Damage Reduction +2/20

[Gizzard]

If a creature has DR +2/20, does a +1 weapon need to do 10 or 20 points to break through? I can see game-balance arguements for "20", though "10" instinctively makes more sense to me.

 

[Destil]

DR either works to full effect or dosn't work at all. Division is a pain, anyway.

 

[Kai Lord]

DR 20/+2 means the DR absorbs the first 20 points of damage of any weapon with less than a +2 enchantment.

 

[Dr_Rictus]

Out of curiousity, where did you get the notion that it might be 10?

 

[mikebr99]

Out of curiousity, where did you get the notion that it might be 10?

Just guessing... but he quoted a +1 weapon against a +2 DR, which is half way there. So he might have been thinking that the amount of points should be reduced by half also??

Just a thought... It's wrong, but that is what I think he was trying to get at.

 

[Ranger REG]

As Destil said, DR works at full effect unless you have the appropriate magical weapon or better.

In this case, any weapon with a +2, +3, +4, or +5 enchantment bonus will bypass the DR. Any normal weapon and magical weapon with a +0 or +1 enchantment bonus will not.

 

[Gizzard]

Out of curiousity, where did you get the notion that it might be 10?

Well, I was just thinking about what seemed logical. Basically, I was wondering if the progression shouldnt be linear:

+0 = DR 20
+1 = DR 10
+2 = DR 0

Its an interesting question from a game-balance perspective; it seemed that DR was introduced to prevent the sort of frustrating situation where you can't hurt certain creatures because you dont have a silver/magic weapon.

The mechanic works out pretty well at low levels where things have DR +1/5 or so; a magic weapon is much much better than a non-magic weapon here, but those without magic arent totally cut out of the fight. OTOH, I ran into my first +2/20 monster the other day; it seemed as if she was designed to be untouchable by the module. Even though we had +1 weapons galore we really couldnt hurt her. This seemed a bit bogus and it set me to wondering if we'd played it wrong.

 

[Ranger REG]

Maybe you should have used a weaker creature. Always monitor your PC party's strengths and weaknesses. That includes their equipment and offensive spells that can inflict harm on even the most impenetratable DR.

 

[Airwolf]

Greetings all,

I hate to rain on anyone's parade, but what some people have stated about DR is incorrect. This is from the SRD on DR:

DAMAGE REDUCTION

Some magic creatures have the supernatural ability to instantly heal damage from weapons or to ignore blows altogether as though they were invulnerable.

The number in a creature’s damage reduction is the amount of hit points the creature ignores from normal attacks.

Usually, a certain type of weapon—usually a magic weapon—can overcome this reduction. This information is separated from the damage reduction number by a slash. If a dash follows the slash then the damage reduction is effective against any attack that does not ignore damage reduction.

Any weapon more powerful than the type given after the slash also negates the ability. For purposes of damage reduction, the power rankings are listed on Table: Damage Reduction Rankings.

Whenever damage reduction completely negates the damage from an attack, it also negates most special effects that accompany the attack. Damage reduction does not negate touch attacks, energy damage dealt along with an attack, or energy drains. Nor does it affect poisons or diseases delivered by inhalation, ingestion, or contact. Attacks that deal no damage because of the target’s damage reduction do not disrupt spells.

Magical attacks and energy attacks (even mundane fire) ignore damage reduction.
...

If you notice the section in bold print you will see that the '+' of the weapon must be greater than that of what is listed.

+0 = DR 20
+1 = DR 10
+2 = DR 0

This example from Gizzard is incorrect according to what I am reading in the SRD. I will have to double check it when I get home to my books.

The chart should like like this:
+0 = DR 20
+1 = DR 20
+2 = DR 20
+3 = DR 0
etc.


That's the way we have been playing in my group. Perhaps we have always been doing wrong.

Anyway, those are my thoughts on it.

 

[Kai Lord]

Airwolf,

Note that it says "any weapon more powerful than than the type given after the slash ALSO negates the ability."

"Also" as in "in addition to the number behind the slash."

So DR/+2 is negated by +2 weapons and also anything greater than +2.