Mundane Gear effected by magic and critical hits?

[9toes]

Ok so i was just in another thread involving inventory slots and it brought up a question in my mind about mundane gear so i thought i'd throw this out and see what people thought. So heres the question: would you play in a game where your mundane items such as rope and mugs and shackles and trail rations etc., were affected by damage? Cus seriously how does a silk rope carried by a dude into a dragons lair not get annihilated by dragons breath, or a poison bottle not shatter after a cone of cold and the fighter decides its time that pesky spellcaster gets a noogie? And this may be taking it a bit far but what if a critical hit also damaged something on your person? like a cavalier rides you down while your running and completely obliterates you with a critical attack with a lance, it seems it would probably punch a gaping hole in that backpack you were wearing as well. Maybe this is just looking too far in to things?

[Sushewakka]

9toes wrote:

Ok so i was just in another thread involving inventory slots and it brought up a question in my mind about mundane gear so i thought i'd throw this out and see what people thought. So heres the question: would you play in a game where your mundane items such as rope and mugs and shackles and trail rations etc., were affected by damage? Cus seriously how does a silk rope carried by a dude into a dragons lair not get annihilated by dragons breath, or a poison bottle not shatter after a cone of cold and the fighter decides its time that pesky spellcaster gets a noogie? And this may be taking it a bit far but what if a critical hit also damaged something on your person? like a cavalier rides you down while your running and completely obliterates you with a critical attack with a lance, it seems it would probably punch a gaping hole in that backpack you were wearing as well. Maybe this is just looking too far in to things?

There's already a mechanic in place to damage gear on carried/worn equipment in the magic section.

prd wrote:

Items Surviving after a Saving Throw: Unless the descriptive text for the spell specifies otherwise, all items carried or worn by a creature are assumed to survive a magical attack. 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: Items Affected by Magical Attacks. 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.

Similarly, you can use Sunder maneuvers to attack carried or worn gear.

However, if you want "spill-off" effects, consider the wording on Greater Sunder. It destroys the spell and spills over to the character. Conversely, if you want a crit to spill over to worn equipment, killing the target would be in place.
Lastly, dramatic damage still exist. No one says the party's equipment never gets damaged after combat. However, this damage is "cosmetic" in that it can be repaired on the road withou much hassle.

[Zhayne]

9toes wrote:

Ok so i was just in another thread involving inventory slots and it brought up a question in my mind about mundane gear so i thought i'd throw this out and see what people thought. So heres the question: would you play in a game where your mundane items such as rope and mugs and shackles and trail rations etc., were affected by damage? Cus seriously how does a silk rope carried by a dude into a dragons lair not get annihilated by dragons breath, or a poison bottle not shatter after a cone of cold and the fighter decides its time that pesky spellcaster gets a noogie? And this may be taking it a bit far but what if a critical hit also damaged something on your person? like a cavalier rides you down while your running and completely obliterates you with a critical attack with a lance, it seems it would probably punch a gaping hole in that backpack you were wearing as well. Maybe this is just looking too far in to things?

Two things ...

1. Hit Points are 99% abstract. Losing HP does not necessarily mean you suffered appreciable physical damage, regardless of how much damage was dealt or if it was a critical hit.

2. Far too much paperwork. You'd have to write down the hardness and HP of every single item you have, determine what got hit, check those numbers every. single. round of combat. It would completely suck the fun out of the game and slow it to a glacial pace.