The problem of sundering

[2WS-Steve]

I think if you are going to tell the fighter to suck it up, you better share the hate around to the wizards, clerics, and druids -- perhaps create some monsters that permanently destroy rings, wands, and wondrous items, or maybe just permanently destroy spell slots...

Otherwise, next week you might discover that there aren't any fighters left in your party.

 

[Polydamas]

So people don't require saving throws for items on a natural one? Cause we lose more items to that than we do to sundering.....

 

[Corinth]

Sunder away. If its broken, slag it for materials and use it to make a replacement when you get back to town. It's not as if you can't buy or replace magic items anymore.

 

[Jhaelen]

We allow for reforging at a reduced cost.

Imho, that's the best solution. It also has a long tradition in fantasy literature.
IMC, I often use Weapons of Legacy. These are very difficult to destroy, can be reforged, and are a lot more fun than the majority of generic magic stuff.

 

[Darkness]

This is the reason why I hate what I call the "metagaming rules". This is a pure case of metagaming.

"Oh, I'm not worried about my items. By the rules, I should have equipment suitable for my level so I'll get some back if something happens."

Of course, a fighter who loses his main weapon can also make his equipment level-appropriate again by dying and being raised/resurrected (or otherwise losing a level). Poorly-equipped fighters die more easily than well-equipped ones anyway.

(That's not my how I'd handle the issue at hand in this thread, mind - merely a tongue-in-cheek reply to a hypothetical player's metagame reasoning per the above quote. )

 

[Crothian]

That's great unless your GM is a stickler for CRs, which all assume you have your gear fro your level. TPKs can flow like water when GMs ignore the gear aspect of the CR system.

If the DM is a bad DM, blame the DM.

 

[Pierson_Lowgal]

...It's not as if you can't buy or replace magic items anymore.

Says who? Not in my campaigns.

More, generally, item dependence is a huge weakness of 3.X DnD. It makes the game too much about equipment and not enough about the player. This is not exactly a new argument. Lots of folk have been houseruling 3.X to put the power in the PC's heart, and not literally in his hands, for years.

 

[painandgreed]

The player sucks it up and gets back to adventuring.

My vote, although I am in favor of multiply magic bonus on an item by 3-5 instead because I do think they should be harder the destroy than they are. Cheap reforging would also fit in there.

 

[MerricB]

Razz, in my 3.5e PHB, the last line in the Sunder description (page 158, above "Throw Splash Weapon") gives the no-sundering-armour rule.

Cheers!

 

[Umbran]

No excuses.

Yeah, really. Aragorn had to wait much of his life to get a sundered weapon repaired. Real heroes don't need to repair their weapons