Sunder Armor?

[Sonofapreacherman]

I'd like to know if anybody (official or unofficial) has devised a set of rules that lets characters sunder armor (preferably without upsetting the simplistic/stylized D&D combat mechanic).

I'm working on something myself right now, but the first question that comes to mind is... aren't characters sundering armor "every" time they strike an opponent?

I'd like to think that characters can specifically attack the armor of their opponents in the same weapon that they can sunder their weapons.

 

[mearls]

In the past, I've resolved attempts to sunder armor as touch attacks. On a hit, the attacker strikes the target's armor and resolves damage against an object as normal.

 

[Sonofapreacherman]

That's straightforward enough. So my next question would be, what values did you create for each respective armor type?

 

[Sonofapreacherman]

Thinking quickly... I could see making their "armor bonus" the Hardness rating, but that still leaves Hit Points for each respective armor type.

Did you come up with any values mearls?

For that matter, has anybody come up with reasonable Hit Point values for the armor types?

 

[mearls]

Hmmm.. the easiest thing is to base it off the armor bonus. A simple way would be to say the armor's hardness equals its armor bonus. Its hit points equal twice the bonus. It would require some playtesting, but that should work. I'd work in a bonus for magic enhancements, maybe add the magic bonus to the armor's basic bonus to determine its hardness and hitpoints. Also, when an armor loses half its hitpoints I'd reduce its bonus by half to compensate for the relatively high hit points.

 

[EricNoah]

Any thoughts about the material striking vs. the material struck? A wooden club against a steel breastplate ... seems like the breastplate might actually sunder the club, and not vice versa.

I'm gonna slide this over to .... oh, gosh, I think Rules would be most appropriate.

 

[Hollywood]

That would be more realistic, but neither is D&D's combat anywhre close. Nonetheless, since the Sunder Weapon doesn't account for say wooden club against steel sword, Sunder Armor probably shouldn't either... right? For simplicity and sanity sake.

Any thoughts about the material striking vs. the material struck? A wooden club against a steel breastplate ... seems like the breastplate might actually sunder the club, and not vice versa.

I'm gonna slide this over to .... oh, gosh, I think Rules would be most appropriate.

 

[Kwalish Kid]

Can spells like fireball be used to sunder armor? If I properly direct the little pellet that shoots out to start the fireball, can that be counted as a hit against armor?

 

[Jondor_Battlehammer]

Since armor isn't a chunk of material, but instead shaped and hardened to withstand repeated blows, I would calculate it's HP and hardness by one full inch of the material it's made of. I've honestly never run into a Sunder attempt, so I don't recall how to resolve one. I would not allow a material with a lower hardness to harm one with a higher hardness, though, just like a normal weapon cannot Sunder a +1 sword.

 

[Squire James]

Well, the primary use of Sunder in my campaign is to get rid of that pesky Heavy Fortification armor the other guy has, so your rogue is a useful character again (or so the party Lucky Guy can start critting it)! I usually give it hardness typical for the metal and hit points as if it were 2 inches thick (to make it a bit difficult to do in a single hit). Magic bonus applies to hardness, and 2x the bonus to hit points. I'm considering adding bonus squared to hit points, so high-level characters pretty much have to decide if they want to kill the opponent's armor or kill the opponent!

I've actually had a PC prepare two Make Whole spells just to help handle this sort of situation, which must mean I'm doing something right!