What happens if the rope from a Rod of Ropes is cut or broken?

[MetaKirby06]

I was wondering because in the Complete Scoundrel book, it says that the rope has the same harness and HP of the rod (which, by my understanding, is hardness 5, HP 10, the same as wood). However, it doesn't say what happens if the rope is cut or broken.

Also, the book doesn't state AC of the rod (and therefore the rope). I would imagine the AC is 10 + 2 or 4 (is the rod Tiny or Diminutive?) - 4 (I would say its a light weapon) when held/on-person, and would have to be Sundered to take damage. When not being held, I would imagine its AC is 10 + 2 or 4 (Tiny or Diminutive?) - 5 (no Dexterity) - 2 (inanimate). Also, the DC to break it is not mentioned, so I would guess the rod's DC is 13 or 17 (is it comparable to a "simple wooden door" or a "small Chest"?) and the rope's is either the same or 23 (the default for rope).

Also, the grappling hook attack wasn't very clear as to how the bull rush effect works. Does the hook deal damage and bull rush, or only do one? Also, does the hook take -8 (Tiny), -12 (Diminutive), your size penalty/bonus, or no size penalty? Can it only bull rush targets according to its size or your size? I would also imagine that if it fails the check, the hook flies 5 feet backward.

Also, how do you retract the hooks from the 3rd function? It says "pushing any button a second time returns the rod to its previous (unactivated) state." Does this mean after the 3rd press of the 3rd button, or after any press of any button? Also, when the hooks retract from the 3rd function, I would imagine they retract at a speed of 60 feet like with the 2nd function.

Also, can it be made for different sizes of creatures, or is it always 18" long?

Also, I've used the word "also" 9 times, including that last one. And, there are more questions here than the topic states, by 8.

Thanks in advance for any answers!

[Slipperychicken]

It would appear that the bonus was intended to be the total bull rush bonus. You fire it at something, roll d20 +5, and that's the bull rush check. Otherwise, that function would be useless.


It doesn't have any clauses pertaining to rope being severed, so resolving it is kind of debatable.

Depending on your reading of the rope function, it can either only ever extrude 300ft of rope, which cannot be replaced if severed, OR it may extrude an unlimited quantity of rope, provided you sever the rope before it gets 300ft of continuous rope. Even if you use the first interpretation, the second two functions of the Rod of Ropes don't have such a maximum, so they aren't affected if you sever rope extruded by the rope function.

Where it gets weird is when the rope is severed while a piece of the Rod is only connected to the rest by that rope. The Rod either continues to function unimpeded (albeit a bit shorter each time. I feel like this is the RAW, but I have been wrong before), or the Grappling Hook and Rope ceases to function (this feels like a reasonable interpretation to me, although not terribly fair to the owner of a severed Rod. I'd probably let him get it repaired for something like 500-1000gp).

[MetaKirby06]

I guess your right about the bull rush thing, that makes much more sense.

I also like your interpretations for the rope being cut. My brother had an idea that if it was cut, the part that was cut off would simply disappear, and would come back if you reset the rod (the same would happen to the hook ends as well: they'd disappear, then reappear on the rod when its reset).