D&D General Air, Earth, and Water Damage

[Minigiant]

What do you think about:

Fire - Fire
Water - Cold
Air - Lightning
Earth - Thunder

Thunder damage in D&D is often physical force. A blow so hard it vibrates.

 

[Corinnguard]

What do you think about:

Fire - Fire
Water - Cold
Air - Lightning
Earth - Thunder

Thunder damage in D&D is often physical force. A blow so hard it vibrates.

Enough to set off a tremor if it's directed somehow through or across the ground? Maybe. Thunder, like lightning, is going to be associated more with Air than Earth. However, I have entertained the idea of an Earth Essence Dragonborn having a Thunder breath weapon that could make the ground shake in a line AoE. So, your idea of Earth doing Thunder damage is plausible IMO.

 

[Minigiant]

Enough to set off a tremor if it's directed somehow through or across the ground? Maybe. Thunder, like lightning, is going to be associated more with Air than Earth. However, I have entertained the idea of an Earth Essence Dragonborn having a Thunder breath weapon that could make the ground shake in a line AoE. So, your idea of Earth doing Thunder damage is plausible IMO.

More than Acid.

Tremor, Concussive Rocks, Cavenous Echoes, and hard Stony Fists are more common from each than...Acid. Natural corrosive are rare in reality and fantasy.

An earth elemental never really has acid fists.

 

[Corinnguard]

More than Acid.

Tremor, Concussive Rocks, Cavenous Echoes, and hard Stony Fists are more common from each than...Acid. Natural corrosive are rare in reality and fantasy.

An earth elemental never really has acid fists.

Honestly, it should be Salt, not Acid. Acids are liquid while Salts, as in Alkaline Salts, are solids.

Acid Fist ought to be made into a spell. You turn the sweat on your hands into an acid that deals acid damage whenever you make an unarmed strike against an opponent.

 

[Minigiant]

Honestly, it should be Salt, not Acid. Acids are liquid while Salts, as in Alkaline Salts, are solids.

Acid Fist ought to be made into a spell. You turn the sweat on your hands into an acid that deals acid damage whenever you make an unarmed strike against an opponent.

But Natural Salt is as corrosive as Natural water is hot.

Earth attacks are usually represented as big hulking waves of stone, dirt, rocks, or metal that still rock you if it hits your shield or armor, slam you into a wall or the ground, or requires a massive hard and rough dodge to the side. Your arms and legs vibrating from the massive clank of a baseball sized rock hitting your armor.

The demon is resistance to your fist sized maul heal nor the 5f radius rock fist.

 

[CreamCloud0]

What do you think about:

Fire - Fire
Water - Cold
Air - Lightning
Earth - Thunder

Thunder damage in D&D is often physical force. A blow so hard it vibrates.

if we're picking from the existing damage types i'd personally assign thunder to air before i assigned lightning to it, but that leaves earth without a clear choice, force damage perhaps?

 

[Remathilis]

I only use them for elemental damage, not all environment damage.

Would you also not use fire damage for a burning building or poison damage for hemlock? I don't like the idea of a magical tidal wave doing water damage but a real one doing bludgeoning. It needs to be incorporated into the full game or not at all.

 

[Remathilis]

if we're picking from the existing damage types i'd personally assign thunder to air before i assigned lightning to it, but that leaves earth without a clear choice, force damage perhaps?

Could you do two types?

Fire - fire and radiant
Water - cold and acid
Air - lightning and thunder
Earth - bludgeoning* and force.

*I would actually have Earth do bludgeoning, piercing and/or slashing and can it physical.

You could also try making new "elemental" pairs of you wanted

Metal: piercing and slashing
Biolocal: poison and necrotic

 

[Corinnguard]

Could you do two types?

Fire - fire and radiant
Water - cold and acid
Air - lightning and thunder
Earth - bludgeoning* and force.

*I would actually have Earth do bludgeoning, piercing and/or slashing and can it physical.

You could also try making new "elemental" pairs of you wanted

Metal: piercing and slashing
Biolocal: poison and necrotic

I would go for more than two types. Earth's alkaline salts can burn you like an acid. Some of its' minerals can poison you if you have too much of them in your body. Its' radioactive minerals can do necrotic damage if you spend too much time around them.

So, Earth could do bludgeoning, slashing, piercing, acid, poison, force and necrotic damage.

 

[Remathilis]

I would go for more than two types. Earth's alkaline salts can burn you like an acid. Some of its' minerals can poison you if you have too much of them in your body. Its' radioactive minerals can do necrotic damage if you spend too much time around them.

So, Earth could do bludgeoning, slashing, piercing, acid, poison, force and necrotic damage.

I mean, you could do that, but at a certain point every elementalist would be doing redundant stuff and you get a generic evoker anyway. Two keeps a theme while allowing some wiggle room. ("Oh no, a while dragon! I guess I better switch to acid spells" said the hydromancer).