toucanbuzz
No rule is inviolate
Players are strategizing for this weekend (assault on a fort) and asked if the Reduce spell would affect a wooden gate in a fort. Reduce shrinks "1 object." There is no mention of any other limitations, such as size of the object.
The DMG object rules say: "For the purpose of these rules, an object is a discrete, inanimate item like a window, door, sword, book, table, chair, or stone, not a building or a vehicle that is composed of many other objects." They also say: "...given enough time and the right tools, characters can destroy any destructible object." I include this part because the definition wants to make clear a "stone wall," for example, isn't considered an object although it is inanimate and can be discrete if free standing (individually separate).
In 2016, sage advice Crawford replied to reducing doors: "I would ask the wizard which part of the door they're trying to reduce. Most doors are made of multiple objects."
How would you handle a gamer request to shrink a fortress gate, whether it be made of wood or stone or steel? Would this mean the massive 40 ton block of stone that the dwarven fortress of Thorbardin uses in Dragonlance could be thwarted by a 2nd level spell because, technically, it's just one big door? Does the ability to "destroy" the object through mundane means distinguish this "big door" from a normal door (for purposes of spell targeting and game rules)?
The DMG object rules say: "For the purpose of these rules, an object is a discrete, inanimate item like a window, door, sword, book, table, chair, or stone, not a building or a vehicle that is composed of many other objects." They also say: "...given enough time and the right tools, characters can destroy any destructible object." I include this part because the definition wants to make clear a "stone wall," for example, isn't considered an object although it is inanimate and can be discrete if free standing (individually separate).
In 2016, sage advice Crawford replied to reducing doors: "I would ask the wizard which part of the door they're trying to reduce. Most doors are made of multiple objects."
How would you handle a gamer request to shrink a fortress gate, whether it be made of wood or stone or steel? Would this mean the massive 40 ton block of stone that the dwarven fortress of Thorbardin uses in Dragonlance could be thwarted by a 2nd level spell because, technically, it's just one big door? Does the ability to "destroy" the object through mundane means distinguish this "big door" from a normal door (for purposes of spell targeting and game rules)?
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