Stupid door tricks

Magesmiley said:
Yeah, during a campaign I was playing in, we came to the conclusion that the rules for attacking objects were kind of strange. My dwarven fighter at one point carved through a stone floor with his admantine dwarven waraxe to pursue a vampire. Combining power attack with an admantine weapon makes short work of most objects.
If you consider it strange, then why allow it? You can disallow such an action per the rules. The DM has enough leeway: ""Certain weapons just can’t effectively deal damage to certain objects." It's perfectly reasonable, for example, to require a pick to destroy stone.
 

log in or register to remove this ad

I don't understand why this is considered a problem. There are two perfectly valid ways to bust the door down, depending on where you aim. Which is better depends on your abilities and the construction of the door, and how much of a hurry you're in.

Doing damage means chopping a hole through the middle. The first blow puts a dent or crack. Then you get a small hole, the size of your weapon or foot or whatever. Later blows just enlarge the hole. You will probably spend a round or two doing enough damage, but you'll almost always end up getting through the door.

Beating the break DC means taking the whole door out. You put your back into it for one solid blow, hoping to overcome the strength of the latch or the hinges. You might get through immediately, but you also might have to take a couple of tries.

The first way is usually best for wooden doors, because the wood is usually weaker than the metal fittings. It's especially useful if the door is barred or barricaded, because you can chop a small hole and then reach through to remove the obstacle. The second way is best for doors whose substance is particularly tough, or particularly hard on your weapons.

When the cops raid a drug dealer's house, they don't try to chop the door down, because that would take too long. They need to get in fast before the people inside can react. So they use two strong men with a masterwork ram, make one roll to overcome the break DC, and hopefully get the door open during the surprise round. Unfortunately, if they screw up (roll poorly), the first attempt may fail. If they really screw up, or if they've underestimated the strength of the door, this may take longer than chopping it down would have.

Contrast that with firefighters, who also need to get through a door, but don't need to worry about surprise. They needn't risk extra delay just for the chance of getting through on the first blow. So they break out the axes, make full attacks, and get through the door on round two every time-- no faster, but no slower.
 

Isn't it strange that IRL police use the "kick in the door" method not because it is quieter but because it is quicker. I know this is House Rules but shouldn't there be a way to apply Power Attack to Strength checks? Especially since Strength checks seem to have no upper limit (scaling Strength checks: Wall of Ice: Strength check: 15 + caster level, or Wall of Iron: 25 + 2/inch of thickness [DC40 to push over], and Wall of Stone: 20 + 2/inch of thickness).

Ciao
Dave
 

ElectricDragon said:
Isn't it strange that IRL police use the "kick in the door" method not because it is quieter but because it is quicker.
True, but I don't think most modern houses have "strong wooden doors": most, I think, are pretty flimsy, with pretty flimsy hinges. Also, the primary weapons cops carry are pistols, and shooting holes in doors carries a big danger of collateral damage.

Daniel
 

AuraSeer said:
Doing damage means chopping a hole through the middle. The first blow puts a dent or crack. Then you get a small hole, the size of your weapon or foot or whatever. Later blows just enlarge the hole. You will probably spend a round or two doing enough damage, but you'll almost always end up getting through the door.

Two rounds is twelve seconds. That's pretty damn quick for chopping through a strong wooden door.

When I think "strong wooden door," I think something like a solid, thick, English oak door. Do you know how long it'd take someone to chop through that? Even a really strong guy with a really big axe? It'd be a hell of a lot longer than twelve seconds, that's for sure.

And by the rules, you don't even need an axe to do it. Any weapon that can do over 5 points of damage will work. Hell, by the rules, you could eventually destroy a strong wooden door with a rapier. A guy with a rapier and a 14 strength could chop through a strong wooden door in less than five minutes, by the RAW....
 

Pielorinho said:
True, but I don't think most modern houses have "strong wooden doors": most, I think, are pretty flimsy, with pretty flimsy hinges. Also, the primary weapons cops carry are pistols, and shooting holes in doors carries a big danger of collateral damage.

Daniel

This is why police officers carry a shotgun in the vehicle. You use it for breaching doors.
 

Grog said:
And by the rules, you don't even need an axe to do it. Any weapon that can do over 5 points of damage will work. Hell, by the rules, you could eventually destroy a strong wooden door with a rapier. A guy with a rapier and a 14 strength could chop through a strong wooden door in less than five minutes, by the RAW....
Not necessarily. Reread post #21. By the rules you are right but also by the rules you are wrong. You seem upset at the interpretation by the rules, so choose the other one by the rules. ;)
 

IcyCool said:
This is why police officers carry a shotgun in the vehicle. You use it for breaching doors.
I've seen that in movies, but I would imagine the rules for doing that in real life would be pretty strict, aren't they?

Daniel
 

This board always teaches me that there are problems even where I don't think there are any problems. :D

A barbarian 10 has more combat prowess than a barbarian 1 with the same amount of strength. Why is it surprising that if he applies that combat prowess, he can get through a door quicker?
 


Remove ads

Top