[Damage Reduction] question

[yipwyg42]

I could of sworn I read this somewhere, but am posting this here to make sure I am correct before I run a game on Wednsday.

Lets say you are up against a creature with a flat 10 DR.

If you are a rogue and you can sneak attack which of the following happens.
For simplicity we will say weapon is 1d4 no str bonus, 3d6 points of sneak attack

This is the one I read somewhere
roll 1d4 points of damage (will do no damage because it is not higher than the DR)
roll 3d6 sneak attack damage (will do no damage unless sneak attack damage is higher than 10)

Or

roll 1d4 + 3d6 and add total then compare to damage reduction.

Basically I am asking if the sneak attack damage is considered separate from the actual weapon damage. One of the reasons I am asking this is because I saw a feat that made your sneak attack damage to be considered holy for purposes of damage reduction.

What if the creature had 10/good and you use a good aligned dagger, would the sneak attack still be considered separate.

 

[MarkB]

Sneak attack damage is not considered separate for purposes of bypassing DR. Total the damage (excluding energy damage), subtract whatever DR applies, then deduct whatever remains from the creature's hitpoints.

 

[Nonlethal Force]

I don't have my books in front of me, but this is how we play it. Total damage per attack then take away DR.

So, say your rogue has d4+3d6 sneak and none of it is anything but normal damage. You roll it, total, it, then take away the DR value (in this case 10).

But, if the sneak attack is made into something else - like holy, magic, etc - where your normal attack is not, if the sneak attack damage type bypasses the DR then the regular damage would be counted and have the DR applied and then the sneak attack would bypass the DR.

Like I said, I don't have my books right in front of me so I don't know if this is right per the RAW, but that's how we play it.

On a side note, if you apply the DR seperately to the attack and sneak attack ... do you also apply the DR seperately to a weapon that has the flaming ability or other such extra damge source? Just curious...

 

[shilsen]

Sneak attack damage is not considered separate for purposes of bypassing DR. Total the damage (excluding energy damage), subtract whatever DR applies, then deduct whatever remains from the creature's hitpoints.

What he said.

 

[javcs]

I don't have my books in front of me, but this is how we play it. Total damage per attack then take away DR.

So, say your rogue has d4+3d6 sneak and none of it is anything but normal damage. You roll it, total, it, then take away the DR value (in this case 10).

But, if the sneak attack is made into something else - like holy, magic, etc - where your normal attack is not, if the sneak attack damage type bypasses the DR then the regular damage would be counted and have the DR applied and then the sneak attack would bypass the DR.

Like I said, I don't have my books right in front of me so I don't know if this is right per the RAW, but that's how we play it.

On a side note, if you apply the DR seperately to the attack and sneak attack ... do you also apply the DR seperately to a weapon that has the flaming ability or other such extra damge source? Just curious...

By the RAW, it's one source of damage, so MarkB is correct.
Energy damage however, is unaffected by DR - DR is against weapon damage. Energy damage is reduced by Energy Resistance (which is ER) or energy immunities. It's completely separate from weapon damage and that which affects weapon damage. No matter the size of the weapon, a flaming weapon still deals the same amount of fire damage, which is unaffected by DR, but reduced or negated by Energy Resistance (ER) only.

 

[Staffan]

I agree with the ruling that sneak attack is considered part of the original damage for purposes of penetrating DR.

However, the somewhat similar "psychic strike" ability of the soulknife would, IMO, be considered a "special effect of the attack" in the same manner as poison, and thus you need to get through DR with the base damage in order to add it. That tripped up the party soulknife when they were fighting a vrock and some babau a couple of sessions ago.

 

[pawsplay]

Psychic strike only needs to hit, not do damage, so no, not like poison. It does "extra damage," just like a sneak attack.