Damaging Objects

"Steel remembers every blow, wood every flame, and glass … every careless touch. Keep swingin', and even mountains crack."
——Karra Glaivesong, dwarf salvage-smith

When damaged, objects don't bleed out a pool of hit points. Instead they weather, warp, and splinter under the steady creep of Riven. Whenever a spell, trap, or weapon deals ordinary hitpoint damage to gear, the total is simply converted into Riven (see below). Colossal subjects such as walls, ships, or keeps follow the dedicated Structural Damage rules instead, but everything from a glass vial to a gilded greatsword uses the guidelines below.

Attacks on Objects

When an attack can target an object, first decide whether the item is attended (worn, carried, or actively controlled) or unattended (lying loose, fixed in place, or otherwise not in a creature's care). Objects are Mindless and usually ignore any attack that requires a Will defense. They also ignore status effects that have no meaning for inanimate matter (for example, Dazed, Frightened, or Dominated).

Attended Objects

An attended object—anything a creature is wearing, holding, or otherwise directly controlling—uses that creature's defenses to resist the attack roll. If the effect requires a Saving Throw, the creature rolls for it using its own scores and rules regarding saving throws (i.e. a simple vs complex creature). The creature may roll saves for the object whenever it would normally be allowed to make a saving throw, such as by taking the Recovery Action or receiving an Aid effect.

Unattended Objects

An unattended object relies only on its material sturdiness. It has Defense scores of 8 and uses a score of -2 whenever making an opposed roll. The object automatically fails all saving throws, although a save-ends effect still ends after 1 moment. Once a creature picks up or otherwise takes control of the item, it becomes attended, and the creature may begin making saving throws for it.

Objects in Area Effects

When a power targets all creatures and objects within an area, only unattended objects are targeted by the attack. Any item a creature is wearing, wielding, or carrying is treated as part of that creature and is completely ignored by the power. It cannot be chosen as a target, does not receive a separate attack roll, and suffers no damage, Riven, or other effects from the area effect.

Converting Hitpoint Damage to Riven

When a power targets an object but only deals hitpoint damage, divide the total damage by 10 (rounding down). That is how much Riven is potentially inflicted upon the object. Subtract the object's Hardness as normal and apply the remaining Riven (if any) to the object. Some objects have negative Hardness and take additional Riven when dealt damage, even when the base amount of Riven is 0.

Riven Suffered = (Total Damage ÷ 10, rounded down) - Hardness
Example
An unattended wooden shield made from Pine (Hardness 3) is caught in the middle of a Fireball's blast. The fireball deals 48 points of fire damage. The GM determines that the fate of the wooden shield is important and has the fireball make an attack against the shield's reflex of 8. The attack hits and the shield takes the damage. 48 points of damage divided by 10 and rounded down is 4. So the shield is subject to 4 Riven. However the shield has a hardness of 3, so the 4 Riven is reduces to 1. The shield is scorched and knocked aside, but remains serviceable.