[RPG] Does the Bracer of Flying Daggers benefit from the Dueling fighting style

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The Dueling Fighting style description says:

When you are wielding a melee weapon in one hand and no other weapons, you gain a +2 bonus to damage rolls with that weapon.

The Bracer of Flying Daggers magic item (from Waterdeep: Dragon Heist, p. 190):

This armband appears to have thin daggers strapped to it. As an action, you can pull up to two magic daggers from the bracer and immediately hurl them, making a ranged attack with each dagger. A dagger vanishes if you don't hurl it right away, and the daggers disappear right after they hit or miss. The bracer never runs out of daggers.

If you have the Dueling fighting style, your hands are empty, and you activate the Bracer, do you get the damage bonus to both throws?

Best Answer

The question is whether thrown melee weapons qualify for Dueling or not

The description specifies that you pull daggers out of the armband (despite the logistically problems of sticking a full-sized dagger in an armband. I would have gone with knives had I designed it), which are on the melee weapon table and therefore are melee weapons (magical ones, no less). You obviously don't have another weapon in your other hand, so all we need to know is whether throwing a melee weapons counts as "wielding" the weapon.

There is no game-definition for "wielding", so we rely on common English to understand it. Google gives this definition for "wield":

hold and use (a weapon or tool).

Under that definition, and in my own opinion, I'd say that throwing a melee weapon counts as wielding it for the purposes of Dueling.

Crawford agrees that Dueling applies to thrown weapons, for what that is worth (keeping in mind his Sage Advice tweets are unofficial).

The related question Does Dueling Fighting Style apply to thrown weapons? has arguments for and against this ruling.


This is a poorly worded item

It is unclear whether you are drawing both daggers at once in both hands, or one at a time, or what. For some interpretations it would matter whether you are drawing both at once, or if you are throwing both at once, but this is mine: I assume you are drawing one, throwing one, then repeating. If you draw one, immediately hurl it, then draw another and immediately hurl it, you've still drawn 2 daggers and immediately hurled them.