Breaking Objects
Epic Path replaces the old notion that objects have a hardness and hit points which must be overcome to destroy them. In many cases, games would stop for 30 minutes or longer while an object's hit points and hardness were figured out, having to refer to multiple tables and charts. It was disruptive, and unnecessarily complex. Instead, destroying objects and structures in Epic Path utilizes the Sunder combat maneuver, with some caveats. First, objects have a target DC based on their general material hardness. Second, tougher objects and structures have a Durability score, which are larger than hit points and can only be inflicted by specific weapons, properties, qualities, and effects. No matter how many hit points your attack does, if it lacks the ability to inflict Siege Damage, it cannot harm objects no matter how much effort you expend upon it. And even when subjected to siege damage, such durable objects frequently require more than one successful Sunder check to inflict the Broken condition.
This page provides a listing of objects and their Sunder DC's and Durability. However, be aware that Sunder checks made against objects being worn or wielded (i.e. attended objects) always have a target DC of the wearer's Maneuver Defense, and typically require only 1 point of Siege Damage to gain the Broken condition.
- A note on "Broken" things
There is no technical difference between "Broken" and "Destroyed". This is largely for simplicity's sake, but also because actually destroying a player-character's prized holy sword is just a cruel, horrible thing to do. Such actions should typically be reserved for major plot points, rather than a lucky die roll by a some random slime monster. However, the idea that equipment can be attacked and broken is interesting. It's a debilitating status condition that takes a fair investment in time to repair, and cannot be repaired at all during combat. Furthermore, it's a debuff that stacks with other debuffs. In order to prevent this from spiraling out of control, with every monster opening with a volley of sunder attacks to soften up the party, we made the broken condition fairly tame. It's basically a -2 to appropriate things, depending on what gets broken. It's much worse for magic items that aren't weapons, armor or shields, however. When they're broken, they stop providing any benefit until fixed. This was also a strategic decision — it forces players to spread their best magic around, and use the many body slots available to them, instead of piling everything into one or two really powerful objects. While powerful objects can be really cool, it's just one basket for your eggs, if you know what I mean. Monsters love eggs.
Note that complex objects, such as vehicles and siege weapons also require siege damage before the vehicle or siege weapon becomes Broken. Once broken, the vehicle or siege weapon stops working. For the Sunder DC and Durability of Siege Engines, see and Siege Weapons page. For the Sunder DC and Durability of Vehicles, see the Vehicle_Combat page.
Sunder Maneuvers
The rules for performing a sunder combat maneuver are found on the sunder combat maneuver page. In general, a character uses their Maneuver Offense to make a check against the Sunder DC of the object they are attempting to sunder. If the result of the maneuver offense check equals or exceeds the Sunder DC of the object, a single point of siege damage is done to the object. For every 5 by which you beat the Sunder DC for the listed object, the amount of Siege Damage you inflict is increased by 1.
Sunder DC
This is the target DC of any Sunder combat maneuver check made against the listed object. Note that, unless a weapon has the Sunder weapon quality, it cannot be used to make Sunder attempts against anything made from, or reinforced with, metal or stone. GM's may allow exceptions to this, but generally you wouldn't want to repeatedly bang your beautiful +9 Glitterdoom Shortsword of Spasmodic Awesomeness into a stone block anyway. While you technically can't break your sword this way, you'll also never break that rock. Just get yourself a nice heavy pick, buddy, and maybe a dwarf to go with it, and have at.
Siege Damage
A successful Sunder check against an object inflicts 1 point of siege damage upon that object. As stated earlier, if the object is made from, or reinforced with, metal or stone, it cannot be sundered, except with a weapon possessing the sunder weapon quality, or with a siege weapon. Siege weapons, needless to say, have the sunder weapon quality. Vehicles and bogeys (NPC vehicles) use siege weapons, and deal siege damage.
Each point of siege damage inflicted on an object is applied against its durability.
Durability
An object's "Durability" number is the number of points of Siege Damage required to inflict the Broken condition.
Note that, in many cases, the durability for some structures is so high that it will take hours of Sunder attempts to break it, or even days. This is realistic, especially in terms of sieges on castles, or tunneling through the earth. Such activities take a long time. GM's are encouraged to allow players to 'take 10' on such rolls, and abstract the time it takes. Or perhaps have a montage.
Dweomermetals and Special Materials
Objects made of special materials can receive a bonus or penalty to their normal Sunder DC. Refer to the Special Materials table, if the object is made of a dweomermetal or specific type of special material.
Object Size
A normal door for a castle designed for sized-medium creatures is probably around 2 inches thick. However, that same door, designed for a castle meant for sized-large creatures might be 6 inches thick. To the sized-large creature, it's an adequate door, but hardly anything special. To a medium creature trying to smash that door, however, it's remarkably resistant against their tiny little axe.
The structures listed below assume the objects described were designed for sized-medium creatures. If they were designed for different sized creatures, refer to the Size Modifiers table to adjust the Sunder DC and Broken At values appropriately.
Objects
A broken object is fairly self-explanatory -- it's broken and no longer does what it was designed to do. In the case of a chest, it is destroyed enough to allow its contents to be removed.
| Object | Sunder DC | Durability | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rope (1" thick) | 15 | 1 siege damage point | |
| Wooden Crate/Barrel/Chest | 17 | 2 siege damage points | |
| Reinforced Chest | 20 | 4 siege damage points | requires 'Sunder' weapon |
| Steel Chest | 25 | 8 siege damage points | requires 'Sunder' weapon |
| Chain | 20 | 4 siege damage points | requires 'Sunder' weapon |
| Manacles | 20 | 3 siege damage points | requires 'Sunder' weapon |
| Masterwork Manacles | 28 | 4 siege damage points | requires 'Sunder' weapon |
| Iron Bar (1" thick) | 28 | 4 siege damage points | requires 'Sunder' weapon |
| Block of Stone (1' cube) | 20 | 10 siege damage points | requires 'Sunder' weapon |
| Standard Furniture | 17 | 2 siege damage points | |
| Sturdy Furniture | 19 | 4 siege damage points | |
| Bottle/Mug/Pitcher | 15 | 1 siege damage point |
Doors/Windows
A broken door or window is broken enough to allow a character to pass through its shattered remains. The size of this hole through the door or window is equal to the size of the character who broke it (in small-creature, medium-creature, large-creature terms, not 'perfect cutout of the character who did it' terms. You watch too many cartoons.)
| Object | Sunder DC | Durability | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Basic Wood Door | 20 | 4 siege damage points | |
| Sturdy Wood Door | 25 | 5 siege damage points | |
| Reinforced Wood Door | 30 | 8 siege damage points | |
| Iron-Bound Wood Door | 35 | 8 siege damage points | requires 'Sunder' weapon |
| Cage Door (Iron) | 40 | 8 siege damage points | requires 'Sunder' weapon |
| Portcullis (Iron) | 45 | 10 siege damage points | requires 'Sunder' weapon |
| Heavy Portcullis (Iron) | 50 | 20 siege damage points | requires 'Sunder' weapon |
| Solid Iron Door | 45 | 15 siege damage points | requires 'Sunder' weapon |
| Reinforced Solid Iron Door | 55 | 20 siege damage points | requires 'Sunder' weapon |
| Crude Glass Window | 12 | 2 siege damage points | |
| Plate Glass Window | 30 | 4 siege damage points | |
| Barred Window | 40 | 8 siege damage points | requires 'Sunder' weapon |
| Shutters | As door (see above), but 2 siege points points easier | ||
Walls
Like doors, broken walls can be passed through by the creature who broke it in the first place, or any other creature of the same size. The walls listed below provide the Sunder DC and Durability per 5 feet of thickness. Walls which are thicker than 5 feet are basically just like having a second 5-foot thick wall directly behind the first. They have the same Sunder DC, but another set of Durability successes equal to the first 5 feet. A way to think of this is that the first 5 feet crumble away revealing even more wall.
Siege weapons which deal damage to an area of effect that successfully break one of the listed walls smash a portion of the wall equal to this area of effect, though only 5 feet into the thickness of the wall.
If a wall is supposed to be thinner than 5 feet thick, such as an interior or residential wall, the Sunder DC is unchanged, but reduce the number of successes necessary by 1/5 per foot less than 5.
| Object | Sunder DC | Durability | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rammed Earth Wall | 15 | 30 siege damage points | |
| Daub and Wattle Wall | 18 | 30 siege damage points | |
| Plaster and Lath Wall | 22 | 30 siege damage points | |
| Beam and Post Wall | 25 | 30 siege damage points | |
| Palisade Wall | 30 | 40 siege damage points | |
| Mud Brick Wall | 35 | 25 siege damage points | |
| Brick Wall | 40 | 30 siege damage points | requires 'Sunder' weapon |
| Rough Stone Wall | 45 | 50 siege damage points | requires 'Sunder' weapon |
| Cut Stone Wall - Residential | 50 | 50 siege damage points | requires 'Sunder' weapon |
| Heavy Cut Stone Wall | 55 | 50 siege damage points | requires 'Sunder' weapon |
| Military Cut Stone Wall | 60 | 75 siege damage points | requires 'Sunder' weapon |
| Castle Curtain Wall | 65 | 75 siege damage points | requires 'Sunder' weapon |
| -- With Buttresses | +5 | +5 siege damage points | requires 'Sunder' weapon |
| -- With Ramparts | +10 | +20 siege damage points | requires 'Sunder' weapon |
| Natural Stone | 50 | 200 siege damage points | requires 'Sunder' weapon |
| Iron Wall | 65 | 80 siege damage points | requires 'Sunder' weapon |
| Reinforced Iron Wall | 75 | 100 siege damage points | requires 'Sunder' weapon |
| Iron Curtain Wall | 85 | 175 siege damage points | requires 'Sunder' weapon |
| -- With Buttresses | +5 | +5 siege damage points | requires 'Sunder' weapon |
| -- With Ramparts | +10 | +20 siege damage points | requires 'Sunder' weapon |
| Force Wall | 100 | 1 point |
Roofs
Roofs are rarely as thick as walls, but are often supported much better than walls. As a result, they can have fairly high Sunder DC's given their materials, but tend to have a lower Durability.
| Object | Sunder DC | Durability | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Thatch | 15 | 2 siege damage points | |
| Cedar Shakes | 25 | 5 siege damage points | |
| Pitch and Gravel | 30 | 5 siege damage points | |
| Tile | 33 | 7 siege damage points | |
| Flagstone | 35 | 8 siege damage points | requires 'Sunder' weapon |
| Metal-Sheathed (Copper) | 40 | 10 siege damage points | requires 'Sunder' weapon |
| Metal-Sheathed (Other) | 40 | 10 siege damage points | requires 'Sunder' weapon; adjust per Special Materials table. |
Floor/Ground
This table describes how hard it would be to essentially destroy the ground in a 5-foot cubic area, based on the type of ground in question. This can be useful if, for example, digging a grave, or attempting to tunnel under a wall. Some characters also have special abilities which let them attack the ground, for varying effects. Also useful if you really want your Epic Path game to feel more like Minecraft.
| Object | Sunder DC | Durability | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sand | 15 | 25 siege damage points | |
| Dirt | 17 | 25 siege damage points | |
| Rocks and Dirt | 20 | 30 siege damage points | |
| Loose Rocks/Scree | 35 | 25 siege damage points | requires 'Sunder' weapon |
| Stone | 50 | 200 siege damage points | requires 'Sunder' weapon |
| Ice | 45 | 2 siege damage points | |
| Muddy | 20 | 20 siege damage points | |
| Packed Dirt Road | 35 | 40 siege damage points | |
| Cobblestone Road | 40 | 40 siege damage points | requires 'Sunder' weapon |
| Stone-Paved Road/Stone Tiles | 40 | 30 siege damage points | requires 'Sunder' weapon |
| Wooden Planks | 25 | 10 siege damage points | per 1/2-foot of thickness. |
| Untreated Logs | 30 | 50 siege damage points | |
| Clay/Ceramic Tile Flooring | 33 | 25 siege damage points |
Special Materials
| Object | Sunder DC Modifier | Durability Modifier | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Adamantine | +5 | +5 | Solid metal objects only |
| Ambergold | - | - | Inlaid on any object |
| Argent | - | - | Inlaid on any object |
| Basalt (Stone) | +2 | +5 | Solid stone objects only |
| Bloodgold | - | - | Inlaid on any object |
| Bloodsilver | - | - | Inlaid on any object |
| Cold Iron | - | - | Solid metal objects only |
| Cuprium-Infused | +5 | +5 | Solid wood objects only |
| Dolemetal | +10 | +10 | Solid metal objects only |
| Dural (Stone) | +5 | +10 | Solid stone objects only |
| Glassteel | +10 | +20 | Glass (and glass-like) objects only |
| Gold | -15 | -15 | Solid metal objects only |
| Gold-Inlaid | - | - | Inlaid on any object |
| Ironwood | * | * | Solid wood objects only; hardness and durability as iron |
| Mithral | - | -20 | Solid metal objects only |
| Mithral | - | - | Inlaid on any object |
| Olivine (Stone) | +5 | +5 | Solid stone objects only |
| Paramount Alloy | +30 | +50 | Solid metal objects only |
| Peacemetal | -5 | -30 | Solid metal objects only |
| Puremetal | -2 | -25 | Solid metal objects only |
| Siegestone (Stone) | +4 | +7 | Solid stone objects only; anti-magic |
| Silver | - | -20 | Solid metal objects only |
| Silver Inlaid | - | - | Inlaid on any object |
| Truemetal | +20 | +30 | Solid metal objects only |
If a structure, such as a door, is reinforced with one of the above materials, assuming it is a material that can be used for reinforcing (typically solid metal), the reinforced structure gains half the bonuses listed in the above table for the special material added, to it's base hardness and durability.
Size Modifiers
| Object | Sunder DC Modifier | Durability Modifier |
|---|---|---|
| Small or Smaller | - | -2 points |
| Medium | - | - |
| Large | +5 | +5 points |
| Huge | +10 | +10 points |
| Gargantuan | +15 | +20 points |
| Colossal | +20 | +50 points |
| Titanic | +30 | +100 points |