[RPG] Does the Tavern Brawler feat grant proficiency when the character is not proficient otherwise

dnd-5eimprovised-weaponryproficiency

This is a bit challenging to phrase, so I'll use an example.

A human wizard with the Tavern Brawler feat gets fed up with a unruly Gnome and snaps off a heavy gate post to stab him with. The DM rules that the post is similar enough to a pike to use its damage dice. Is the Wizard proficient in this improvised Pike?

A related question queries whether or not an improvised weapon deemed similar enough to an actual weapon is still improvised – the consensus was that it was.

If that's the case, the Tavern Brawler feat states:

You are proficient with improvised weapons.

If this too is the case, does this create a loophole of sorts where a character can wield an improvised variant of a weapon they otherwise couldn't use proficiently?

Best Answer

Yes

If someone with the Tavern Brawler is wielding an Improvised Weapon that a GM may allow to be used proficiently with some weapon proficiency per this rule:

Often, an improvised weapon is similar to an actual weapon and can be treated as such. For example, a table leg is akin to a club. At the GM’s option, a character proficient with a weapon can use a similar object as if it were that weapon and use his or her proficiency bonus.

... it is still an improvised weapon, and therefore someone with the Tavern Brawler feat would be proficient.

That being said, it is up to the GM entirely whether or not the improvised weapon can be used as another weapon, meaning the GM is perfectly within their right to say that the object wielded by someone who is not proficient is no longer treated like that weapon. This would mean in the hands of a fighter, the gate post may serve as a pike, but the tavern brawler just uses it as a regular improvised weapon.

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