[RPG] Would a bag of silver work against lycanthropes

dnd-5eimprovised-weaponrylycanthropy

So I just read Weekly Roll #53 and saw that the paladin used a sock full of silver coins against a werewolf, would that really work?

Best Answer

Ask the DM, but probably not.

The rules for silvered weapons are somewhat specific; it seems to be that silvering for the purposes of harming creatures weak to silvered weapons is a specific process:

Some monsters that have immunity or resistance to nonmagical weapons are susceptible to silver weapons, so cautious adventurers invest extra coin to plate their weapons with silver. You can silver a single weapon or ten pieces of ammunition for 100 gp. This cost represents not only the price of the silver, but the time and expertise needed to add silver to the weapon without making it less effective.

This specificity is consistent with the werewolf's resistance description:

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

The use of the word "silvered" in this description tells me that silvering a weapon is a particular, intentional process, that harming these kinds of creatures requires a level of craftsmanship not found in a sack of coin. There is also the question of "if it did work, why would people bother with getting weapons silvered?" If a sack of 50 silver pieces (5 gp) were effective against silver-weak creatures, why am I spending 100 gp to have my weapon silvered properly?

However, as is always the case with improvised weapons, it is up to the DM.

For 1000 silver pieces, I'll allow it.

The real objection outlined above is that any amount of silver coins less than 1000 creates a cost imbalance - I can get a functional silver weapon for less than the rules say such a weapon should cost. However, if there's 1000 coins in that sock, then that imbalance is eliminated. Initially, I thought to myself, "1000 coins would weigh too much", but of all the things D&D 5e lacks rules for, coinage weight is not one of them:

A standard coin weighs about a third of an ounce, so fifty coins weigh a pound.

So you're looking at a 20 pound sock, well within a strong character's ability to swing around dangerously. So for no less than 1000 coins, I'll give you a silvered weapon dealing 1d4 damage on a hit, per the rules for Improvised Weapons:

An object that bears no resemblance to a weapon deals 1d4 damage (the DM assigns a damage type appropriate to the object).