Damage Reduction revised

[MerricB]

Hmm...

A listing I think we'll see no more of in 3.5E:

DR 10/+2

Instead, it looks like it will be

DR 10/magical

My reading of the various posts and leaks on this matter seems to make this clear. It means the choice between a +2 weapon and a +1 keen weapon is no longer so heavily weighted towards the +2 version because of damage resistance.

Is this a good move?

I think so. Material-envy will be strong, but it should be interesting.

+2 silvered longswords? Most likely. (Isn't Grayswandir such a weapon?)

Cheers!

 

[Felon]

Well, the big question is, will most creatures with damage reductions only be vulnerable to weapons with very specific qualities? Current scuttlebutt, for instance, is that demons and devils will require holy weapons to penetrate their damage reduction. Will slaad only be susceptable to lawful weapons? Will an iron golem be vulnerable to anything?

If most DR can be bypassed simply by employing a "magical" weapon, then it will be no more relevant than it is now--perhaps less so.

 

[Apok]

I, personally, like the idea of having a more generic DR of /magical rather than the +X divisions. Why? Because it de-emphasizes the power of a high + weapon. +5 Weapons are already strong enough without having them represent the highest tier of DR penetration.

 

[MerricB]

This is the quote I'm basing it on:

DR (Damage reduction) is being changed. Today it's hierarchical - a monster with DR 10/+1 can be hit by +2 weapons, for example. The change is to be more specific - DR 10/holy silver means just that. Magical weapons alone won't work, but only good-aligned silver ones. So, there will be DR bypass designations such as Silver, Gold, Cold Iron, Magical, Bludgeoning, etc. The DRs are also being lowered to make them more reasonable, and monks will have a couple of properties with unarmed attacks that will allow them to bypass certain sorts of DR.

The Pit Fiend has: DR 15/holysilver

Thus: a silver weapon which has been blessed or suchlike (holy bonus, etc.)

Cheers!

 

[MerricB]

Let's look a bit more closely at that pit fiend.

It used to have DR 25/+2
Now it has 15/holysilver

That reduction of 10 points in the DR is very significant. Even a fighter without a holy silver weapon has a chance of damaging it.

Cheers!

 

[Felon]

Although I'm happy with the new system we've heard so far, I'm a tad bit worried about fighters being forced to become an arsenal of weapons "just in case."

browsing weapons while standing in boxer shorts

"Hmm... for today's adventure, I'm going to need lawful, holy, silver, and corbomite.".

Heh heh.

Or here's a whacky thought: maybe the fighter just to accept that against some opponent's with damage reduction, some of his damage might actually be reduced?

 

[Luddite]

Although I'm happy with the new system we've heard so far, I'm a tad bit worried about fighters being forced to become an arsenal of weapons "just in case."

This is a "good thing" IMO. Fighters are the generalists when it comes to weapons. They should have a small array of weapons for various creatures. It allows the fighter to shine if they prepare correctly.

-Luddite

 

[Brown Jenkin]

Come join us over in Rules where we are beating the subject to death.

http://enworld.cyberstreet.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=38940

The issue that keeps coming up is the golf bag of weapons and how much the new rule will encourage it.

 

[-Warlord-]

I like the idea of coupling damagereduction not to a magical plus, but to a special material.
Especially combined with the lower damagereductions.

The players in 3.5 will have to take in consideration what kind of material bypasses a certain damagereduction. It could be an adventure onto itself to find out that the Bog Mummy is vulnerable too wood, because it died by elven arrows all those years before.

But it doesn't make magical plusses irrelevant either. A +5 sword does more damage than a +1 sword, so can more easily overcome damagereduction.

So the fighter can use round 1 to get into a flanking position and use his knowledge(monster) or the like to figure out what weapon to use and round 2 to take the appropriate weapon and attack, completely bypassing the foe's damagereduction.

While at the same time the barbarian uses round 1 to charge at the foe, using a hefty power-attack, and round 2 to do it even more, overcoming the damagereduction.

The fighter would have a few different weapons made from different materials, the barbarian would have one big twohanded weapon with as many plusses as he can find.

 

[Sixchan]

Come join us over in Rules where we are beating the subject to death.

http://enworld.cyberstreet.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=38940

The issue that keeps coming up is the golf bag of weapons and how much the new rule will encourage it.

NEW PrC!

Caddy
Requirements:
Golfbag of weapons: 1
Spot: 10 ranks
Special: Requires a really dumb fighter who doesn't ever know which club--uhh, sword to use.

Maybe I should put this in House rules...