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RS14
2009-01-12, 10:42 PM
It is widely known that sunder is a trap.

Consider the following simple houserule:
Destroyed items are merely unusable. They retain their magic properties in a dormant state, and when repaired, become usable magic items again. Single use or charged items are explicit exceptions: if destroyed, they cannot be repaired.

Without going into the mechanics of permanently destroying items, does the above house-rule make sundering a viable tactic? If so, how does it compare to other core combat options?

RandomLunatic
2009-01-12, 11:31 PM
In my book, this will put Sunder slightly above Disarm at all but the lowest levels, where the uncertainty of actually destroying the weapon will put Disarm back in the lead.

Both use a similiar mechanic (opposed attack rolls), so overall builds will be similiar. Past real low levels, dealing enough damage to break a sword is not difficult. Sunder requires a feat any meleer will have anyway (versus Disarm, where not everybody wants to drop a 13 INT for Combat Expertise), so you end up saving a feat. Sunder forces an opponent to use a new (hopefully weaker) weapon, whereas a Disarmee can just pick the sword back up and stab you with it again.

OTOH, stripping away a character's boots, rings, amulets, etc will become easy and commonplace. This effect will generally come to hurt the PCs, as they tend to have more and better gear than their adversaries.