[DM] - To Sunder, or not to Sunder? (Break, Destroy, Steal the PC's gear?)

[Lord Zardoz]

I am Pro Sunder / Theft

What it comes down to is that in D&D, it is probably easier for a character to come back from the dead then it is for them to replace a weapon. When you want to make a lasting impact on the character, then Sunder / Theft is the way to go.

However, you do need to be careful. Sunder is like a Coup-De-Grace. Save it for when you or the NPC in question truly mean business.

For my particular situation, I had an NPC use Improved Disarm to strip one character of his melee weapon. I then had one of the lackeys who had used a delayed action pick up the disarmed weapon. It was intresting to see that players face when it happened. If they had been able to stick out the fight, they could have gotten the weapon back.

END COMMUNICATION

 

[Norfleet]

I operate the NPC as if it were a player: Because the NPC also desires to acquire loot, he will only attempt to sunder items which are mundane and therefore replaceable, useless to them, or when desperate.

Items so damaged can be repaired with sufficient skills and material, although in the case of regular items, it's probably cheaper to replace it.

As for it being easier to resurrect players than replace items, I rule that players can only be resurrected or raised if they are only mostly dead. If they are ALL dead, they can't be miracled anymore.

 

[Bendris Noulg]

If they are ALL dead, they can't be miracled anymore.

But they can have their pockets riffled for change.

 

[SamuraiY]

How can a person be "sort of dead"?

 

[Gnarlo]

Had to vote other, as I couldn't choose both sunder sometimes and steal from sometimes. I don't use either option on anything like a common basis, but both are open to use as plot devices or dramatic effect if need be, and my players understand that.

My group does not get as bothered by sundering as it seems that some do; I think this may be due to the fact that many of us played rolemaster/merp for quite a while with it's fumble tables and chances of breaking weapons, and I still in 3e use a fumble table with a chance of the weapon breaking or being damaged, and I use damage to armor and gear that has to be upkept, so my players know that stuff gets broken and wears out and plan accordingly. Then again, I've not wrecked any big and treasured gear of theirs yet, either.

/em gnarlo!

 

[Fenes 2]

IMC, signature magic items, f.e. a sword that the fighter is and has been questing for, collecting part after part in a race against an evil undead mage, won't get permanently destroyed or taken away. Same goes for mundane items with an important history for the PC. Anything else is fair game.

Even so, an important item could get stolen, so that the PC in question has to go through some trouble to get it back.

 

[Bauglir]

I despise sunder, and house rule it right out of any game I run.

Sunder is way too easy, and does way too much long term damage. Why would anyone choose to sunder, rather than disarm a valuable magic weapon (which you can later keep, or sell)? It makes no sense.

As levels climb it only gets worse. Characters get effectively harder to kill, their equipment does not, and item destruction is quite literally 'a fate worse than death' at higher levels.

Sunder, if used regularly removes any market or trade in magical equipment. Why would anyone buy a +3 Longsword that will likely not last a week? It makes much more economical sense to buy a bag of nonmagical swords, and arrange for a GMW every day. (Perhaps give the party wizard a Pearl of Power 3).

Sunder breeds an us vs them atmosphere between the players and the dm. Sundering is so easy to do that most players will see a sundering foe as a decision by the dm to arbitrarily destroy their equipment, which they will resent (The DM controls the world around them, but the player should be in charge of their own character, and his equipment). it will quickly throw a party out of balance. A fighter can suddenly find himself next to useless if a weapon he was relying upon, and he will (rightly imo) blame the dm for making the game a lot less fun for him. You could argue that he should carry a backup, but that costs money, and unless PC wealth is artificially high, the fighter will always be behind the curve in equipment with all those backups.

It's a lose-lose situation. No thanks.

 

[fusangite]

My PCs have too much magic gear and keep it concentrated in the Paladin's bag of holding. Thus, any time an NPC casts detect magic anywhere near the PCs, they see a blinding concentration of magical auras packed into a tiny area. (Yes, I do realize that I'm probably re-interpreting the extradimensional space rules.)

Anyway, as a result, NPCs who want to make the one big score and settle down in luxury for the rest of their lives have a very keen interest in my PCs' items.

However, I had to answer "other" in the poll. NPCs often try to steal my PCs' stuff but they haven't succeeded yet. Though once they came awfully close and a suggestion spell had to be cast through a crystal ball to get the items back.