Objects include any items made of non-living material, though they can sometimes include immobile living beings such as trees.
When attempting to break an object, there are typically two options: smash it with a weapon or break it with sheer strength. The mechanics of each method are covered below, along tables of examples for different material types and common objects.
Smashing an Object
Smashing a weapon or shield with a slashing or bludgeoning weapon is accomplished by the
Sunder Combat Maneuver. Smashing an object is a lot like sundering a weapon or shield, except that your attack roll is opposed by the object’s AC. Generally, you can smash an object only with a bludgeoning or slashing weapon.
Armor Class
Objects are easier to hit than creatures because they usually don’t move, but many are tough enough to shrug off some damage from each blow. An object’s
Armor Class is equal to 10 + its size modifier + its
Dexterity modifier. An inanimate object has not only a
Dexterity of 0 (-5 penalty to AC), but also an additional -2 penalty to its AC. Furthermore, if you take a
Full-Round Action to line up a shot, you get an automatic hit with a melee weapon and a +5 bonus on attack rolls with a ranged weapon. Object size modifiers to AC are shown in the Size and Armor Class Modifiers table.
Hardness
Each object has hardness—a number that represents how well it resists damage. Whenever an object takes damage, subtract its hardness from the damage. Only damage in excess of its hardness is deducted from the object’s hit points (see Table: Substance Hardness and Hit Points; Table: Object Hardness and Hit Points; and Table: Common Weapon and Shield Hardness and Hit Points).
Hit Points
An object’s hit point total depends on what it is made of and how big it is (see Table: Substance Hardness and Hit Points; Table: Object Hardness and Hit Points; and Table: Common Weapon and Shield Hardness and Hit Points). When an object’s hit points reach 0, it’s ruined.
Very large objects have separate hit point totals for different sections.
Energy Attacks
Energy attacks deal half damage to most objects. Divide the damage by 2 before applying the object’s hardness. Some energy types might be particularly effective against certain objects, subject to DM discretion. For example, fire might do full damage against parchment, cloth, and other objects that burn easily. Sonic might do full damage against glass and crystal objects.
Ranged Weapon Damage
Objects take half damage from ranged weapons (unless the weapon is a siege engine or something similar). Divide the damage dealt by 2 before applying the object’s hardness.
Ineffective Weapons
Certain weapons just can’t effectively deal damage to certain objects.
Immunities
Objects are immune to nonlethal damage and to
Critical Hits.
Even animated objects, which are otherwise considered creatures, have these immunities because they are
Constructs.
Magic Armor, Shields, and Weapons
Each +1 of enhancement bonus adds 2 to the hardness of armor, a weapon, or a shield and +10 to the item’s hit points.
Vulnerability to Certain Attacks
Certain attacks are especially successful against some objects. In such cases, attacks deal double their normal damage and may ignore the object’s hardness.
Damaged Objects
A damaged object remains fully functional until the item’s hit points are reduced to 0, at which point it is destroyed.
Damaged (but not destroyed) objects can be repaired with the
Craft skill.
Saving Throws
Unattended Non-magical Items: Nonmagical, unattended items never make
Saving Throws. They are considered to have failed their
Saving Throws, so they always are affected by spells. An item attended by a character (being grasped, touched, or worn) makes
Saving Throws as the character (that is, using the character’s saving throw bonus).
Magical Items: Magic Items always get
Saving Throws. A magic item’s save bonuses are equal to 2 + half its
Caster Level. An attended magic item either makes
Saving Throws as its owner or uses its own saving throw bonus, whichever is better.
Attended Items: Items that are held, wielded, or on a character's person are assumed to survive a magical attack unless the descriptive text for the spell or attack specifies otherwise. If a creature rolls a natural 1 on its saving throw against the effect, however, an exposed item is harmed (if the attack can harm objects). Refer to Table: Items Affected by Magical Attacks to determine order in which items are affected. Determine which four objects carried or worn by the creature are most likely to be affected and roll randomly among them. The randomly determined item must make a saving throw against the attack form and take whatever damage the attack dealt. If the selected item is not carried or worn and is not magical, it does not get a saving throw. It simply is dealt the appropriate damage.
Animated Objects
Animated objects count as creatures for purposes of determining their
Armor Class (do not treat them as inanimate objects).
Breaking Items
When a character tries to break something with sudden force rather than by dealing damage, use a
Strength check (rather than an attack roll and damage roll, as with
Sunder) to see whether they succeed. The DC depends more on the construction of the item than on the material.
If an item has lost half or more of its hit points, the DC to break it drops by 4.
Larger and smaller creatures get a
Size Modifier on
Strength checks to break open doors as follows: Fine -16, Diminutive -12, Tiny -8, Small -4, Large +4, Huge +8, Gargantuan +12, Colossal +16.
A crowbar or portable ram improves a character’s chance of breaking open a door.
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