Yeth hounds and damage reduction

[Nap]

My party will likely be encountering yeth hounds very soon, and the description for their special qualities says "damage reduction 10/silver" - which I interpret to mean that any weapon that is NOT silver will have 10hp of damage reduction. What about magical, but non-silver, weapons like a +1 sword or +1 arrows? I have seen several posts and blogs referring to silver/magical exceptions despite the content in the monster manual.

Also, is the 10hp DR per hit, or total per round? If two fighters hit it for 8 points apiece, will the DR absorb both hits, or will the hound lose 6 hp (16-10 DR)?

I'm worried that if silver is the ONLY weapon that can damage it, it may be too much for my 3rd level party. Also, what about magical damage from spells?

Thanks in advance

[Starbuck_II]

Originally Posted by Nap

I have seen several posts and blogs referring to silver/magical exceptions despite the content in the monster manual.

3.0.

Also, is the 10hp DR per hit, or total per round? If two fighters hit it for 8 points apiece, will the DR absorb both hits, or will the hound lose 6 hp (16-10 DR)?

I'm worried that if silver is the ONLY weapon that can damage it, it may be too much for my 3rd level party. Also, what about magical damage from spells?

Thanks in advance

Only silver.

[Gansk]

Spells will damage it, not just silver weapons.

Each hit from a non-silver weapon needs to subtract 10 from the damage. It is not 10 subtracted from total damage each round.

[Dross]

Originally Posted by Starbuck_II

3.0.


Only silver.

3.0 had a hierarchy of materials where magic (from memory) was okay if you did not have silver. But it also included the "+" of a weapon in the hierarchy.

3.5 does not have the hierarchy, you need the actual material.

the Rules Compendium states:
OVERCOMING DAMAGE REDUCTION
A DR entry denotes the amount of damage ignored (usually 5 to 15 points) followed by a slash and the type of damage, material, or magic that overcomes the DR. If a weapon or attack doesn’t have the indicated quality or qualities, that attack has its damage reduced by the number before the slash to a minimum of 0 points of damage. Possible ways to overcome damage reduction include the following.....

The RC then lists various types of DR.

so for 3.5:
Nap you are right that you need silver, but spell wise any force damage will also work (Magic Missile).

Do not neglect things like Silversheen, which make the weapon silver-like for a limited time. Also anything that allows Power Attack to overcome DR is good (bull's STR).

DR works on each hit, so the two fighters that each do 8 points of damage would not damage the Yeth hound.

[akbearfoot]

They require silver weapons to ignore the DR in 3.5e. In 3.0, any +1 or better weapon or a silver weapon would work.



Damage reduction never applies to spells...ever.

A spell always ignores damage reduction even if it deals a type of damage that the creature has DR against.

From the SRD...emphasis added.

Damage Reduction

A creature with this special quality ignores damage from most weapons and natural attacks. Wounds heal immediately, or the weapon bounces off harmlessly (in either case, the opponent knows the attack was ineffective). The creature takes normal damage from energy attacks (even nonmagical ones), spells, spell-like abilities, and supernatural abilities. A certain kind of weapon can sometimes damage the creature normally, as noted below.

[Nap]

Thank you all for your responses. My group should be arriving shortly, and now I'm confident I'll handle the yeth hounds correctly.

[Rhun]

Also keep in mind that the Damage Reduction doesn't apply vrs energy damage. So while a PC with a flaming longsword may not be able to scratch the Yeth Hound's hide, his weapon would still do fire damage to it.