D&D's 2024 Dungeon Master's Guide Finally Makes This Weapon Fun

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Combat in can be tons of fun, but a lot of that is dependent on having the right weapon, and the 2024 just turned a traditionally disappointing option into a memorable one. While some players clamor for magic items simply for the stat increase, many seek them out because of the ways in which they can spice up combat. Basic weapons can still be fun as long as they're effective, but when they don't live up to their potential in either flavor or impact, it's hard not to be disappointed.

's 2024 sought to address this problem with the introduction of weapon mastery properties, which grant martial classes with the ability to use special weapon actions in combat. While all the standard weapons already had their properties assigned in the, there's a selection that hadn't yet received the buff — modern and futuristic firearms and explosives. Found in the , these weapons break from the traditional flavor to offer a different brand of pulpy entertainment, and one in particular finally feels great in the 2024 update.

The 2024 bestows the Push mastery upon shotguns, a property that allows them to blast enemies back in dramatic fashion. When invoked, Push shoves creatures hit by the weapon back 10 feet. While the other basic stats of the shotgun remain the same as the 2014 iteration — 2d8 Piercing damage and a required reload after every two shots among them — this simple change is enough to make something that previously felt highly situational genuinely exciting.

Part of the fun factor in the shotgun weapon mastery is simply the image that it calls to mind, which is a lot more over-the-top than using Push with a pike would be. Combining that dynamic impact with the strategic potential of opens a lot of doors, especially when it comes to combat with any element of verticality. Blasting enemies off of cliffs with a shotgun is the most obvious opportunity, but shoving them into the range of allied melee fighters or setting up combos with environmental hazards could also be more