Post/Author/DateTime	Post
Seventh Seraph 03-15-04, 05:46 PM	My players have found a small wooden box that's locked (and no rogue in the party), so one of them decides he wants to break it open. I know the rules for breaking objects is on p.165 PH, but it doesn't say anything about damaging what's inside a chest. How should I carry this out? What if the player wants to be cautious in case he thinks (correctly) that something fragile is inside? Mind you, he's using a large (yes, large--he's using Monkey Grip) greataxe. Thanks for your help. -SS
mystic1110 03-15-04, 06:03 PM	if he deal more than half of the boxs hp in one round then he will damage whats inside - thats just a suggestion
Nick Soapdish 03-15-04, 07:44 PM	Use something besides a greataxe. You can't crack open a walnut with a warhammer. Well, I mean, you could, but you're just gonna make walnut butter out of it. So if he wants to carefully break open a locked box, the first step is to choose the right tool. Get a small hammer and spike and gently tap it against the hinges in the back or the lock itself. Sure, it'll take a lot longer, but there's a lot less chance of breaking the stuff inside. I'd allow a very low chance of breaking an item then - maybe a 1 in 20, but I probably wouldn't even roll. If he's just gonna whale on it with his axe, I'd have the items inside make fortitude saves (either half the damage that he rolls or the damage that he does after subtracting for hardness - probably both).
halzmar of geoff 03-15-04, 08:55 PM	Nick Soapdish makes a good point if he decides to simply to knock off the hinges or pop the top off with a crowbar shouldn't be much chance to break the contents - Why would anybody break open a chest with a freaking great axe anyway - people in RL wouldn't dream of trying it unless they are mentally challenged or really enraged - but in the wonderful world of D&D it's like an accepted tactic of dealing with a locked chest - boogles the mind - if he tries to open it with the axe he destroys any fragile content inside and do berrate him for his chest opening method.
Ansalander 03-15-04, 09:28 PM	I wrote an scenario designed to make Rogues especially important. One of the things that they came across was a small wooden door set in a wall. It was locked with an internal lock and hinges (not a big dangly padlock). The available/obvious ways to open it were: 1 Find the key and unlock it. 2 Pick the lock. 3 Smash it open and hope for the best. They assumed the key was lost, they had no Rogue, and they lacked ingenuity so they opted for #3. Inside were two potions. Oops. To answer your question: Have them bash away at it. Damage in excess of what is necessary to open it goes to the contents. It's a pretty simple method and it worked for me. It went something like: 6 damage - 2 hardness = 4 damage 5 damage - 2 hardness = 3 damage Oops! it only had two HP left after the first strike so one potion vial was destroyed.