D&D 5E Do you let PC's just *break* objects?

[Asisreo]

Imagine this:

A player looks at an object of indescript material, location, and size.

The player decides they want to break the object. Do you let them do so? And how do you do it? What is the limit? Does it depend on context or as long as the object doesn't say its unbreakable, they can break it?

 

[Umbran]

In order to answer the question, the object needs to be of known material, location, and size.

Breaking a mug full of ale is different from breaking a castle gate. The details matter.

 

[billd91]

Unless there was some particular reason to keep them from willy nilly breaking something (like being a macguffin or something), I don't see why I'd stop them from breaking something.

 

[Asisreo]

In order to answer the question, the object needs to be of known material, location, and size.

Breaking a mug full of ale is different from breaking a castle gate. The details matter.

I guess I'm asking what details make you outright say "no."

So rather than indescript information, you can add what your limit is.

 

[Andvari]

If the PC says "I want to break the castle wall in half with my bare hands" then no, unless it's a toy castle. They might break it using a catapult, though.

 

[FitzTheRuke]

I mean, the game has rules for breaking objects.

 

[el-remmen]

an object of indescript material, location, and size.

Echoing Umbran, those three things are exactly what are needed to answer the question! I would add time to that. Given time, a lot of things can be broken - but I have to know what it is to give a ruling on time and effort even if success is (eventually) guaranteed.

If something is potentially important to accomplishing something I will have determined its AC and hardness and hit points ahead of time.

 

[Oofta]

It just depends, and it's largely an on-the-fly judgement call unless it's something important. I don't usually bother looking up the rules during a game, I'm not sure I'd use them anyway. It's easy to break a glass jar, difficult to break an anvil.

 

[Deset Gled]

Given no information and no context, how do you make a ruling on anything?

 

[Paul Farquhar]

A player looks at an object of indescript material, location, and size.

The DM decides the object's material, location and size when that information becomes relevant.