Blowing up magic items, yes or no?

[pseudo_hero]

THE SCENE: super fighter wacking away at evil wizards minions with no problems at all do to his handy dandy +5 keen greatsword.

THE ACT: Wizard dosn't like that, so he disintigrates the fighter's sword (all appropriate rolls made).

THE PLAYER: Totaly flips out and states that there should be no way to straight out destroy a character's magic items and that I am just being a lazy DM to have to resort to such cheap bull poo to make a challenge.

Has this happened to any one else? Now if you ask me, the wizard was thinking real clear. Sure taking the sword would be great, but it was obvious that with that sword around, mister fighter wasn't gonna go down. Sometimes the best tactic to to take out the weapon when you can't take out the weilder. Does any one believe that magic items should never be lost or destroyed? Even in a logical situation? I sure as hell don't.

 

[Kibo]

Why not disintigrate the character? As long as you're going with that spell.

 

[Dark Dragon]

Take a Nightwalker, let it grab the fighter's sword and crush it into pieces. Ooops....

 

[Humanophile]

In this case, the wizard should've disintrigated the fighter, since the rolls would be about the same (the sword does use the fighter's base save bonus, remember), and being rid of the fighter is a lot easier on everyone than just being rid of the sword. An attack like you described is something you do to someone who's not a threat to show contempt, not something you do to an actual threat.

That said...

If you followed all the rules (attack roll and save), and it ends up destroying an item, that's the way things work. There's a whole section about failed saving throws and destroyed items, as well as the Sunder feat, etc. An intelligent enemy will have no problem negating or destroying gear if that's what it takes to whittle a foe down, and gear is not a surgically attached extension of your body. So while that specific disintegrate should've been aimed at the fighter, gear is not a god-given right. It's just stuff that has rules describing how it can be broken.

 

[Dark Dragon]

Well, sometimes sh*t happens and PC lose something of their magical equipment (to pay a powerful evil dragon to spare their lifes, get a companion ressurected with a True Ressurection, get touched by a Rust Monster, Nightshade or Nightwalker, get hit by a Mordenkainen's Disjunction or drawing the wrong card from a Deck of many Things...). Magic items are still items and can be destroyed, so it's simply natural that some of them get broken.

 

[hong]

In this case, the wizard should've disintrigated the fighter, since the rolls would be about the same (the sword does use the fighter's base save bonus, remember), and being rid of the fighter is a lot easier on everyone than just being rid of the sword. An attack like you described is something you do to someone who's not a threat to show contempt, not something you do to an actual threat.

IOW, it sounds like a great way to put an annoying player in his place.

 

[Frosty]

I can relate to the guy who overracted when his handy-dandy sword got destroyed. It completely sucks to lose a valuable item in D&D since items is such a big part of the character. (Yes, character, in D&D.)

On the other hand I love it when things get destroyed in the heat of battle. It's darn cool for it makes for great effects and can even be the beginning of the next big adventure. I wager that Isildur wasn't too happy when his sword got smashed.

The solution to this dilemma is some positive meta-gaming. I explain to my players that items are not permanent and I may destroy them at a whim. However, I also promise that I will see to that they find a new and possibly better one "in the next room".

 

[fett527]

Nothing lasts forever. This guys just whining because he lost a +5 keen greatsword. Nothing whatsoever wrong with the way you described it.

 

[hong]

I can relate to the guy who overracted when his handy-dandy sword got destroyed. It completely sucks to lose a valuable item in D&D since items is such a big part of the character. (Yes, character, in D&D.)

True. Magic items should be treated as an intrinsic part of their wielder.

On the other hand I love it when things get destroyed in the heat of battle. It's darn cool for it makes for great effects and can even be the beginning of the next big adventure. I wager that Isildur wasn't too happy when his sword got smashed.

It wasn't Isildur's sword, it was his dad's. And dad wasn't in much of a position to do anything about it, being dead when it happened.

 

[Squire James]

Would a Wizard feel if that Fighter grappled him, tore off his backpack, and Sundered his spellbook? I mean, that spellbook's just an item, right? Never mind that it costs more to replace than any reasonable character would keep... just like the Fighter's sword. Blow it up!

I'm coming to the point in the campaign where Mordenkainen's Disjunction is the PC's worst nightmare. Losing a million gp worth of equipment is as expensive as getting a True Resurrection 200 times!

The only fair solution I see to this is to add at least half the cost of destroyed items to a treasure in the near future, or the full cost if the item destroyed brings the character below 80% of the DMG total worth guidelines. If a spellbook is destroyed, that character should reasonably be able to find another one soon (ie: no more than a single session away). The new book should be able to restore about half his lost spells and add several more spells he didn't have before.

In other words, if your PC's items are "easy go", they probably need to be "easy come" as well!