Opinions on a situation that I have encountered in game

[spectre72]

Here is the setup…

My players are camping in a marsh and one of them decides to go exploring at night

His watch was destined to be attacked by a marsh troll (Tome of Horrors) except he was surprised by it outside of camp and it hit with it’s claws (one of which was a critical) killing him by bringing him to -16 HP.

Now don’t even ask what he was doing outside of camp, but that is what his rogue did…

Now for what I am looking for an opinion on…

If a PC is attacked by a creature with “razor sharp talons” and a 20 strength and one of the hits is a critical that does 23 points of damage and brings the character deep into negatives would you think that there is a chance that those claws may sever backpack straps and such?

My assumption is that the chest area is the largest area of the body and with a hit that strong anything in the chest area would be damaged, but I am looking for others thoughts….

 

[Rodrigo Istalindir]

Here is the setup…
Now for what I am looking for an opinion on…

If a PC is attacked by a creature with “razor sharp talons” and a 20 strength and one of the hits is a critical that does 23 points of damage and brings the character deep into negatives would you think that there is a chance that those claws may sever backpack straps and such?

My assumption is that the chest area is the largest area of the body and with a hit that strong anything in the chest area would be damaged, but I am looking for others thoughts….

What are you looking to accomplish? By the rules, there's no provision for such a thing, since there are no hit locations. If you want the backpack lost, just say it's lost. Maybe the straps broke, maybe the troll peeled it off the corpse looking for food, etc. Don't feel that every little thing that happens has to have a rule to back it up, especially when you are setting up plot points.

 

[DragonLancer]

What are thinking of? Having the pack left there as a clue for the rest of the party to follow? If so, I say go for it.

 

[spectre72]

What are thinking of? Having the pack left there as a clue for the rest of the party to follow? If so, I say go for it.

That is what I was trying to do but was looking for other opinions.

I know what I decide is going outside the rules into DM interpretation and that isn't a problem, but I was trying to gauge if anyone else thought is even possible for the backpack straps to be severed by such an attack.

I think so, but was looking for others opinion.

And don't even ask why he was out in the marsh alone, at night.

 

[the Jester]

Why was this guy out alone in a swamp after dark when he was supposed to be guarding the camp anyhow??

 

[spectre72]

Why was this guy out alone in a swamp after dark when he was supposed to be guarding the camp anyhow??

I don't know what got into him to even think about scouting the area at night, and alone

I don't care if he is a rogue and has good skill in hide and move silently.

There are things in the wilderness that are just as good at hiding, and have much better spot and listen checks

I knew that it was going to be a disaster, but the critical just sealed his fate.

Right now the party doesn't even know what has happened and they are about to start looking for him...

 

[BSF]

Heck, don't have the straps on the backpack be slashed, have the backpack spill open as the troll carries/drags the rogue back someplace to be eaten. The party can find a hard to follow trail of stuff from the backpack. For "atmosphere" have them also find a shredded boot, then the remains of the rogue's leg, a stray finger or toe, you know, stuff that the troll missed while snacking.

The guy is dead, think about how messy a troll will be eating and have a bit of gory fun with it.

 

[the Jester]

Heck, don't have the straps on the backpack be slashed, have the backpack spill open as the troll carries/drags the rogue back someplace to be eaten. The party can find a hard to follow trail of stuff from the backpack. For "atmosphere" have them also find a shredded boot, then the remains of the rogue's leg, a stray finger or toe, you know, stuff that the troll missed while snacking.

The guy is dead, think about how messy a troll will be eating and have a bit of gory fun with it.

I love this!

"What did you roll on your search, a 13? Okay... you find what appears to be Bob's left foot."

"Oh, Tim got a 20? Okay, you also find a couple teeth and what just might be his spleen."

 

[Bauglir]

In terms of the 'strictly by the book' approach the pack is an attended object and would not be damaged by the attack.

Nonetheless as many others have suggested there are plenty of other ways the pack could have been damaged or removed..

 

[Mathew_Freeman]

I love this!

"What did you roll on your search, a 13? Okay... you find what appears to be Bob's left foot."

"Oh, Tim got a 20? Okay, you also find a couple teeth and what just might be his spleen."

"John, you say you got a natural twenty with your rogue? Excellent. You not only find his spleen, you find his gold tooth, the fingernail he was chewing when he got attacked - and you've just managed to avoid stepping on one of his eyes."