Force spells vs constructs & objects

[Diirk]

Acid and sonic attacks deal damage to most objects just as they do to creatures; roll damage and apply it normally after a successful hit.

I interpret this to mean that they ignore hardness... they deal damage just as if it was a creature.. creatures don't have hardness. You roll damage and apply it. Thats it.

I can see how it could be interpreted that hardness applies to acid/sonic, the prior was my interpretation of the passage. It is a little bit unclear, the "Hardness" section specifically says that you apply hardness to all damage an object takes.. this could be overridden by the "as if it was a creature" but its very vague. The acid/sonic section should probably say "ignoring any hardness."

A case could be made for either, but my own personal opinion (ignoring the FAQ) is that acid/sonic ignore hardness. Which makes sense in some situations but not others... if you put a lump of iron in some concentrated acid it will dissolve pretty quickly, but glass in acid is usually pretty happy.

 

[Caliban]

I interpret this to mean that they ignore hardness... they deal damage just as if it was a creature.. creatures don't have hardness. You roll damage and apply it. Thats it.

I can see how it could be interpreted that hardness applies to acid/sonic, the prior was my interpretation of the passage. It is a little bit unclear, the "Hardness" section specifically says that you apply hardness to all damage an object takes.. this could be overridden by the "as if it was a creature" but its very vague. The acid/sonic section should probably say "ignoring any hardness."

A case could be made for either, but my own personal opinion (ignoring the FAQ) is that acid/sonic ignore hardness. Which makes sense in some situations but not others... if you put a lump of iron in some concentrated acid it will dissolve pretty quickly, but glass in acid is usually pretty happy.

One effect of this is that the acid splash cantrip can be used to destroy adamantine chains, locks, or weapons.

 

[Grayhawk]

The FAQ has a fairly good subject on the interaction between hardness, spell effects, and how they apply to animated objects.

Found it.

It had everything I was looking for, thanks a lot!

 

[James McMurray]

One effect of this is that the acid splash cantrip can be used to destroy adamantine chains, locks, or weapons.

Since the cantrip deals 1d3 damage, and adamantium has quite a lot of hit points, it'll take a lot of casting to destroy all but the tiniest of adamantine items.

Found it.

It had everything I was looking for, thanks a lot!

No prob!