D&D 5E How are objects being handled as far as damage is concerned?

[Sadrik]

So I want to damage the shield of my opponent, I want to axe the door down, I fireball the room what is destroyed, I want to attack the potion in his hand before he drinks it.

I think objects are simply a bag of HP from the last playtest. There is no DR, so there is no threshold of enough damage to cause any damage. So you do get some weird scenarios with that. Dagger the adamantine wall down over time.

For me this is an area where I would like to see some options on how to handle these situations. These types of things can be hand waved but this seems like an important enough aspect to the game where it should not have to be...

Any thoughts on this?

 

[doctorhook]

So I want to damage the shield of my opponent, I want to axe the door down, I fireball the room what is destroyed, I want to attack the potion in his hand before he drinks it.

I think objects are simply a bag of HP from the last playtest. There is no DR, so there is no threshold of enough damage to cause any damage. So you do get some weird scenarios with that. Dagger the adamantine wall down over time.

For me this is an area where I would like to see some options on how to handle these situations. These types of things can be hand waved but this seems like an important enough aspect to the game where it should not have to be...

Any thoughts on this?

My guess is that rules for damaging objects will be given a simple treatment in the Player's Handbook, and then a more complex optional module in the DMG come November.

 

[GMMichael]

For me this is an area where I would like to see some options on how to handle these situations. These types of things can be hand waved but this seems like an important enough aspect to the game where it should not have to be...

Any thoughts on this?

Hand-waive it. There are more important issues afoot. Like damage on a miss.

Seriously though. Wait for the DMG, or wait for the Destroying Stuff module.

 

[Lanefan]

Corollary question: how easy will it be to break magic items in 5e?

Lan-"and if it isn't easy, I'll make it easy"-efan

 

[CM]

Hand-waive it. There are more important issues afoot. Like damage on a miss.

Seriously though. Wait for the DMG, or wait for the Destroying Stuff module.

Can't say I'm a fan of the "wait for the DMG" answer which I'm seeing a lot around these parts. People are playing games now, and the DMG is a long ways off.

Personally I'd probably use something based on the 3e rules for damaging objects until something official arrives to supersede it.

 

[SigmaOne]

Can't say I'm a fan of the "wait for the DMG" answer which I'm seeing a lot around these parts. People are playing games now, and the DMG is a long ways off.

Well, given that the full rules are not available until August, and even the basic rules are a week away, I think maybe people are probably being impatient.

It is an interesting question to ask whether this kind of information will appear in the DMG or "DMG" addendum to the free PDF. (Or for that matter in the PHB.) (Or for that matter in the basic rules.)