What are the parameters for counting as a solid object or not?

Question

Dungeoncrasher Alternative Class Feature states:

If you force an opponent to move into a wall or other solid object, he stops as normal.

A wall is a no-brainer. Solid object, however, is a little more loose. A player Bull Rushed an enemy into another enemy and asked if he would get his Dungeoncrasher benefit.

I told him, "I don't think another person is a solid object."

He replied, "Okay, so what is a solid object?"

I said, "Well, for one thing, it should be an object, and then... solid."

We all laughed.

He then asked, "Well, the other person was wearing metal armor. Metal is pretty solid. Would armor or a shield count as a solid object?"

I grimaced, and said, "Sure. Roll damage."

So, humble Stack Exchange community...

1. Was my brevet ruling correct?
2. Have you ever ran across a similar scenario?
3. What is a solid object?

Answer 1

A dungeon crasher is much more versatile if played using that house rule, but creatures aren't usually also objects

The Monster Manual on nonabilities says, "Anything with no Wisdom score is an object, not a creature" (312). So bull rushing a creature into another creature—even if the other creature is wearing armor—is not bull rushing the first creature into an object, solid or not. Most walls, for example, are objects; creatures aren't.

That said, the game's definition of solid is elusive. For example, the DM may rule that any object with at least hardness 1 is a solid object. This prohibits the dungeon crasher from dealing damage to foes by bull rushing them into items made of yielding material (e.g. cotton candy, gelatin, very thin glass, normal spider webs, wet cardboard). But, really, that might be too strict. For example, the DM should also be able to say No to a dungeon crasher bull rushing a foe into a pile of mattresses (stuffed with feathers, obviously, not, like, anvils) and calling that a solid object.

Were I playing a dungeon crasher under the above ruling, I'd stop bull rushing foes into my other foes' armor and shields and start bull rushing my foes into my other foes' weapons, hoping the DM would rule that I'd deal even more damage.

But let the dungeon crasher have fun!

A PC dungeon crasher usually doesn't have a lot of options other than crashing into folks, so expanding the dungeon crasher special ability's mandate because the dungeon crasher's the sole fighter on a team that also consists of a cleric, psion, and wizard is totally okay. In that case, letting the dungeon crasher knock a foe into another foe's armor and calling that a solid object is probably fine. Yet the DM may want to hold off on granting this expanded mandate until some time after levels 7 to 9 when such a fighter's all but lost its mechanical luster.

Answer 2

Based on the latter part of the quote of the rules text:

If you force an opponent to move into a wall or other solid object, he stops as normal.

It seems to be that the requirement is that whatever it is the opponent bumps into has to be a solid object capable of stopping the movement normally.

So a glass wall might not count (if the opponent can go through it) but a large enough enemy that it can stop the movement might.

Answer 3

1. The DM is always right. In other words: I see no 100% clear RAW on this and I think this is a possible answer - though I would have ruled differently, given your second question.
2. Similar Scenario: Yes. In our last gaming session the party intended to dimension door into a room cramped with enemies. Now the rules on dimension door and solid "bodies" are quite tough:

If you arrive in a place that is already occupied by a solid body, you and each creature traveling with you take 1d6 points of damage and are shunted to a random open space on a suitable surface within 100 feet of the intended location. If there is no free space within 100 feet, you and each creature traveling with you take an additional 2d6 points of damage and are shunted to a free space within 1,000 feet. If there is no free space within 1,000 feet, you and each creature travelling with you take an additional 4d6 points of damage and the spell simply fails.

I ruled that other creatures would not qualify as "solid bodies". In the end you can share space with other creatures under certain circumstances. I admit that decision led to a lot of house ruling (i.e. squeezing in shared space). Nontheless I think RAI is to prevent people from teleporting into walls or rock with dimension door. If creatures would get people shunted to an "open space" this would be explicitly mentioned.

So, refering back to 1.) I would say, the DM's rulings on "solid objects" and "solid bodies" should be consistent with each other: If you decide to let dungeoncrashers crash into creatures, dimension door users should be shunted around by creatures. And vice versa.

3. In your example the defining qualities are: object, solid, normally ends movement, so I would exclude all creatures, soft objects and mobile objects qualifiying for dungeon crashing.