Sundering a ring?

[Darklone]

A question that came into my mind during the thread about a force shield and a two handed weapon... Someone said you cannot sunder the shield. But why shouldn't it be possible to sunder the ring?

Could some real rules expert help me with the calculations?

Quote from the SRD:
Animated objects count as characters for AC purposes.
Attacking a held, carried, or worn object provokes an attack of opportunity. Objects that are held, carried, or worn by a character, are harder to hit. The object uses the character's Dexterity modifier (not its own -5) and any magic deflection bonus to AC the character may have. The attacker doesn't get any special bonus for attacking the object. If the target object is in the opponent's hand, it gets a +5 AC bonus because the opponent can move it quickly out of harm's way.

Table: Size and AC of Objects
Size AC Modifier
----- -----------
Diminutive +4
Fine +8

I'd say a ring is of Fine size. The +5 modifier for being at or in the enemies hand should apply too IMHO as well as his Dex mod and deflection AC bonus.

Now could you please help me with the hardness and damage rules for a ring? Could I e.g. destroy a ring of jumping with a weapon +1?

Btw: Wouldn't it be easier to cut the finger a la LotR?

 

[Thanee]

23+DEX+Deflection

But please, how silly is this!?

Bye
Thanee

 

[Darklone]

Bah

And what kind of weapon do I need to sunder a magical ring?

 

[Thanee]

Normal weapon probably, since rings do not have an enhancement bonus.

Bye
Thanee

 

[Darklone]

Huhm, hihihi

Aha, now my evil NPCs will sunder everything... gnihihihihi

 

[Bobbystopholes]

Remind me to never play in your games Are you trying to kill the fun of your PCs?

 

[Henrix]

Btw: Wouldn't it be easier to cut the finger a la LotR?

How could you, IRL, not cut (smash, whatever) the finger when you try to sunder the ring?


But I digress, by the rules this seems unproblematic.

According to the DMG, a magic ring has: "an AC of 13, 2 hit points, a hardness of 10, and a break DC of 25."

(The unattended AC of 23 supports the AC given earlier (10 -5 (0 Dex) +8 (Fine) =13).)

No wonder Sauron made his Ring a little harder to destroy!

If this threatens to become a problem, have people wear several other, non-magical, rings as well. Spotting and choosing which one to sunder would quickly make it not worthwhile.
Or wear a glove over the ring.

 

[Gromm]

I think you read Lord of the Rings one too many times.

You can't sunder rings, or bracers, or headbands, or whatever- not by the rules as written anyway.

 

[Howling Coyote]

Actually you can sunder them, but it would be almost impossible to sunder a ring/bracer/headband without cutting/smashing the finger/wrist/head that holds the item.
So effectively the sunder attempt would be a called shot to a specific body part at the same time.

 

[hong]

Actually you can sunder them, but it would be almost impossible to sunder a ring/bracer/headband without cutting/smashing the finger/wrist/head that holds the item.
So effectively the sunder attempt would be a called shot to a specific body part at the same time.

... which is something not directly supported by the rules.

Called shots undermine the rationale behind an abstract hit point system. The rules basically assume you're always trying your best to take down the other guy, by whatever means necessary. In this case, you could assume that the shot that sunders the ring is the one that takes the wearer out of the fight -- ie, the one that reduces him to 0 hit points.