Can I use a ray to make a called shot?

[Folly]

Thanks for the correction mvincent.

 

[Aaron]

"When used against an object, the ray simply disintegrates as much as one 10- foot cube of nonliving matter. " is the wording used by disintegrate. Is a sword an object made of non-living material? Now if it is a magic sword then the sword would get a save and the damage would have to reduce the swords hit points to zero in order to destroy it, but there is no reason a sword would not be affected by this spell.

Only if his wielder rolls a natural 1.

 

[Folly]

Only if his wielder rolls a natural 1.

Could you explain what you mean? I am not following.

 

[mvincent]

Could you explain what you mean? I am not following.

He is referring to:
"Items Surviving after a Saving Throw
Unless the descriptive text for the spell specifies otherwise, all items carried or worn by a creature are assumed to survive a magical attack. If a creature rolls a natural 1 on its saving throw against the effect, however, an exposed item is harmed"

However, this addresses when a spell is cast on the wielder, but not when the spell is instead cast on the object itself.

 

[Aaron]

However, this addresses when a spell is cast on the wielder, but not when the spell is instead cast on the object itself.

This is what the FAQ say:

• Magical Attacks: A tower shield’s effects on
magical attacks depend on the kind of magical attack.
Any attack aimed at your equipment is aimed at you.
If a magical attack has you as a specific target (that is
it does not merely affect the area that contains you
but is aimed right at you), the shield has no effect. All
rays fall into this category, as does any spell that has
a Target entry in its header and any spell that has an
Effect entry and affects creatures (provided, of
course, that the attacker can and does choose the
shield user as a target).

 

[moritheil]

Note that there are some spells/powers that are particularly good at this - for example, energy missile lets you specifically target gear (though some DMs dislike this.)

 

[Infiniti2000]

Even a door is an item.

Is it? Make sure you define 'object' properly. In other words, if you hit a door are the door handle, lock, and knocker all affected? Is the house that the door is attached to affected? The brackets and pins and nails? How about if you shoot at a 'sword', are you hitting just the blade, the hilt, sheathe, or all three or some other combination? Can you target someone's belt buckle and not their belt? If so, how do you distinguish them if someone wants to target the belt (and therefore does that mean you can't target both the belt buckle and belt as simply the 'belt')?

I know this sort of argument came up some time ago when someone wanted to only target the pins holding the door on the wall. Whatever you decide, try to come up with a concept that easy to resolve, such as a single material type (so, 'wood' would leave the metal doorknob intact), wholly separable item (e.g. a sword includes the blade and hilt), or something along those lines.

 

[ardentmoth]

My explanation rests in this convenient Star Trek Scenario:
A phaser (matter-phaser) set to kill, at short range, will cause the target will be disintegrated, no matter what part/held-item is targeted, assuming that it hits.

In other words, no matter what part or item of a person is targeted by a ray, *ZORT!* The whole person takes the effect, and thus, gets the save chance.

As for targeting a door, the rules do say 10'^3. again, *ZORT.* The whole door takes the effect, and may or may not get a save chance based on the blahblahblahblah....

Person: target his sock. He doesn't make the save; the sock, and the person, take the effect.

Door: Target the hinge. It doesn't save; the hinge and the rest of the door for ten cubic feet, take the effect.

 

[billd91]

Sundering requires a melee slashing or bludgeoning weapon - so while normally a weapon-like spell like Disintegrate would qualify for anything you'd normally use a weapon for, in this case it doesn't (it s not melee, and it's not slashing or bludgeoning). If you were to find a melee slashing or bludgeoning spell, that'd work for it.

I think the main point of requiring a slashing or bludgeoning weapon for sunder is to avoid the idea of breaking another weapon by poking it with the sharp point of a piercing weapon. That might tend to stretch the game's credulity a bit much when they want the action to convey the idea of smashing the target of the sunder.
I wouldn't view it as a useful means of ruling out attacks by weapon-like spells like rays and splashes.

 

[Aaron]

Is it? Make sure you define 'object' properly. In other words, if you hit a door are the door handle, lock, and knocker all affected? Is the house that the door is attached to affected? The brackets and pins and nails? How about if you shoot at a 'sword', are you hitting just the blade, the hilt, sheathe, or all three or some other combination? Can you target someone's belt buckle and not their belt? If so, how do you distinguish them if someone wants to target the belt (and therefore does that mean you can't target both the belt buckle and belt as simply the 'belt')?

I know this sort of argument came up some time ago when someone wanted to only target the pins holding the door on the wall. Whatever you decide, try to come up with a concept that easy to resolve, such as a single material type (so, 'wood' would leave the metal doorknob intact), wholly separable item (e.g. a sword includes the blade and hilt), or something along those lines.

You lost me.

Are you saying that I cannot shoot an arrow against a door or what else?