit anything. \$\endgroup\$ Commented Sep 10, 2021 at 20:50

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