For weapons like the spear that have the Thrown property, can a Rogue use sneak attack with them?
Thrown is considered a ranged attack and Sneak Attack specifies that "The attack must use a finesse or ranged weapon."
Does this mean a rogue could potentially apply Sneak Attack to an attack using a spear as it is technically a ranged weapon? If so, would this also work if you were using the spear in melee?
[RPG] Can a rogue use sneak attack with weapons that have the thrown property even if they are not thrown
dnd-5eroguesneak-attackthrowing-things
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Best Answer
Sneak Attack does not work with melee weapons that have the thrown property, but lack the finesse property
The Rogue's Sneak Attack feature states:
A melee weapon cannot simultaneously be a ranged weapon, because as the Weapons section (PHB, p146) states:
In fact, a weapon must be listed in either the Simple or Martial Ranged Weapons tables to be considered a ranged weapon.
Moreover, the thrown property (PHB, p146) does not turn a melee weapon into a ranged weapon. It states:
Making a ranged attack does not imply using a ranged weapon.
The thrown property allows you to make a ranged attack by throwing the melee weapon despite it being a melee weapon.
Whether or not you throw a melee weapon does not matter. If it lacks the finesse property, then it won't work with Sneak Attack.