Can Mending be Used to Repair a Misfired Firearm?

[Bill Nye 924]

So I've been talking to some people about this, and it's kind of unclear what the correct answer is, if there is one.

Mending states " If the object has the broken condition, this condition is removed if the object is restored to at least half its original hit points. ". However, misfiring a firearm doesnt say anything about dealing damage to the firearm, it just becomes broken.

The argument for one side is interpreting it as "If the object has the broken condition, this condition is removed if the object has at least half its original hit points at the end of mending".

But the other argument is that since the spell states "restored to at least half original hp", and the spell cant restore health to a full hp item, it can't be used to remove the broken condition.

Thoughts?

[YogoZuno]

Good question! Thematically, the spell should work. It's only some pesky RAW that is preventing it.

Normally, very little gives out the Broken condition. Instead, any object that is reduced to half of it's hit points is automatically Broken. A misfire is one of the few ways that Broken can be inflicted without hit point damage being done. So, in my own games, I would rule that a misfire is causing the gun to lose half of its hit points. Voila, Mending can now fix the gun.

[Firebug]

Make sure to pay attention to the weight limits on Mending. Its 1 lb/level and a lot of early firearms are heavy. The typical starting firearms and weights: pistol(4 lbs), musket(9 lbs), and blunderbuss(8 lbs).

You may have to cast Mending multiple times if you pay attention to the HP part (broken typically is when an item is at 50% hp or less, destroyed at 0), but I think it should work.

[Mysterious Stranger]

The first line of the spell begins with “This spell repairs damaged objects,” Despite having the broken condition the gun is not actually damaged by a misfire. Since the gun is not damaged mend will not work clear a misfire on a firearm. If the gun was damaged the gunslingers quick clear would not be enough to get it functional.

[willuwontu]

YogoZuno wrote:

So, in my own games, I would rule that a misfire is causing the gun to lose half of its hit points. Voila, Mending can now fix the gun.

I'm curious how you would handle the Gunslinger using quick clear to fix it, and subsequent misfires after it's been fixed.

[Dasrak]

The Mending spell can remove the broken condition, which fixes the misfired firearm. Don't over-complicate things; there's no targeting requirement in the mending spell that says it cannot target undamaged items, and it says it removes the broken condition. Misfires are an unusual source of the broken condition in that they don't strictly involve damage, but there's nothing here that would prevent the spell from targeting the firearm and removing the broken condition.

In any event, Mending isn't a particularly good solution to handling misfires. It has a 10 minute casting time, which is way too slow and in practice isn't much better than the standard 1-hour repair time. You can use a wand to bring it down to standard action, but then you've got caster level issues. As has already been mentioned it has weight limits based on its caster level, and in addition you need to match the caster level of the item to repair a magical weapon. Maybe at very high levels you can pull out a CL 18 wand of mending and just accept the 135 gp per charge overhead, but even then a standard action to fix a misfired weapon isn't particularly great.

[Firebug]

Dasrak wrote:

You can use a wand to bring it down to standard action, but then you've got caster level issues.

Wands don't bring it down to a standard action, its the longer time between a standard and the cast time of the spell in question.

Wand Activation wrote:

Activation: Wands use the spell trigger activation method, so casting a spell from a wand is usually a standard action that doesn’t provoke attacks of opportunity. (If the spell being cast has a longer casting time than 1 action, however, it takes that long to cast the spell from a wand.)

For example, casting Featherfall from a wand is a standard action instead of an immediate, and casting Mending from a wand takes 10 minutes.

You may have been thinking of potions and oils. An Oil of Mending is only a standard action.

[Dave Justus]

If the gun has it's full hit points, then then it is restored to at least 1/2 its original hit points, since 1 > 1/2.

[Dasrak]

Firebug wrote:

You may have been thinking of potions and oils. An Oil of Mending is only a standard action.

Scrolls also work like this; standard action to activate regardless of the spell's length. For whatever reason I've never noticed that wands were the only class of consumable that doesn't let you bypass long casting times.

[Melkiador]

Dave Justus wrote:

If the gun has it's full hit points, then then it is restored to at least 1/2 its original hit points, since 1 > 1/2.

To clarify:

Quote:

This spell repairs damaged objects, restoring 1d4 hit points to the object. If the object has the broken condition, this condition is removed if the object is restored to at least half its original hit points.

So first, if it's an object, then 1d4 hit points were restored.

Second, if after being restored and the object is above half hit points, then the broken condition is removed.

[Firebug]

Dasrak wrote:

Firebug wrote:

You may have been thinking of potions and oils. An Oil of Mending is only a standard action.

Scrolls also work like this; standard action to activate regardless of the spell's length. For whatever reason I've never noticed that wands were the only class of consumable that doesn't let you bypass long casting times.

Again...

Scrolls: Activation wrote:

Activating a scroll is a standard action (or the spell’s casting time, whichever is longer) and it provokes attacks of opportunity exactly as casting a spell does.

And for a bit more completeness..

Staff: Activation wrote:

Activation: Staves use the spell trigger activation method, so casting a spell from a staff is usually a standard action that doesn’t provoke attacks of opportunity. (If the spell being cast has a longer casting time than 1 standard action, however, it takes that long to cast the spell from a staff.)

Basically only Potions/Oils/Wondrous Items can be activated faster.

[Daw]

OK, I am ok with mending clearing jams, Paizo did chose use the broken term with no qualifications, and a real world jam can require real world repairs, so fine.

^_^. Ok I am all for clerics being a good choice for gunmen. The Brothers of the Holy Railgun have new worlds to convert.