Atlatl's as D&D weapons?

[Tanarii]

Just see if your dm will fluff shortbow or light crossbow. There are plenty or phb weapons that seem to have lower damage die than they would in previous editions or arguably their counterparts.

Str-based Light Crossbow seems about right to me, but uses Javelin (Simple) proficiency. Increases damage, increases range to approx what Wikipedia says, is still Str (because Dex definitely doesn't fit), and most important has the loading property.

Most importantly it's an awesome optional range enhancer for Str oriented classes and Monks (since it is a Monk weapon), but doesn't let Extra attack for them get out of control at that range.