DM's. To sunder or not to sunder?

[JoeGKushner]

If I may give a PC's perspective? My character dual wields bladed gauntlets (Modified from books). Now, if they were sundered I'd have a huge problem because my character has history with those weapons. It would cause SERIOUS in character problems. If you want a better perspective u could try reading my story hour at:
http://test.cyberstreet.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=13639

So if your characters have put any history behind their weapons you might want to be prepared for the IC reprecussions.

Stupid question. Assuming that NPCs have some motivation to stay alive, why would they care about you're character's personal history?

Characters with such deep history should cherish their items and be aware that they could be destroyed and either hide them for emergencies or have them enchanted. Of course there are feats that make it more difficult to have your weapon sundered so if a player really wants his weapon not destroyed, he'll take the feat to prove it.

 

[TiQuinn]

Sundering

Heck yeah, Sunder if you got it! That and disarming are fantastic attacks to use on your party because it keeps things varied and forces them to use other abilities as well.

Sundered weapons lead to a whole slew of possiblities:

If the weapon was magical, give them a side quest to repair it.

Consider a weapon made out of adamantine. For a party that never had to deal with sunder, the weapon would be trade fodder. Useless to them. Spring it on a fighter whose sword has been split in two a few times, and suddenly it's his most prized posession.

Give them an extremely powerful weapon, just for the hell of it! The kicker....it's also very, very fragile, and can shatter easily.

Don't just spring sundering on them. Make them realize it's a very real possibility. Fighters will stop thinking of their weapons as being the be-all, end-all for them. They'll have spare weapons. Suddenly Quick-draw becomes a very potent feat for a front-line fighter to have.

And remember, what's good for the goose is good for the gander.

 

[James McMurray]

Heck, fighting 1 vs. 5 is generally a sure way to lose. I was assuming both sides had more than one combatant. In a 1 on 1 fight Sunder becomes a great option. In a X vs. X fight, sundering can be useful.

 

[Ridley's Cohort]

Heck, fighting 1 vs. 5 is generally a sure way to lose. I was assuming both sides had more than one combatant. In a 1 on 1 fight Sunder becomes a great option. In a X vs. X fight, sundering can be useful.

True. But creatures who are strong enough or have the DR to pull off the Sunder tactic do not come in three's or four's.

DR better than +2 is rare. +3 or GMWed weapons are not once you reach 10th level.

A Balor knows any group that can challenge him is going to be armed with +4 or +5 weapons. What good does his DR +3 do him? Even backup weapons of a ~15th level party can cut through that.

I guess my concern is that an NPC is simply not likely to know whether sunder is a good idea or not. It is usually a stupid tactic. Have often do your NPCs with a +2 weapon try and sunder the PC's +3 weapon?

 

[James McMurray]

Actually, I've never used Sunder. I've disarmed every now and then, but never Sundered. Doesn't mean it isn't useful. I've just enver used creatures against my party with the Sunder feat, or creatures that were entirely front line fighters with no other abilities. A Balor demon has tons better things to do if he is losing a fight then to sunder a weapon (like teleporting the heck away after gating in something to cover his escape).

I believe the original example was referring to elementals, which usually aren't intelligent enough to know that their foes will have +4 weapons.

 

[the Jester]

Well, if a monster has a feat my assumption is they're gonna use it. If not, change it out for something they will use.

I've sundered a few magic weapons pcs imc had, usually in battle with elementals or something of a similar "brute force" type... the pcs got over it, even though it was the only magic falchion the party had ever found (you can always make 'em, after all), and it didn't seem to drastically throw off the CRs of following encounters or party wealth.

 

[James McMurray]

True. But creatures who are strong enough or have the DR to pull off the Sunder tactic do not come in three's or four's.

• Pit Fiend: Troupe: 1-2 Pit Fiends, 2-5 Cornugons, and 2-5
• Balor Demon: Troupe: 1 Balor, 1 Marilith, and 2-5 Hezrous
  Hamatulas
• Even Nightshades can come in pairs, flocks (3-6), or gangs (2-5)

 

[Sodalis]

James McMurray:
Even Nightshades can come in pairs, flocks (3-6), or gangs (2-5)

why is there a category for gangs, when it can be accomodated by eithera pair or flock?

just athought

 

[James McMurray]

Well, its the Nightwings (kinda birdlike) that come in flocks, and the Nightwalkers (ground creatures) that come in gangs. Maybe they put flyers in flocks?

 

[hong]

Stupid question. Assuming that NPCs have some motivation to stay alive, why would they care about you're character's personal history?

True, however the DM might.

Characters with such deep history should cherish their items and be aware that they could be destroyed and either hide them for emergencies or have them enchanted.

If Aragorn was willing to use Anduril, and Ogier was willing to use Cortana, why should any self-respecting heroic PC hide his signature item under a bush?

Of course there are feats that make it more difficult to have your weapon sundered

I'm not aware of any such feat.