Can You Sunder a Beholder's Eyes? [Archive] - Wizards Community

Can You Sunder a Beholder's Eyes? [Archive] - Wizards Community

Post/Author/DateTime Post
DM_Newbie
03-07-05, 10:53 AM Well, can you? Or how about an Illithids' tentacles? My players think you can, but i'm not so sure...any help would be appreciated.
Derren S.
03-07-05, 10:56 AM Can you sonder a human head?
No. You can only sunder weapons and hold items. A Eye, tentacle or whatever is a creature and can not be sundered.

If your players insist, let a kobold sunder their heads.
tarkin
03-07-05, 11:25 AM Examine the rules for sunder.

See where it says you have to do enough damage to destoy the entire object?

If you were to allow Sunder, you would not be able to do it unless you did enough damage to kill the beholder anyway.
God of Slivers
03-07-05, 11:39 AM Can you sonder a human head?
No. You can only sunder weapons and hold items. A Eye, tentacle or whatever is a creature and can not be sundered.

If your players insist, let a kobold sunder their heads.

But you have to sunder the heads of a hydra. :P

In 3.5 there are no called shots. An attempt to sunder certain body parts of a creature would constitute a called shot.
Meroddin
03-07-05, 11:56 AM The Kraken is another good example of a large, well gargantuan in this case, monster that allows sunder attempts. It should be noted that both of these sunder attacks are included in the monster description.

You could house rule that the Beholder's eyestalks can be sundered as weapons and figure out hardness from what you know of the Beholder. However, if you do allow your PCs to sunder, it would probably alter the CR rating of the Beholder and provide less experience. You could also mention that to your players and see how much they would appreciate that.
woodwalker
03-07-05, 12:56 PM i think that the size of the creature should be compared to the size of the character makeing the sunder attempt. a good guideline would be if the creature is 3 times bigger than the character, then u can sunder the eyestalks or whatever, but creature gets an extra =10 binus to its rool.
woodwalker
03-07-05, 12:57 PM that was supposed to be
+10, and to its role.
woodwalker
03-07-05, 12:59 PM while ur at it, binus is suppposed to be bonus. this is makeing me look very unprofessional
Santrilla
03-07-05, 01:05 PM Especially considering that there's an EDIT button, so you don't have to triple post...

No, you can't sunder a beholder's eye-stalks. They're limbs, not weapons, and you can't target specific limbs in 3.5.

If your DM was really nice, a superb critical hit might knock one of its stalks off, but that's up to his discretion.
Wyrd Bearer
03-07-05, 01:38 PM By the rules, no, you cannot sunder a beholder's eyes, an illithid's tentacles, or any other creature's limbs for that matter.

However, as the DM, you have the choice of whether to allow something special to happen when a player strikes a particularly effective blow against the monster they are fighting, as Santrilla mentioned.

An example of something you can do, something that a DM in a game I play in does, if the player rolls a natural 20 to confirm a critical, have them role again and repeat until they stop rolling natural 20's. Then, depending on how many they rolled, describe some big, fantastic action the PC performed, which may involve lopping off a limb or two, or if the monster is severly wounded already in a long, difficult battle (like to 15 or less hp) just let the PC kill the thing in an overly dramatic way that involves messy, messy evisceration. But, that is up to you.
lukelightning
03-07-05, 03:05 PM But you have to sunder the heads of a hydra. :P

Hydra (also octopuses, squid, and kraken) have special rules about their body parts being sundered; it's a special case for these specific monsters.

If I were DMing, I might allow characters to sunder the body parts of some other long-snakey-grabby monsters such as grell. My logic would be that a large part of their body is tentacles.

Plus I really really hate the "and then" monsters. You know the ones I mean.. the ones that the DM sics on you and starts rolling attacks..."ok, it claws you twice...and then it bites you, and then it gores you, and then its four tails flail at you, and then it hits you with its wings and then its tongue barb stabs you and then its earlobes grapple you and then...."
Santrilla
03-07-05, 03:20 PM Plus I really really hate the "and then" monsters. You know the ones I mean.. the ones that the DM sics on you and starts rolling attacks..."ok, it claws you twice...and then it bites you, and then it gores you, and then its four tails flail at you, and then it hits you with its wings and then its tongue barb stabs you and then its earlobes grapple you and then...."

Chinese order taker: And then..?

Ashton Kutcher: And then you give us the continuum transfunctioner.

COT: And then...?

AK: And then you stop saying 'and then'.

COT: ...

AK: that's better.

COT: ANDTHENANDTHENANDTHENANDTHENANDTHEN

Sorry. Couldn't resist a 'dude, where's my car?' reference.

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
DM_Newbie 03-07-05, 10:53 AM	Well, can you? Or how about an Illithids' tentacles? My players think you can, but i'm not so sure...any help would be appreciated.
Derren S. 03-07-05, 10:56 AM	Can you sonder a human head? No. You can only sunder weapons and hold items. A Eye, tentacle or whatever is a creature and can not be sundered. If your players insist, let a kobold sunder their heads.
tarkin 03-07-05, 11:25 AM	Examine the rules for sunder. See where it says you have to do enough damage to destoy the entire object? If you were to allow Sunder, you would not be able to do it unless you did enough damage to kill the beholder anyway.
God of Slivers 03-07-05, 11:39 AM	Can you sonder a human head? No. You can only sunder weapons and hold items. A Eye, tentacle or whatever is a creature and can not be sundered. If your players insist, let a kobold sunder their heads. But you have to sunder the heads of a hydra. :P In 3.5 there are no called shots. An attempt to sunder certain body parts of a creature would constitute a called shot.
Meroddin 03-07-05, 11:56 AM	The Kraken is another good example of a large, well gargantuan in this case, monster that allows sunder attempts. It should be noted that both of these sunder attacks are included in the monster description. You could house rule that the Beholder's eyestalks can be sundered as weapons and figure out hardness from what you know of the Beholder. However, if you do allow your PCs to sunder, it would probably alter the CR rating of the Beholder and provide less experience. You could also mention that to your players and see how much they would appreciate that.
woodwalker 03-07-05, 12:56 PM	i think that the size of the creature should be compared to the size of the character makeing the sunder attempt. a good guideline would be if the creature is 3 times bigger than the character, then u can sunder the eyestalks or whatever, but creature gets an extra =10 binus to its rool.
woodwalker 03-07-05, 12:57 PM	that was supposed to be +10, and to its role.
woodwalker 03-07-05, 12:59 PM	while ur at it, binus is suppposed to be bonus. this is makeing me look very unprofessional
Santrilla 03-07-05, 01:05 PM	Especially considering that there's an EDIT button, so you don't have to triple post... No, you can't sunder a beholder's eye-stalks. They're limbs, not weapons, and you can't target specific limbs in 3.5. If your DM was really nice, a superb critical hit might knock one of its stalks off, but that's up to his discretion.
Wyrd Bearer 03-07-05, 01:38 PM	By the rules, no, you cannot sunder a beholder's eyes, an illithid's tentacles, or any other creature's limbs for that matter. However, as the DM, you have the choice of whether to allow something special to happen when a player strikes a particularly effective blow against the monster they are fighting, as Santrilla mentioned. An example of something you can do, something that a DM in a game I play in does, if the player rolls a natural 20 to confirm a critical, have them role again and repeat until they stop rolling natural 20's. Then, depending on how many they rolled, describe some big, fantastic action the PC performed, which may involve lopping off a limb or two, or if the monster is severly wounded already in a long, difficult battle (like to 15 or less hp) just let the PC kill the thing in an overly dramatic way that involves messy, messy evisceration. But, that is up to you.
lukelightning 03-07-05, 03:05 PM	But you have to sunder the heads of a hydra. :P Hydra (also octopuses, squid, and kraken) have special rules about their body parts being sundered; it's a special case for these specific monsters. If I were DMing, I might allow characters to sunder the body parts of some other long-snakey-grabby monsters such as grell. My logic would be that a large part of their body is tentacles. Plus I really really hate the "and then" monsters. You know the ones I mean.. the ones that the DM sics on you and starts rolling attacks..."ok, it claws you twice...and then it bites you, and then it gores you, and then its four tails flail at you, and then it hits you with its wings and then its tongue barb stabs you and then its earlobes grapple you and then...."
Santrilla 03-07-05, 03:20 PM	Plus I really really hate the "and then" monsters. You know the ones I mean.. the ones that the DM sics on you and starts rolling attacks..."ok, it claws you twice...and then it bites you, and then it gores you, and then its four tails flail at you, and then it hits you with its wings and then its tongue barb stabs you and then its earlobes grapple you and then...." Chinese order taker: And then..? Ashton Kutcher: And then you give us the continuum transfunctioner. COT: And then...? AK: And then you stop saying 'and then'. COT: ... AK: that's better. COT: ANDTHENANDTHENANDTHENANDTHENANDTHEN Sorry. Couldn't resist a 'dude, where's my car?' reference.