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<blockquote data-quote="Clint_L" data-source="post: 9045992" data-attributes="member: 7035894">This is kind of an interesting topic. Breaking things goes way back in the history of D&amp;D, because it turns out to be something that players want to do all the time. I recall that one of my main annoyances with early computer RPGs was how limited you were in being able to solve problems by breaking stuff. As others mentioned, the original game had rules for breaking stuff, and some of these (e.g. &quot;bending bars&quot;) were significant enough to have their own specific tables.I think 5e's Difficulty Check system does a good job in handling the issue, though as always it does place an onus on the DM being able to make a reasonable call. The other method 5e uses is to basically treat an object like an inert creature, giving it HP, AC and resistances. The latter is more important in combat, or elsewhere if players might be trying to break something under a time constraint. A classic example would be breaking a ship during a nautical encounter (just had to deal with such a scenario a few weeks ago). Again, though there is limited guidance in the rules (e.g. ship stats in Ghosts of Saltmarsh), a lot is left to DM discretion (the mantra of 5e).One thing I maybe handle differently than others is that I will straight up tell players when something is almost certainly unbreakable by the method they are suggesting, rather than let them experiment (unless the latter is hilarious). This is because I figure that some things should be kind of obvious, and if it isn't, I probably have not described the situation sufficiently. So if a player wanted to try to break an anvil with their plain old sword, I would just tell them, &quot;It's an anvil. Looking at it, it is obviously going to break your sword before your sword breaks it.&quot; Then they can do what they want.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Clint_L, post: 9045992, member: 7035894"] This is kind of an interesting topic. Breaking things goes way back in the history of D&D, because it turns out to be something that players want to do [I]all the time[/I]. I recall that one of my main annoyances with early computer RPGs was how limited you were in being able to solve problems by breaking stuff. As others mentioned, the original game had rules for breaking stuff, and some of these (e.g. "bending bars") were significant enough to have their own specific tables. I think 5e's Difficulty Check system does a good job in handling the issue, though as always it does place an onus on the DM being able to make a reasonable call. The other method 5e uses is to basically treat an object like an inert creature, giving it HP, AC and resistances. The latter is more important in combat, or elsewhere if players might be trying to break something under a time constraint. A classic example would be breaking a ship during a nautical encounter (just had to deal with such a scenario a few weeks ago). Again, though there is limited guidance in the rules (e.g. ship stats in [I]Ghosts of Saltmarsh[/I]), a lot is left to DM discretion (the mantra of 5e). One thing I maybe handle differently than others is that I will straight up tell players when something is almost certainly unbreakable by the method they are suggesting, rather than let them experiment (unless the latter is [I]hilarious[/I]). This is because I figure that some things should be kind of obvious, and if it isn't, I probably have not described the situation sufficiently. So if a player wanted to try to break an anvil with their plain old sword, I would just tell them, "It's an anvil. Looking at it, it is obviously going to break your sword before your sword breaks it." Then they can do what they want. [/QUOTE]

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