Sundering items

[JacktheRabbit]

Is there a limit to what you can use the sunder feat on?

Examples - Which of these are allowed:

Wand drawn by a wizard

Scroll drawn by a wizard

Flask in hand of enemy

Rope enemy is hanging from

Monks hands (they are a weapon)

Opponents shield

Torch in opponents hand

Holy Symbol put forth by a cleric turning

Material component in general in spellcaster hand

 

[Darklone]

Wand drawn by a wizard

Sure you can strike it.

Scroll drawn by a wizard

Why not? I'd prefer a targeted finger of fire though.

Flask in hand of enemy

Why not?

Rope enemy is hanging from

No Sunder. You can simply strike it directly.

Monks hands (they are a weapon)

No.

Opponents shield

Sure.

Torch in opponents hand

Why not.

Holy Symbol put forth by a cleric turning

Often used. You didn't yet?

Material component in general in spellcaster hand

Ok. It's easy: Sunder is used to strike attended objects held by someone. So no hands but everything he has in his hands. Though for material components and holy symbols disarm is useful too (easier to use with a whip). But that's not the question.

 

[JacktheRabbit]

I have not yet run a cleric in 3E since I rarely run that class in general. Also I have not yet had to battle one in melee.

The reason I wanted to sunder the rope the person is hanging from is the character beign designed has improved sunder and it would do more damage than a simple strike to hit.

 

[AuraSeer]

The reason I wanted to sunder the rope the person is hanging from is the character beign designed has improved sunder and it would do more damage than a simple strike to hit.

It's a ROPE, for crying out loud! It has 2 hp and no hardness! What do you need extra damage for? Are you trying to cut it with a butterknife?

 

[phillipjp]

Can you sunder the natural weapons of a monster?

 

[AuraSeer]

Can you sunder the natural weapons of a monster?

No, they're attached. If you want to break the monster, you need to attack it and do hit point damage. Sunder only works on objects.

 

[phillipjp]

Is there ANY way to disable a monster's natural weapon?

Suppose you're fighting a monstrous scorpion and the first thing you want to do is make SURE it doesn't sting you, then you can worry about hacking it down. Is there no way to whack off the stinger by itself?

That's actually a classic example I just got done reading in a DnD novel!

 

[JacktheRabbit]

It could be magical rope, or it could be a chain, or who knows maybe its special rope woven from the pubic hairs of dragons and much stronger than normal rope.

It's a ROPE, for crying out loud! It has 2 hp and no hardness! What do you need extra damage for? Are you trying to cut it with a butterknife?

 

[Voadam]

philipjp,

The only thing that comes to mind is a hold monster spell. There are no ways under core rules to target specific body parts or cut off limbs (except for the head with vorpal weapon).

Evn Grappling to pin a limb won't work under the rules. They can still attack with light weapons while grappled and all natural weapons are considered light.

When pinned in a grapple the victim is held immobile, but not helpless and it can still attack and do other things.

Unfortunately, the grapple rules do not allow a struggle over a specific weapon (as in the dagger fight in _Saving Private Ryan_).

 

[kreynolds]

Is there ANY way to disable a monster's natural weapon?

Suppose you're fighting a monstrous scorpion and the first thing you want to do is make SURE it doesn't sting you, then you can worry about hacking it down. Is there no way to whack off the stinger by itself?

That's actually a classic example I just got done reading in a DnD novel!

The DMG actually contains a variant rule that addresses damaging specific body parts. For instance, if you damage a rogues hand, any skill checks they use involving that hand, including attacks with that hand, suffer a penalty set by the DM. Injuring someone's foot (not leg) will slow down their movement rate. The problem with the variant rule is that just sucks, because it's way too vague in how this works. This variant rule basically brings back some of the original godlike power that the DMs of second edition used to be able to wield. It's a really cool rule though because it would allow you to deal damage to the scorpion's stinger, and any attacks it made with the stinger would suffer a penalty because you injured it. I can't remember what page the variant rule is on, but I believe it was in the same passage as the variant rule Death from Massive Damage.