[RPG] Should the fighter really punch that werewolf

dnd-5eimmunitiesmonstersunarmed-combat

A werewolf from the MM has the following in its stat block:

Damage Immunities: Bludgeoning, Piercing, And Slashing Damage From Nonmagical Weapons That Aren't Silvered

And as established in the errata, unarmed strikes aren't weapons.

Weapons (p. 149). Unarmed strike doesn’t belong on the Weapons table.

and

Melee Attacks (p. 195). The rule on
unarmed strikes should read as follows:
“Instead of using a weapon to make a
melee weapon attack, you can use an unarmed
strike: a punch, kick, head-butt, or
similar forceful blow (none of which count
as weapons). On a hit, an unarmed strike
deals bludgeoning damage equal to 1 +
your Strength modifier. You are proficient
with your unarmed strikes.”

And confirmed by Jeremy Crawford

Addressing a nuance in the PH errata: the rule lets melee weapon attacks use unarmed strikes, despite those strikes not being weapons.

Does this mean my fighter, who doesn't have a magical or silvered weapon can, instead, punch a werewolf in the face for 4 damage?

Best Answer

This does not work.

Your quote is outdated.

The Monster Manual Errata shows that you no longer should reference weapons. Meaning it doesn't matter what you attack with so long as that attack, not weapon, meets the criteria in the entry.

In this case you can make an attack with your unarmed strike that doesn't count as a weapon, but the fact that it is not considered a weapon is made irrelevant.

Damage Resistances/Immunities. Throughout the book, instances of “nonmagical weapons” in Damage Resistances/Immunities entries have been replaced with “nonmagical attacks.”

So the "corrected" entry would read as follows:

Damage Immunities Bludgeoning, Piercing, and Slashing from Nonmagical Attacks that aren't Silvered

This is in fact what the errataed werewolf entry on D&D Beyond now says.

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