Can you chop down a door with swords?

[Otterscrubber]

Obviously you can but I would imagine it would be harder than with an axe. Per the rules they are both slashing weapons though and treated the same. I have never tried chopping down a door with a sword but it seems like that would be a pretty ineffective way of going about it. It seems the PHB takes into account fire, electriciy and peircing weapons doing less but does not mention this.

 

[mzsylver]

check out adamantine. oh ya, baby.

 

[Plane Sailing]

The rules give no reason why not. The rules are an ass

There is room for some very sound house rules here IMO (mine, incidentally, are that plants and wooden objects are not immune to critical hits from axes. stone objects and stone constructs are not immune to critical hits from picks. I'm not saying that is a brilliant house rule but it is simple and fits our perception of logic and simplicity.

But the straight rules allow you to chop down a door with a sword. They actually allow you to chop your way through a stone wall with a sword.

And as mzsylver implies, should you have an adamantine greatsword you pretty much don't have to worry about passwall </ sarcasm>

Cheers

 

[Darklone]

Remember my old thread about Power Attacking castle gates?

 

[hong]

But the straight rules allow you to chop down a door with a sword. They actually allow you to chop your way through a stone wall with a sword.

The straight rules explicitly put the matter of destroying objects in the realm of DM's discretion: "Ineffective weapons: The DM may determine that certain weapons just can't effectively deal damage to certain objects. For example, you may have a hard time chopping down a door by shooting arrows at it or cutting a rope with a club." -- PHB, p.165

And as mzsylver implies, should you have an adamantine greatsword you pretty much don't have to worry about passwall </ sarcasm>

Is that an egg on your face, or are you just glad to see me?

 

[Norfleet]

I would say that a greatsword constitutes a weapon which could potentially be used to chop down a regular wooden door. In fact, your foot could be an appropriate weapon for kicking in the door. Trying to chop down a thick wooden gate with a longsword or a dagger, on the other hand, is silly. Chopping through walls with a sword of ANY kind is similarly silly.

 

[Plane Sailing]

The rules allow you to, and give the DM an *option* to disallow it. Which the DM has anyway via rule 0.

So no, there is no egg on my face.

Cheers

 

[hong]

The rules allow you to

The rules allow the DM to tell you you're an ass, if you want to chop down a door with a sword. Do you have a problem with being an ass?

and give the DM an *option* to disallow it.

And your dispute with this is...?

Which the DM has anyway via rule 0.

And which part of that, exactly, do you find objectionable?

So no, there is no egg on my face.

Yes, that's what they all say. Of course, some say it louder than others.

 

[AeroDm]

I'd say no as the DM. They should have an axe, some strength, or some way to get in. If they are really unprepared, I don't see any reason to bend reality to accomodate them. YMMV, but I think common sense overrides rules any day.