Can you use the shatter spell versus an opponent's armor? The spell says you can target a single solid nonmagical object, regardless of composition.
Wow! and, is it then destroyed if the wearer fails a Will save?
True, but breastplates are common, and PCs often go up against opponents a couple of levels ahead of them. (Of course as a DM I would never do that to a PC's stuff.)
Yes, you can target armor.
When you attempt to use Shatter against armor, you're using the "single solid, nonmagical object" target option. So if the armor is magical, you're out of luck. If you so target it, you get the "sunders a single solid, nonmagical object" effect. Remember the weight limit.
What's unclear is exactly how much damage the item takes. I would say it takes damage exactly equal to it's HP.
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If a player were to try to pull of something so cheesy as to try to shatter someone's armor with this spell, I would, as a GM, feel fully justified in going into full pedant mode and ruling that he merely shattered one randomly-determined component of the armor--e.g. a buckle or a single link of mail, etc.
If you ever want to know why genuinely rules-bending munchkins don't seem to respond when people call them out, go read the story The Boy Who Cried Wolf.
If a player were to try to pull of something so cheesy as to try to shatter someone's armor with this spell, I would, as a GM, feel fully justified in going into full pedant mode and ruling that he merely shattered one randomly-determined component of the armor--e.g. a buckle or a single link of mail, etc.
I wouldn't worry about it, because there is a very narrow window (from 3rd to 4th level) when this tactic is actually effective. After that the PC's opponents would either have magic armor or would be of such a low level that it doesn't matter if they are wearing armor or not.
If a player were to try to pull of something so cheesy as to try to shatter someone's armor with this spell, I would, as a GM, feel fully justified in going into full pedant mode and ruling that he merely shattered one randomly-determined component of the armor--e.g. a buckle or a single link of mail, etc.
Whats cheesy about using shattering someones non-magical armor? Isn't it kind of the point of the spell?
Shatter only shatters "single solid, non-magical items"
Does that mean solid items as opposed to liquid items? Or does it mean that the item must be a single solid piece (i.e. you can shatter a rock but not a similarly sized bucket of gravel)
If it's the latter I don't think you could shatter a suit of armour since it is comprised of many pieces. Maybe a Breast plate, since that's just a front piece and a back piece; shattering one would wreck the armour. Shattering one piece of a full plate might only give it the broken condition. I don't think chain mail would even notice if a single link was shattered.
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If a player were to try to pull of something so cheesy as to try to shatter someone's armor with this spell, I would, as a GM, feel fully justified in going into full pedant mode and ruling that he merely shattered one randomly-determined component of the armor--e.g. a buckle or a single link of mail, etc.
I take it you make the same ruling when someone with high damage output takes out the opponent's weapon, armor, and part of their face in the same round in sunder in that case. It's easier to do, does not consume a spell slot, and CMB scales a lot faster than CMD. This particular tactic really comes into its own around the same level, given that non-magical weapons and armor really have very little HP. Later on you grab an adamantine weapon and hooray, magic armor gets one shot too! Just keep a spellcaster on hand with mend or something of that nature; you won't go wasting your loot that way.
If a player were to try to pull of something so cheesy as to try to shatter someone's armor with this spell, I would, as a GM, feel fully justified in going into full pedant mode and ruling that he merely shattered one randomly-determined component of the armor--e.g. a buckle or a single link of mail, etc.I take it you make the same ruling when someone with high damage output takes out the opponent's weapon, armor, and part of their face in the same round in sunder in that case. It's easier to do, does not consume a spell slot, and CMB scales a lot faster than CMD.
Considering that the Sunder maneuver and Shatter utilize entirely different mechanics,I don't see why he would.
For one thing, Sunder doesn't stipulate that then item sundered must be a single, solid object.|
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If a player were to try to pull of something so cheesy as to try to shatter someone's armor with this spell, I would, as a GM, feel fully justified in going into full pedant mode and ruling that he merely shattered one randomly-determined component of the armor--e.g. a buckle or a single link of mail, etc.I take it you make the same ruling when someone with high damage output takes out the opponent's weapon, armor, and part of their face in the same round in sunder in that case. It's easier to do, does not consume a spell slot, and CMB scales a lot faster than CMD.Considering that the Sunder maneuver and Shatter utilize entirely different mechanics,I don't see why he would.
For one thing, Sunder doesn't stipulate that then item sundered must be a single, solid object.
That is correct, it does not. However, and correct me if I'm wrong here, but the blade of a sword is a single object. Heavy platemail might not be a single object if one chooses to take the "I like to screw my players over with semantics when I know full well that RAI treats armor as a single object" approach, but I'd say breaking the biggest piece of it would quite well screw someone's AC over regardless.
But Shatter states that the spell Sunders the object.
English definition of sunder, not game definition. The Sunder Maneuver deals damage to an object, Shatter does not, it simply destroys the object, smashing it into dozens of pieces.
Shatter only shatters "single solid, non-magical items"
Does that mean solid items as opposed to liquid items? Or does it mean that the item must be a single solid piece (i.e. you can shatter a rock but not a similarly sized bucket of gravel)
If it's the latter I don't think you could shatter a suit of armour since it is comprised of many pieces. Maybe a Breast plate, since that's just a front piece and a back piece; shattering one would wreck the armour. Shattering one piece of a full plate might only give it the broken condition. I don't think chain mail would even notice if a single link was shattered.
I would agree that chainmail may not be solid enough to be shattered, but I would allow plate mail to be effected.