The problem of sundering

[Doug McCrae]

So the party fighter's magic sword, that he's spent about half his gold on, gets destroyed. Maybe by a blackguard, or a rust monster or a nightwalker or some such.

What happens after that? The PC's effectiveness has been greatly diminished. Does he get a new sword out of party funds? Do the other PCs give him a bigger share of loot until they all have similar magic item values again? Does the GM give him a shiny new sword? Or should he have relied on Greater Magic Weapon like the gish and the cleric?

 

[Lonely Tylenol]

The "wealth by character level" tables tend to increase exponentially over time, which means that in a few levels, he'll probably be able to buy the sword again from the change he has left over from buying an even better sword.

Of course, I usually throw my players a bone when they get stuff sundered. It's just such a pain in the butt to me to remember that the fighter essentially counts as two levels lower without his focused magic weapon that I usually correct it with some extra cash within a few sessions.

 

[Shadowslayer]

My DMing policy is that I don't sunder as long as the PCs don't. And this is laid out from the start. Sunder was one of the few things from 3x that I hate.

If there's Rust Monsters, I give them ample clues ahead of time.

Having said that, I'd throw in either A: a way for the sword to be re-forged, or B: A cooler sword.

 

[Lord Zardoz]

Its an item, not a birthright. On average, the loss of a bland +X weapon should be no more than an inconvenience. It will at best either force the player to drop a few points of to-hit and damage, or he will end up getting a magic user to use Magic Weapon on whatever he picks up as a backup. To my mind, it only really matters if the majority of their enemies are actually able to sunder their weapons. If that is the case, what exactly are you throwing them up against anyway? Sundering a magical weapon is not an easy thing to do.

As someone pointed out, at higher levels, the players are usually in a position to replace most things that get sundered. I would say that if you are going to sunder or steal the players gear, then make sure they have chances to either replace or reclaim their gear.

END COMMUNICATION

 

[Nathan P. Mahney]

The player sucks it up and gets back to adventuring.

 

[Kunimatyu]

My players and I have a gentleman's agreement not to sunder, since the rules as written aren't the greatest.

 

[Alzrius]

If the worry is that PCs are crippled without their magic weapons, perhaps the Temporary Enchantment rules from Adamant Entertainment are the way to go.

 

[Remathilis]

The only time I see sunder used a lot was in Star Wars d20 (usually in lightsaber combat) but in D&D, I rarely go that route and usually never do so without a "reason" (aka cooler sword up ahead...)

 

[Emirikol]

The player sucks it up and gets back to adventuring.

This get's my vote. ..but I'm the anti-magic item DM.

jh
P.S. Here's our rule that makes for a LOT of broken weapons:
Fumbles on a Natural 1
Two options:
1) Either drop the weapon 2 squares out of reach in a random direction (d4) (or break a bowstring 1d2 full rounds to re-string) or
2) Hit the enemy for a critical and the weapon (or bow) is destroyed

 

[Umbran]

What happens after that? The PC's effectiveness has been greatly diminished. Does he get a new sword out of party funds? Do the other PCs give him a bigger share of loot until they all have similar magic item values again? Does the GM give him a shiny new sword? Or should he have relied on Greater Magic Weapon like the gish and the cleric?

Depends on the group. DMs who lean heavily to the "static encounters" style say the party will have to deal with it as best they can. Those who follow the wealth and challenge guidelines will probably want to make sure that replacement wealth becomes available in reasonable time. Exactly how the party administers their wealth is, usually, their own business. I don't meddle with it unless somoene in the party is being a real greedy dork.

And, as far as I'm concerned, there's only a "gish" in the party if there's a githyanki as a PC.