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There are actual techniques to throwing a dagger by whipping your arm, does it require a lot of strength? no, just practice. I am sure a rogue with an above average dexterity score could accurately throw a dagger and hit in a fantasy setting. Being a Hero it makes it more likely. 10 for the normal person, 20' for a skilled person, bamn!
I'm in agreement with you that the concept of the thrown weapon specialist just isn't viable with the rules that we have currently. I disagree wholeheartedly that it's an only issue with the range increments though. They're a minor issue. The big problems are the cost of enchanting thrown weapons (since you'd want more than one; the archtypical image is someone with a bandoleer of throwing knives), and/or the cost and significant drawbacks of the returning property. The small range increments comes well after those issues.Solutions that I've always had bouncing around in my head include a magic item that temporarily bestows a fixed enchantment on weapons for throwing only (such as a bandoleer, or bracers). Once thrown, they'd have to be sheathed in the item for x hours to regain the effect....
My solution would be to just create a separate "Throwing Dagger" weapon using the same rules as the Shurikens. Treat the daggers as ammunition as well as weapons. The benefits are that the daggers can be drawn as a free action so Quick Draw isn't required. Like all ammunition, the enchantment cost will cover 50 daggers. Its still not as good as using a ranged or melee weapon, but IMO its better than enchanting three or more daggers separately with the Returning property.
Below is my quick stating of the weapon:
Light Weapon:
Throwing Dagger 2 gp 1d2 1d3 ×2 10 ft. 1/2 lb. P
Throwing Dagger: A throwing dagger is a small dagger designed specifically for throwing. A throwing dagger can't be used as a melee weapon. Although they are thrown weapons, throwing daggers are treated as ammunition for the purposes of drawing them, crafting masterwork or otherwise special versions of them, and what happens to them after they are thrown.
I wanted to make the weapon a little bit beefier than the shuriken at a slightly higher cost to purchase.
Yeah. Gotta go with the age of technology on this one. Neverwinter Nights sort of handled this one. Their throwing daggers took the place of darts. Yeah, darts. And let's be honest, darts? Does anyone choose darts when making their fighter? What rogue says, "What? Darts? ZOMG, where can I get THAT?" So just use the rules from 3e about darts. They're ammo, they're expendable, they can be enchanted, they have the exact same stats as daggers, but they can be thrown and the range incriment is 20'.
Heck, several NWN servers I played on had their Darts reskinned and renamed as Throwing Knives.
I had a Fighter/Weapon Master on one server who never left town without 5 stacks of 20 +2 +16d cold Throwing Knives on her person, and usually came back missing about half of them :P
Habit carried this over to PnP for us, and I've had at least two rogues who used it - one who continued the Throwing Knife tradition, and one who reskinned them as Rokugani senbon. (I think the spelling's right. Throwing Needles.)
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Actually, given that I was the one who started this thread I'm most definitely not changing the issue. :) To me, the issue has always been about extending the range increments of the dagger, not so I could heave it down a football field, but to get rid of the range penalties associated with throwing anywhere past 10' A reply above by me even suggests that while an increase in the first range increment might be warranted, further range increments should be halved from the first to prevent the 'long bomb'.
As for who would bring a dagger to a sword fight? Probably the guy who is really, really bored with seeing big strong guys with superswords hack and slash. Yeah, it is effective, but it is an easy way to go and it's been done to death :) I'm just looking for something a little different, something not tried often. Something I feel should be workable as a character concept, but unfortunately as the present rules are written is not. If you read the entire thread, you'll find there are others here that also find the fact that this particular concept isn't viable is also a loss to the game. That's all I'm trying for here. Just a little variety. I hope you can understand that. :)
HH
Well, to me it seems that you admit being bored with "optimal" choices, and you'd like to try new fighter concepts, correct? I think a dual-wielding dagger specialist is a working build; he probably does not dish out as much damage as other fighters, but if you also invest in ranged feats, he should feel (at least thematically) very different from "typical" fighters. If you're willing to use 3E supplements, there are a few extra feats and rogue/bard PRCs meant for dagger-wielders.
However, if you want your dagger-specialist to be equally powerful (in mechanical terms) with other builds, there's a reason why some weapons may be used by anyone (daggers, clubs, and so on) and some require special training (martial and exotic weapons). And there are quite a few other non-gamist systems that model this sort of play better than D&D.
Actually, a knife fighter/thrower is VERY valid and potentially powerful...IF you allow for 3.5 materials ;)
Whisperknife, Master Thrower, and Invisible Blade (Kinda, maybe, if you take a feat).