Combat in Dungeons & Dragons can be tons of fun, but a lot of that is dependent on having the right weapon, and the 2024 Dungeon Master’s Guide just turned a traditionally disappointing option into a memorable one. While some players clamor for magic items simply for the stat increase, many seek them out because of the ways in which they can spice up combat. Basic weapons can still be fun as long as they’re effective, but when they don’t live up to their potential in either flavor or impact, it’s hard not to be disappointed.
DnD‘s 2024 Player’s Handbook sought to address this problem with the introduction of weapon mastery properties, which grant martial classes with the ability to use special weapon actions in combat. While all the standard weapons already had their properties assigned in the Player’s Handbook, there’s a selection that hadn’t yet received the buff — modern and futuristic firearms and explosives. Found in the Dungeon Master’s Guide, these weapons break from the traditional DnD flavor to offer a different brand of pulpy entertainment, and one in particular finally feels great in the 2024 update.
Shotguns Deal Knockback In D&D’s 2024 Dungeon Master’s Guide
The Push Weapon Mastery Property Is A Lot Of Fun
The 2024 Dungeon Master’s Guide bestows the Push mastery upon shotguns, a property that allows them to blast enemies back in dramatic fashion. When invoked, Push shoves creatures hit by the weapon back 10 feet. While the other basic stats of the shotgun remain the same as the 2014 iteration — 2d8 Piercing damage and a required reload after every two shots among them — this simple change is enough to make something that previously felt highly situational genuinely exciting.
Environmental Opportunities Make D&D’s Shotguns Worthwhile
Every Combat Arena Can Be A Playground
Part of the fun factor in the shotgun weapon mastery is simply the image that it calls to mind, which is a lot more over-the-top than using Push with a pike would be. Combining that dynamic impact with the strategic potential of DnD opens a lot of doors, especially when it comes to combat with any element of verticality. Blasting enemies off of cliffs with a shotgun is the most obvious opportunity, but shoving them into the range of allied melee fighters or setting up combos with environmental hazards could also be more stylish when a shotgun is in play.
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D&D Is About To Get A Lot Harder For High-Level Parties
The 2024 Dungeon Master’s Guide makes a big change to the recommendations for combat design, and it isn’t kind to players at high levels.
Shotguns aren’t alone, of course, with every firearm in the 2024 Dungeon Master’s Guide receiving its own weapon mastery property. It’s the only one to get Push, however, and the effects are more likely to be cinematic than Sap, Slow, or Vex, especially in the hands of a player or DM with a gift for vivid descriptions. Shotguns still aren’t the right fit for the average Dungeons & Dragons campaign, but when the system is being used for a world where modern weaponry makes sense, the 2024 Dungeon Master’s Guide finally makes them as thrilling as they should be.
Dungeons and Dragons
Dungeons and Dragons is a popular tabletop game originally invented in 1974 by Ernest Gary Gygax and David Arneson. The fantasy role-playing game brings together players for a campaign with various components, including abilities, races, character classes, monsters, and treasures. The game has drastically expanded since the ’70s, with numerous updated box sets and expansions.
- Original Release Date
- 1974-00-00
- Publisher
- TSR Inc. , Wizards of the Coast
- Designer
- E. Gary Gygax , Dave Arneson