If moving to Reach is a free action why would anyone throw a weapon in close range in combat? Is this simply a matter of not engaging yourself with your foe? If so, they can immediately engage you with a free action on their turn so Im not sure I see the advantage.
In a practice game I have a PC with throwing knives advancing on an archer focusing on her ally. As I came within medium range it struck me that there was no real reason for her to move to close range and throw a knife above just moving in and attacking. Typically thrown weapons give the advantage of range but here Im not sure I see it. Especially if you take into consideration the increased difficulty of throwing a regular weapon even at close range, I just cant imagine why anyone would do it?
Probably for those cases where terrain interferes, like an open cleft in the floor. You are in close range but would need either a great acrobatics expertise, or just throw the dagger.
This is probably much more important in a miniatures battle than in a standard pen and paper scene.
Why would you throw a weapon in real life? Maybe you can’t engage with the target in melee because the terrain prevents you from getting closer or you can’t move for some reason.
Also, keep in mind that Close is only the optimal range which means you can throw a weapon at Medium or even Long range if you can handle the Difficulty increase.
Also do not forget the advantage reach can give someone with a much larger weapon to someone with a small one. Sometimes you wish to make sure there is distance between you and your opponent, so you thow your dagger at the swordsman, and run the heck out of there.
Maybe you are tied down by other opponents, and a friend needs help from a villian bearing down on them, that would be a great time to throw something at them.
Finally, a thrown weapon usually has an optimum range of Close, and only when they have the (M) tag do they have a range of medium. So sometimes you just have to get up close and personal for the extra points.
Yeah… also, don’t forget the game mechanics. A thrown weapon cannot usually be parried, and it uses Awareness as damage bonus, not Brawn. That makes the sharp-eyed but slightly-built assassin keen to throw a dagger against an opponent with a spear and no shield…
Lots of reasons as above.
In addition: you might want to spend a load for a bonus die, you may be better with Ranged skill, you may not want to get in the way of other Ranged fire, and you may lose the advantage of surprise or stealth by closing with someone (perhaps situation/GM dependent). You may also have bought shoot for the horizon specifically to allow your low-Brawn dagger rogue to throw knives all over the place.