sundering a weapon

[durath]

I've been looking through the F.A.Q. and I cannot find where it says that a bow recieves no opposed role. Could you point me to that spot?

 

[pontus]

Page 33, right column, FAQ version 2/27/02

Normally you need to make an opposed attack roll to strike a foe's weapon or shield, but if the item you're striking is not a melee weapon or a shield, just use the rules for striking a held, carried, or worn object (pages 135 and 136 in the Player's Handbook). Again, you'd normally trigger an attack of opportunity for striking the foe's equipment, but a foe armed with a ranged weapon doesn't threaten you.

 

[durath]

I stand corrected. So, if I am understanding correctly when you attempt to sunder a ranged weapon you suffer no attack of oppurtunity and instead of the sunder rules you use strike an object rules instead.

Not how I would have ruled but thats what house rules are for.

 

[kreynolds]

what I am wondering- without spoiling the adv, assuming that the cat metal thingy has a +4 mouth, how hard is it to sunder (break) a weapon?

Depends on the weapon. A +5 greatsword? Pretty darn tough! A +4 bow? So long toothpick.

 

[kreynolds]

Not how I would have ruled but thats what house rules are for.

<whispering very quietly to everyone else> i bet you he goes home and uses the rules in the end.

Just kidding.

 

[durath]

Seriously, in the campaign I play in we have house-ruled that a bow can be used as a melee weapon doing a 1d3 damage and everyone is considered non-proficient for this purpose. I mean really if you can use an arrow to stab you can use a bow to do a little poke-check.

It just seemed silly that you basically have the equivalent of a staff and couldn't use it for AoO.

 

[kreynolds]

Seriously, in the campaign I play in we have house-ruled that a bow can be used as a melee weapon doing a 1d3 damage and everyone is considered non-proficient for this purpose. I mean really if you can use an arrow to stab you can use a bow to do a little poke-check.

It just seemed silly that you basically have the equivalent of a staff and couldn't use it for AoO.

I have a player that wanted to have a bow crafted for him that could be used as a melee weapon in the case of an emergency. I charged the hell out of him for it, but he got it.

Bows in my games are not automatically considered melee weapons. Wanna know why? Hehe. Well, now you have to explain crossbows too, and those will do a lot more damage. A heavy crossbow is made of tough wood and maybe even steel. Now that's gonna hurt!

 

[durath]

That is a good point. We haven't had to deal with that yet(for some reason we rarely use crossbows).

IMO I would have them do 1d6. To use another real world example here: How many times have you heard friends in the armed forces talk about how you can use the butt of a gun for close combat? I saw one of my marine buddies come home with a nasty black eye from getting hit with the butt of a gun.

Now in D&D a gun would certainly be considered a ranged weapon but you can really hurt someone using it for melee.

 

[Sodalis]

So what is the verdict?

I still think that the book stating that the defender gets an opposed attack roll, in order to either move the weapon out of the way, or that the weapon is used to defend itself. In either case, the defender gets an opportunity to save the weapon.

I do not see anything about AoO, and that ranged weapons dont get opposed rolls.

As for the game, if the metal cat was looking for magic items to break, it should have charged at the cleric (me) instead because I had a +5 mace, +5 FP, and +5 shield, and other cool stuff. The rogue just had the +4 bow

hong:
I think your DM just got annoyed at your super-rogue.
Moral of the story: don't annoy the DM.

Now why would that be. In our group, there is a sorc and clr that shells out a lot more damage than the rogue. And the clr heals and protects at the same time... the rogue is just more vulnerable because he has a bow.

Oh well- bake a pie- eat a pie... that's what i always say...

 

[kreynolds]

I still think that the book stating that the defender gets an opposed attack roll, in order to either move the weapon out of the way, or that the weapon is used to defend itself. In either case, the defender gets an opportunity to save the weapon.

By the rules, if the weapon is not a melee weapon, you do not make opposed attack rolls. You use the rules for attacking a held/carried/worn object (held in this case, as the item gets a nice bonus to AC because it is in your hand and can be quickly moved out of the way. Anything else is a house rule.