One of my PbP players just shot (with a shortbow) at a monster through a window. Not through an opening, but through a pane of glass at a monster standing immediately on the other side.
Are there rules to govern this? If not, what sort of penalties to attack and damage seem fair?
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Apply glass hardness against his damage roll. If he does enough damage to break the glass (which should happen) subtract the hardness (as DR) from his damage done to the monster. You could also add a cover bonus of anywhere from +2 to +4 to the monsters AC. But most good bow guys take the feats to negate cover bonuses.
Relevant videos I have found:
Modern arrow vs safety glass, modified arrow vs safety glass
Watch-tipped arrow vs glass
I can't watch videos on my phone (damn TMobile and slowing of data). However, if those are modern windows/glass I don't think they will give you good enough info. Also, I have always felt that the PCs should be heroic and sometimes violate reality like any other action star.
The previous suggestion should work well enough for that.
Shouldn't it just provide cover? A pane of regular glass shouldn't be tough enough to stop an arrow- the stuff in the video is safety glass, and probably out-of-setting.
Single pane of glass within first range inc? Go with the hardness/hitpoints of the glass.
Glass has a hardness of 1 and 1 hit point per inch. So yeah, subtract 1 point of damage from the creature due to the hardness and call it a day.
Glass has a hardness of 1 and 1 hit point per inch. So yeah, subtract 1 point of damage from the creature due to the hardness and call it a day.
One HP per inch? I am pretty sure that any normal pane of glass is nowhere near a full inch in thickness, and glass back in those days couldn't possibly be as strong as it is today.
I once saw a teenage girl at church shatter the glass in a storm door as it tried to close on her. All she did was stick her hand out to stop it. Regardless of how much force might have been involved there, it couldn't compare to the force of an arrow.
I honestly don't see a glass window affecting an arrow's impact in any way that is meaningful in game terms.
The rules guys are right, you simply subtract the hardness of the item as DR for the creature. 1 pt of damage is the minimum this system can really represent, and easy to overcome. Negligent, really. And if it was an adamantine arrow it would ignore the hardness and subsiquent DR.
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Considering that many ancient glass windows where crown glass (pictured here) I could see it adding a minor AC bonus in the form of cover, I think that a +1 to +2 AC would cover the chance for deflection from the leadwork or the distortion. But with the enemy right on the other side, I could not see much more then that.
Considering that many ancient glass windows where crown glass (pictured here) I could see it adding a minor AC bonus in the form of cover, I think that a +1 to +2 AC would cover the chance for deflection from the leadwork or the distortion. But with the enemy right on the other side, I could not see much more then that.
+1 To that logic. I was only considering the integrity of the material.
Partial cover would be how I would handle it. Not enough distortion for concealment, I think.
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Rules are kinda wonky here. Glass is actually quite hard but very brittle. That hardness-brittleness trade off is a common problem in deciding what material to use for manufacturing purposes. I know I know don't get reality into the game.
I agree with the use hardeness thing. Give 20% concealment if the glass is tinted or uneven thickness.