3.5 Rusting Grasp Question

[TomeGnome]

Having a discussion with the DM. See what you think:

Imagine a druid is fighting a fighter with a magic sword. The druid casts Dispel Magic as a targeted dispel on the sword and succeeds at his check. According to the wording of the spell, the sword is now nonmagical for the next 1d4 rounds.

The next round, the druid casts Rusting Grasp and makes a melee touch attack against the sword. Against a magic weapon, the spell does nothing. It "destroys" a nonmagical weapon.

1) does Rusting Grasp work in this manner?
2) is the sword completely disintegrated, is it nonfunctional, but then in 1d4-1 rounds becomes a magical pile of rust?

[nedz]

Rusting Grasp would provoke an AoO, but otherwise 2)

A suppressed item becomes non-magical for the duration of the effect.
Except that the pile of rust is no longer magical

Damaging Magic Items

...

Magic items, unless otherwise noted, take damage as nonmagical items of the same sort. A damaged magic item continues to function, but if it is destroyed, all its magical power is lost.

[TomeGnome]

I had seen that wording on the first matter, but the reference regarding magical items is new. Thanks.

So much for fixing up broken items after embarrassing the fighter. :p

[TheBrassDuke]

This is why I love throwing "Blight" Druids at PCs. This is one of my favorites early on when going up against the BSF and our resident illiterate.

[nedz]

This is why I love throwing "Blight" Druids at PCs. This is one of my favorites early on when going up against the BSF and our resident illiterate.

Well they're both 4th level spells so you can't do it too early. Also the Dispel might only last 1 round. It's also a level to high for Imbue Summoning so you have to make a touch attack with the Rusting Grasp - against the BSF.

[TheBrassDuke]

Well they're both 4th level spells so you can't do it too early. Also the Dispel might only last 1 round. It's also a level to high for Imbue Summoning so you have to make a touch attack with the Rusting Grasp - against the BSF.

Touch attacking the BSF isn't too tough, really. Especially for even a spell-focused Druid. The BSF's AC will rely primarily on his physical armor.

[nedz]

Touch attacking the BSF isn't too tough, really. Especially for even a spell-focused Druid. The BSF's AC will rely primarily on his physical armor.

Yes, but he's likely to get some Big-Sword attacks on you in return. It wasn't the likely hood of hitting I was worried about, quite the opposite. Range, with suitable BC or minions in the way, is a lot safer.

[TheBrassDuke]

Yes, but he's likely to get some Big-Sword attacks on you in return. It wasn't the likely hood of hitting I was worried about, quite the opposite. Range, with suitable BC or minions in the way, is a lot safer.

This is very true. I apologize.

[sleepyphoenixx]

Yes, but he's likely to get some Big-Sword attacks on you in return. It wasn't the likely hood of hitting I was worried about, quite the opposite. Range, with suitable BC or minions in the way, is a lot safer.

Unless you're facing a spiked chain fighter with optimized reach you can generally get around that with Wild Shape. Aberration WS especially has quite a few lower-HD forms with 15 or even 20ft of natural reach, and later plant forms get some reach too, up to 60ft for the Ironmaw (FF). For animals there's always the Dire Eagle (RoS) with its 10ft reach, which is enough for a medium size opponent without a reach weapon.

There just isn't much reason to spend the actions and spell slots on destroying someones weapon when other options neutralize him faster and more efficiently, unless you're doing it just to be a ****.

[TomeGnome]

unless you're doing it just to be a ****.

*Touches nose and points at sleepyphoenixx*