What is rend exactly?

[Yqatuba]

I know how it works, but what exactly is the creature trying to do? I figure something like ripping your guts out.

[Gorbacz]

So, you can't rend an ooze or an elemental?

[Wheldrake]

Yqatuba wrote:

I know how it works, but what exactly is the creature trying to do? I figure something like ripping your guts out.

I always thought that "rend" was like a giant or troll pulling their victims into several separate pieces. Ripping off arms, legs and heads (depending on the damage vs hit points situation).

[Peachbottom]

The creature with rend latches at least two claws into the center of the opposing creature's flesh and then yanks its claws in opposite directions, tearing flesh as it goes. How you want to describe the receiving creature's wounds based on its biology is up to you.

[Ravingdork]

This is rend.

It's basically a creature digging into your flesh with its claws, and then attempting to tear you apart.

[Talonflash]

When my Sacred Fist successfully uses Boar's Rend on my Sacred Fist, we have described it as holding the opponent's body steady as I remove a random internal organ, holding it in front of them, and asking "Do you think this was important?" - then rolling the Intimidate check to demoralize.

This is in Skull and Shackles, with a uniformly CN party.

[Meirril]

I think a lot of the cat type creatures get Rend but it isn't the cat trying to tear the creature apart but a replacement for a Rake attack (where the back feat do a claw attack if the first 2 claws hit). The two special attacks have the same condition and its just easier to have one that gets used in place of the other.

[Yqatuba]

How would rend work vs, say, an iron golem? Maybe they try to pry the front "plate" of it's torso off?

[Ravingdork]

Yqatuba wrote:

How would rend work vs, say, an iron golem? Maybe they try to pry the front "plate" of it's torso off?

Something like that I'd guess.

[Archimedes The Great]

We interpret rend as the Troll having lots of force, but not necessarily the sharpest of claws. These do not simply slash at and cut the skin of the creature. When both sets of claws lodge into the victim's flesh, they pull in opposite directions, tearing (as opposed to slashing) not only the skin but sinew and muscle fibers alike.

For something like an Iron Golem, I think you could say that the claws literally puncture and then pull apart sheets of iron plate. Leaving deep erratic gauge marks.

But I just like to think, A sharp knife to a piece of raw chicken = slashing normal claws. But rend is like piercing the chicken breast with two forks and just pulling in opposite directions until the chicken rips.

We always rip raw chicken at my table every time in order to demonstrate.