Here's a link to the magnet: Arrow Magnet
Here's another relevant link: Damaging Objects
On the link to damaging objects you need to scroll down to the section labeled Ranged Weapon Damage (also, I've seen other people do links that auto scrolled... How do you do that?).
Now the Arrow Magnet has 5 hit points and 8 hardness. But the rules for damaging objects with that type of weapons specifically states that you are supposed to halve the damage before applying hardness.
My question is: Does that mean you actually have to do 18 points of damage to do even a single point of damage to the Arrow Magnet?
I would like to say that we had this question come up in a game I'm currently a player in, and the GM ruled that in this particular case the damage was not to be halved, otherwise the item would be too powerful. I didn't mind his ruling one bit, but it did get me to wonder about RAW... And if you are supposed to halve the damage before applying hardness doesn't it seem like the item is slightly too powerful for a 600 gp item?
From what I can tell, you are correct. In order to hurt the cube at all, you'd need to deal a minimum of 18 points of damage; it would be halved to 9 points, 8 of which would be absorbed by hardness and the other 1 would be dealt as hit point damage.
Given that it only lasts 5 rounds, requires that the arrow fly directly through a square adjacent to the cube, affects your own ranged weapons, and can be effectively defeated just by touching it? It's powerful, but not that powerful.
Yes, if you only try to damage it with ranged weapons, you'll have to make an 18-damage attack in order to damage the magnet.
Luckily, it can take damage from other weapons, spells (including area spells), and it's even destroyed if someone physically touches it.
Yes it only works 5 rounds at a time, but as far as I can see nothing in the rules say that it is expended after the 5 rounds is over. I imagine you'd need to pick it up and activate it again, but other than that I see nothing preventing reuse.
Somehow I missed the part of it being destroyed merely by being touched while active.
Let me be clear, that I don't find it gamebreaking, even with the seemingly correct RAW reading that says it takes 18 damage to do a single point of damage to it, but I do wonder if it was what the powers that be intended.
Don't forget that an archer can simply move to a location where the firing angle doesn't pass through the cube's protected squares, and that it can't be picked up and relocated while active (as touching it destroys it).
I can't say whether it was intentional or not, but considering the cube's only task is to make life difficult for those who use ranged weapons, I'd say it probably was.
Lifat wrote: Yes it only works 5 rounds at a time, but as far as I can see nothing in the rules say that it is expended after the 5 rounds is over. I imagine you'd need to pick it up and activate it again, but other than that I see nothing preventing reuse.
Somehow I missed the part of it being destroyed merely by being touched while active.
Let me be clear, that I don't find it gamebreaking, even with the seemingly correct RAW reading that says it takes 18 damage to do a single point of damage to it, but I do wonder if it was what the powers that be intended.
It also doesn't technically say if it is touched while active. It says that if an arrow magnet is touched by any creature or reduced to 0 hp. Picking it up to reactivate it would be a creature touching it, meaning it would destroy it.
Atticus Bleak wrote: Lifat wrote: Yes it only works 5 rounds at a time, but as far as I can see nothing in the rules say that it is expended after the 5 rounds is over. I imagine you'd need to pick it up and activate it again, but other than that I see nothing preventing reuse.
Somehow I missed the part of it being destroyed merely by being touched while active.
Let me be clear, that I don't find it gamebreaking, even with the seemingly correct RAW reading that says it takes 18 damage to do a single point of damage to it, but I do wonder if it was what the powers that be intended.
It also doesn't technically say if it is touched while active. It says that if an arrow magnet is touched by any creature or reduced to 0 hp. Picking it up to reactivate it would be a creature touching it, meaning it would destroy it. HUH! I guess that is technically true. Bummer. Then it is kind of expensive and not really worth it.
I could see it being used to cover an escape through narrow tunnels or hallways; the Rogue gets caught by the city guard in the bowels of the palace so he takes to his heels and tosses a couple of these behind him to nullify the guards' crossbows as he makes his escape...
Lifat wrote: Here's a link to the magnet: Arrow Magnet
Here's another relevant link: Damaging Objects
On the link to damaging objects you need to scroll down to the section labeled Ranged Weapon Damage (also, I've seen other people do links that auto scrolled... How do you do that?).
You need to add the name reference part of the link. Here it is:
Ranged Weapon Damage
.../damaging-objects#TOC-Ranged-Weapon-Damage
/cevah
It would be awesome for mass combat.. especially if it was only one sided... oh, your going to lay siege to my castle... hmmm lets see I will space out a cube every 10 squares and then let all your arrows gather. then collect the pieces, have someone casting mend on them, and fire them back at the bad guys all under the guise of obscuring mist. Also, mage hand should be able to activate it with out destroying it.
Hmm, I could actually see this being used in an assassination. It would be a little convoluted though: You secretly build one of these at head-height into a throne or chair which the target will sit in; an 'assassin' appears over the target's shoulder; one of the target's 'loyal guards' fires a crossbow bolt at the assassin; the arrow magnet tries to draw the bolt in, but the target's head is between the shooter and the cube...
Could this be repaired by Make Whole if the caster level was at least 6?
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