Behir Digesting Weapons...

[bleedthefreak]

Just a quick question, the Psychic Warrior in the party was swallowed by a Behir, and immediately dropped his spiked chain +1 in favor of a master work dagger to cut himself out. Now, am I incorrect in assuming that now that the spiked chain is no longer in his possesion, that is is now subjected to the crushing and acid damage of the digestive juices? Behir's do 2d8+8 crushing per round and 8 more acid. Now, I saw in the DMG that the acid damage would be halved, and chaines have a hardness of 10 and 5 hit points, so the chain would have (which was +1) would have had 11 hardness and 6 hit points, so the acid could not eat away, but would the crushing damage effect it? Would the damage be halved? The other players had a hard time swallowing (no pun inteanded) that the stomach muscles could crush a chain, and it does not seem like it could, at least not over a handful of seconds (2 rounds), what do you all think?

 

[hong]

It's a +1 spiked chain, so obviously it would require a +1 stomach to do damage to it.

 

[RogueJK]

It's a +1 spiked chain, so obviously it would require a +1 stomach to do damage to it.

Not necessarily. I realize that's what it says in the rules, but WotC has set a precedent by allowing some creatures, such as the Bebilith and the Rust Monster, to damage or destroy weapons and armor without worrying about the the enchantment bonus.

Most of the time, however, they will give a magic item a bonus against the effect or a chance at a saving throw.

It seems to me that they are only using the "+1 to damage +1, etc." rules for manufactured weapon vs. manufactured weapon. Monster's special attacks and effects seem to be immune to this rule.

(Since there isn't a MM errata yet, they might just be mistaken in these instances. They have been known to forget their own rules from time to time.)

 

[kreynolds]

The chain can be effected by the Behir's stomach just like anything else. The only benefit the chain has for being magical is that it is allowed a saving throw if the attack allows a save. If the Behir's stomach doesn't allow a save, and the crushing damage is more than the hardness of the weapon, the chain is toast.

 

[hong]

Not necessarily. I realize that's what it says in the rules, but WotC has set a precedent by allowing some creatures, such as the Bebilith and the Rust Monster, to damage or destroy weapons and armor without worrying about the the enchantment bonus.

The rust monster I can accept, since that's a "magic" ability with no attempt made at a rationale based on physical damage. However, I've always thought that the bebilith's armour-destroying ability was bogus. Practically no other monster has an attack that specifically targets items; and yet this one does. How is it that being chewed to pieces in a dragon's jaws doesn't harm your armour, but the bebilith can rip through it with ease? It breaks one of the unspoken assumptions about the D&D combat system.

Getting back to this particular topic, I'd allow the chain to pass through unharmed. It's magic, after all. Magic weapons are tough; also, players tend to get attached to their characters' toys.

 

[Crothian]

Being a plus weapon protects from physical damage, that can be argued. But acid will still hurt it.

 

[nameless]

Strong enough acid will hurt it. Normally, it would need to do at least 24 points per exposure to do so, though, since energy damage is halved against objects and the chain is hardness of 11 (10 for steel +1 for magic). I would rule that the chain is unharmed from the stomach.

-nameless