If one has the special ability throwing on a melee weapon does one get iterative attacks? E.g., a 6th level Ranger, BAB +6/+1, lobs his sword. Does he get one attack at +6 or two- one at +6 and one at +1.
I'm thinking he gets only one, but the rules seem unclear.
Not with the sword he just threw, if that's what you're asking.
I mean with the sword he just threw. Again, I don't see it in the rules explicitly either way. It just makes sense somehow that it's one attack. I'm looking for clarification. Thanks.
Where are you seeing the ambiguity? If you make an attack with a weapon by throwing it, you don't have it to make another attack (by throwing it or otherwise).
Throwing does not have Returning built into it. So you must walk over to where it is after you threw it and pick it back up... so no you do not get any more attacks after your throw.
Note the Returning magic does say it returns at the start of your next turn so that also does not allow more attacks after it is thrown.
You need multiple weapons and the Quick Draw feat to do what you're proposing. You can also lob two-handed weapons with another feat, Two-Handed Thrower. A weapon with the Returning special ability returns to you just prior to your turn instead of during your full-attack. You must be able to catch the weapon (at least one free hand), else it drops in the square it was thrown from.
Let's assume no feats in play and that our 6th level Ranger starts next to a foe. If the Ranger simply swings the sword he'll get an attack at +6 and another at +1. If he had a bow in hand, he'd get two shots. Let's say he wants to throw that throwing weapon. Since it doesn't state that it DOES get iterative attacks, I'm thinking our Ranger's thrown sword would get simply one attack at +6.
Now let's get really abstract. Suppose our plucky Ranger has two swords with throwing enchantment on them. Would he get two attacks then? I'm starting to get dizzy here.
Ok. Reading all the posts it would take quickdraw and multiple enchanted weapons to get iterative attacks. Thanks everyone.
Forget about the throwing feature of the sword. All that does is allow him/her to throw something that normally is not balanced to be thrown. It in no other way alters the weapon.
He/she gets two attacks when full attacking with weapons. If those weapons are things like daggers he can throw many a round as long as he has them in hand. If he has two hands he can throw two daggers. If he has more than two attacks he will need to have Quick Draw or he is limited to what he has in hand to use for his attacks.
Using your sword as an example he could attack a target at melee range with the sword at +6 and then throw it at a target farther away at +1.
If he has two weapons with throwing. One in his main hand and one in his off hand he can throw both of them. One at +6 and one at +1... but note that at that point he is moving into the two weapon fighting area and may have other problems and penalties depending on how it is handled and not really the point of this topic.
Throwing lets you throw it and nothing else. Like a baseball. You may be able to throw many of them in a round... but if you only have one baseball... you can only throw one baseball. If you have a baseball in each hand you can throw both of them by passing the second ball to your main hand for the second throw. And if you have quickdraw and a bunch of baseballs in a bucket tied to your belt... you can throw as many as your skill allows with your main hand as you quickly pull them out of the bucket.
EDIT - I see you figured it out before I could post this. Hope it helped.
If he has two weapons with throwing. One in his main hand and one in his off hand he can throw both of them. One at +6 and one at +1... but note that at that point he is moving into the two weapon fighting area and may have other problems and penalties depending on how it is handled and not really the point of this topic.
To clarify attacking in this manner is not attacking using two weapon fighting. Two weapon fighting and it's penalties only apply when you are using the feats to get more attacks than you would normally have based on your BAB and the subsequent iterative attacks you get.
At BAB +6 you have an attack at BAB +6 and +1, for two attacks.
With two weapon fighting, if you have a BAB of 0 you can still get a 2nd attack by utilizing two weapons (one in each hand) and taking the appropriate penalties. So if you have Two Weapon Fighting feat, you have a light weapon in your off hand, and you have a BAB of 6 then you will have attacks at 4/4/-1 for three attacks.
Also note, that at +6 BAB you could take improved TWF and get an attack sequence of 4/4/-1/-1 for 4 attacks.
Yes, I was just trying to avoid confusing the issue more with a TWF string added. If people want to know about the TWF item this FAQ.covers it well.