ok; two questions about breaking the ground

[j_spencer93]

what is the DC for breaking the earth?
what is the DC for hitting the ground and splitting it?

[Djinn_in_Tonic]

what is the DC for breaking the earth?
what is the DC for hitting the ground and splitting it?

The earth? As in the material plane?

There isn't a DC for that. Whether or not it's possible, even with a +infinity check, is entirely up to DM discretion.

[Zaq]

Probably depends on what you're trying to accomplish.

The closest example of actual rules I can think of is the rules in RotD (pg. 98) for using Profession (Mining) to quarry out stone or dirt. (It's got a table of modifiers for mining through different materials.) A five-foot cube of material is actually pretty damn big, and it takes a lot of work to actually clear out that much stuff, even if it's not solid stone.

[j_spencer93]

me and a player were just curious what i would take.
Ok so what would it take to hit the ground and create a crater? or does this just not seem possible in D20?

[Troacctid]

me and a player were just curious what i would take.
Ok so what would it take to hit the ground and create a crater? or does this just not seem possible in D20?

It's possible with magic. I'm sure there are spells that do that.

You can't do it just by punching the ground with your unarmed strike, if that's what you mean, unless you want a very small fist-sized crater.

[Telonius]

This almost sounds like an XKCD "What If" question...

You'd need to establish the general composition of your "earth." Is it a classic sphere planetoid, or is it a disc (elephants and turtle optional)? Does it contain a layer of Cantbreakitite? How deep is the Underdark, and is it considered mostly solid or porous?

After you figure that, you'd need to figure out how successive layers of the regular break DCs factor in. I could see the effect either being cumulative or multiplied. 3 feet of Hewn Stone has a break DC of 50; would 6 feet be 100, or something higher? You could probably kill a few catgirls (and possibly some actual gamers) by experimenting here, but the figures are probably somewhere on the internet - convert some of those DCs in to SI units and you would have your answer.

Alternately, the answer is, "No," since before you hit the core, you'd have to pass through a layer of Midgard Serpent; as a creature, it has hitpoints, not a break DC.

[atemu1234]

It's possible with magic. I'm sure there are spells that do that.

You can't do it just by punching the ground with your unarmed strike, if that's what you mean, unless you want a very small fist-sized crater.

D2 crusader, anybody?

[sideswipe]

a cancer mage with festering anger who has been imprisoned since just about the start of the known universe.

[KillianHawkeye]

or does this just not seem possible in D20?

I think the only game system where this might be remotely possible is Exalted.

[j_spencer93]

lol ok thanks. was really just curious

[The Insanity]

There's rules in Stronghold Builder's Guide (a 3.0 ed book) for destroying sections of walls or whole structures. You could use that, maybe with a bit of tweaking, for other stuff, like creating craters. Basically the rule is, IIRC, when you hit a wall, you also deal a percentage of that damage to adjacent walls. If you hit hard enough, the whole wall could crumble.

[j_spencer93]

Interesting. For simplicity sake i might just make a 5-ft section or ground=wall to keep a headache away.

[Karl Aegis]

Just give an Earth sized planet 122,880 health. The number seems arbitrarily large enough.

[j_spencer93]

lol where did that number come from?

[Karl Aegis]

lol where did that number come from?

Do you really want all the math behind it? It gets pretty long and I don't particularly want to type it out.