Damage Reduction, what's your flavor?

[Allanon]

So which Damage Reduction system do you and/or your player's prefer? Is is the generic */+1 incremental system of 3.0, or the Golfbag o' weapons creating system of 3.5? Or do you have a a seperate houseruled system which for instance replaces DR completely with fast healing? Or no DR at all ?

 

[hong]

Fast healing is way inferior to DR, because FH applies once per round, whereas DR applies once per hit.

We were worried about the golfbag thing at first, but it's worked out pretty well. IMC I replaced the sundry material types with just two: Britannian steel, which replaces cold iron/silver; and blacksteel, which replaces adamantine. The good/evil DR is nice for flavour, although you can end up with some idiosyncrasies.

 

[Darklone]

Fast Healing is wayyy superior to DR in terms of hit&run tactics.

Feral wildelf ranger/archers attacking at night, shooting some arrows, getting hit with some puny fireballs, retreat... half an hour later, rinse&repeat

 

[Li Shenron]

I prefer the 3.5 way.

The reduced values of DR are a change for better. I think that the 3.5 values allow to consider a combat against a creature with DR (other than DR x/Magic, which is easy to overcome) in this way: by default, think that the party is NOT going to be able to overcome DR, except perhaps one or two characters, but not necessarily. The creature with a DR 5 or 10 is still possible to fight effectively and IMHO the CR is appropriate when the situation is as such, while the combat becomes obviously easier if more characters have suitable weapons, or harder if you must rely only on spells. When DR is 15 then it is more critical, and cuts off some PCs from being able to give damage at all, especially the ranged combatants.

OTOH, the 3.0 DR had a much more steep threshold, with its higher values, and a less diversity, so that the difference between having or not the right magic weapon was more critical.

 

[Stalker0]

3.5 DR reminds me of when 3.0 first came out and everyone in there mother was complaining how the monk was the most broken thing to come out since movers started moving window panes

Oh how much we've learned.

I rarely here about the golfbag problem anymore. I feel the DR system now does what its supposed to... make it difficult but not impossible to kill creatures without special help, and now makes that special help sometimes a bit hard to find instead of seeking yon cleric for GMW.

 

[LGodamus]

I use the three point five version.....I dont like it when a +5 weapon will beat all DR. If anyone and everyone can bypass the DR, or the DR is so high its impossible to fight the monster , the 3e way, then what is the point of even having DR...since it will never come into play...the players will either ignore it or run....

 

[swrushing]

i prefer the 3.5 dr levels and the 3.0 dr bypass rules. this combo gives you the "can still handle a dr encounter" benefits the lower DR blockage provides while not delving into the golfbag of materials/alingments etc weapons.

 

[der_kluge]

I like 3.5's system, but I don't like the generic "magic item" DR, so I'm using 3.0's method of +1, +2, etc., scaling.

And I've also added that "adamantine = +3" for purposes of DR, so that the characters don't have to carry around adamantine weapons when they encounter golems, for example.

 

[Davelozzi]

I mostly use 3.5 but for some creatures that have already been fought by my players I kept the DR whatever it was before. Also, I might keep different levels of magic DR but it hasn't come up yet.