The amount of damage that an object can withstand depends on what it is made out of and how big it is. Weapon damage is rolled normally against objects.
| Table: Substance Hardness and Hit Points |
| Substance | Hardness | Hitpoints |
| Paper | 0 | 2/inch of thickness |
| Rope | 0 | 2/inch of thickness |
| Glass | 1 | 1/inch of thickness |
| Ice | 0 | 3/inch of thickness |
| Wood | 5 | 10/inch of thickness |
| Stone | 8 | 15/inch of thickness |
| Iron | 10 | 30/inch of thickness |
| Mithril | 15 | 30/inch of thickness |
| Adamantite | 20 | 40/inch of thickness |
| Table: Common Weapon and Shield Hardness and Hit Points |
| Weapon | Hardness | Hitpoints |
| Tiny blade | 10 | 1 |
| Small blade | 10 | 2 |
| Medium-size blade | 10 | 5 |
| Large blade | 10 | 10 |
| Small metal-hafted weapon | 10 | 10 |
| Medium-size metal-hafted weapon | 10 | 25 |
| Small hafted weapon | 5 | 2 |
| Medium-size hafted weapon | 5 | 5 |
| Large hafted weapon | 5 | 10 |
| Huge club | 5 | 60 |
| Buckler | 10 | 5 |
| Small wooden shield | 5 | 10 |
| Large wooden shield | 5 | 15 |
| Small steel shield | 10 | 10 |
| Large steel shield | 10 | 20 |
| Tower shield | 5 | 20 |
A common use of Strength is to break open doors and burst bonds. Larger and smaller creatures get size bonuses and size penalties on these Strength checks: Fine –16, Diminutive –12, Tiny –8, Small –4, Large +4, Huge +8, Gargantuan +12, Colossal +16.
| Table: DCs to Break or Burst Items |
| Strength Check To: | DC |
| Break down simple door | 13 |
| Break down good door | 18 |
| Break down strong door | 23 |
| Burst rope bonds | 23 |
| Bend iron bars | 24 |
| Break down barred door | 25 |
| Burst chain bonds | 26 |
| Break down iron door | 28 |
| Table: Object Hardness and Hit Points |
| Object | Hardness | Hitpoints | Break DC* |
| Rope (1 inch diam.) | 0 | 2 | 23 |
| Simple wooden door | 5 | 10 | 13 |
| Spear | 5 | 2 | 14 |
| Small chest | 5 | 1 | 17 |
| Good wooden door | 5 | 15 | 18 |
| Treasure chest | 5 | 15 | 23 |
| Strong wooden door | 5 | 20 | 23 |
| Masonry wall (1 ft. thick) | 8 | 90 | 35 |
| Hewn stone (3 ft. thick) | 8 | 540 | 50 |
| Chain | 10 | 5 | 26 |
| Manacles | 10 | 10 | 26 |
| Masterwork manacles | 10 | 10 | 28 |
| Iron door (2 in. thick) | 10 | 60 | 28 |
| * Break DC: The DC for a Strength check needed to destroy the item in one action, rather than reducing it to zero hit points through a series of attacks. |
Inanimate objects are immune to critical hits. Objects are immune to subdual damage. Animated objects are immune to critical hits because they are constructs.
Objects take half damage from ranged weapons (except for damage from siege engines and the like). Divide the damage by 2 before applying the object's hardness.
Objects take half damage from acid, fire, and lightning attacks. Divide the damage by 2 before applying the hardness. Cold attacks deal one- quarter damage to objects. Sonic attacks deal full damage to objects.
The DM may determine that certain weapons just can't deal damage effectively to certain objects. For example, a combatant will have a hard time chopping down a door by shooting arrows at it or cutting a rope with a club.
The DM may rule that certain attacks are especially successful against some objects. For example, it's easy to light a curtain on fire or rip up a scroll.
Each object has hardness-a number that represents how well it resists damage. Whenever an object takes damage, subtract its hardness from the damage. Only damage in excess of its hardness is deducted from the object's hit points.
An object's hit point total depends on what it is made of and how big it is. When an object's hit points reach 0, it's ruined. Very large objects have separate hit point totals for different sections.
Unattended nonmagical items never make saving throws. They are considered to have failed their saving throws, so they always are affected by (for instance) a disintegrate spell. An item attended by a combatant (being grasped, touched, or worn) receives a saving throw just as if the combatant herself were making the saving throw.
Magic items always get saving throws. A magic item's Fortitude, Reflex, and Will save bonuses are equal to 2 + one-half its caster level. Attended magic items either make saving throws as their owner or use their own saving throws, whichever are better.
The attacker cannot damage a magic weapon or shield that has an enhancement bonus unless his own weapon has at least as high an enhancement bonus as the weapon or shield struck. Each +1 of enhancement bonus also adds 1 to the weapon's or shield's hardness and hit points. If a combatant's shield has a +2 enhancement bonus, a combatant add 2 to its hardness and to its hit points.
When a combatant tries to break something with sudden force rather than by
dealing regular damage, use a Strength check to see whether the combatant succeeds.
The DC depends more on the construction of the item than on the material.
If an item has lost half or more of its hit points, the DC to break it drops by
2.