Damage Types: Developers read post 13

[Nifft]

For one iteration of my house rules, I tried to break Sonic in three damage types based on the transmission media (Air, Earth and Water). This had the nice side effect of filling in the other three elemental damage types. But it never got very far.

Cheers, -- N

 

[GreatLemur]

You do realize that 4e probably won't have armor as DR, right?

Yeah, a lot of the quotes we've seen do seem to suggest this. Damn shame. It's a tremendously common thing for folks to try to houserule, but notoriously difficult to balance correctly. A new edition of the game would be the perfect time to build in logical defense mechanics from the ground up.

Yeah you guys both explained that well. In D&D there is a sonic damage type, explaining it can be kind of weird. I personally like to think of it like a sonic boom. Which in my mind barring complications is most likely non-lethal damage, like somebody beating you up.

I think that "sonic damage" isn't completely fictional, but there's definitely some uncertainty as to whether or not it can be lethal. It seems clear that sound can actually have some physical--that is, more than merely sensory--effects, but we haven't really seen anything with the raw power to cause lasting, non-ear-specific damage to a human being on dry land.

I'd be willing to buy lethal sonic attacks in a fantasy or sci-fi setting, though. As Badkarmaboy pointed out, enough concussive force will damn well kill you.

 

[Reaper Steve]

I don't see a problem with a sonic damage type for spells/Su's or having said damage type deal lethal damage.

I agree with that. With hit points being such a broad catch-all, I can easily see lethal sonic damage in fantasy terms. A shriek or cone of sound/shockwave that actually can kill is not out of place in D&D.

 

[DarkKestral]

I think that "sonic damage" isn't completely fictional, but there's definitely some uncertainty as to whether or not it can be lethal. It seems clear that sound can actually have some physical--that is, more than merely sensory--effects, but we haven't really seen anything with the raw power to cause lasting, non-ear-specific damage to a human being on dry land.

I'd be willing to buy lethal sonic attacks in a fantasy or sci-fi setting, though. As Badkarmaboy pointed out, enough concussive force will damn well kill you.

Actually, I think that there has been some cases of distinct 'sonic' damage. For one thing, nuclear weapons are a great example: the main cause of the destruction at Hiroshima and Nagasaki were not the actual fireballs from the nukes. It was actually the sonic blastwave that resulted from the fireball that pressurized and depressurized the air so rapidly it caused things to come apart. Likewise, some modern speaker systems can kill in a sufficiently small space. It's due to the pressure waves forcing themselves into your orifices, and producing an effect that is apparently not unlike being crushed to death. It will also destroy vehicles. There are cars built for competitions in which the goal is to have the loudest possible car, that have sound systems capable of so much pressure that they actually need modifications to the body to defeat the vibrations, else they will cause the glass and body of the vehicle to shatter or permanently suffer damage, and which are not safe to be in while their speakers are up to their full intensity.

So I think sound can kill, given enough strength and the appropriate frequency. It's difficult, and generally requires a lot of effort, but it can happen. Also, the Russians are testing a non-nuclear bomb that uses concussion to produce nuclear bomb-like effects. So I think a bomb CAN be sonic damage.

 

[TwinBahamut]

The thing about sonic damage is that everyone knows sound waves are incredibly destructive, just not in the form people think they are.

Sound waves are nothing more than the transmission of energy through the wave motion of physical matter. As such, there are two really famous kinds of destructive sound waves: earhtquakes and tidal waves. One moves through rock, and the other moves through water, but both are no different than low-frequency ultra-high-energy sound waves. Yet both are incredibly destructive. In fact, one reason (among many) some earthquakes are so destructive is because their frequency matches the resonant frequency of some buildings, cracking them the same way a singer can shatter a glass.

Of course, this depiction of sonic damage is a bit different than the D&D description...

 

[Remathilis]

I'm seeing no love for vile damage...

 

[Gentlegamer]

Won't the damage types be handled by the condition track?

 

[Sadrik]

I'm seeing no love for vile damage...

I suppose vile damage could be cold damage or internal damage? Wasn't it something like- damage you can only heal naturally or without magic? And wasn't there a counterpart in the exalted book?

I'd probably drop them- in favor of another damage type with a special effect added on.

 

[Sadrik]

Won't the damage types be handled by the condition track?

I don't think so and I don't own SWSE. Anyone know how it plays a role in damage?

 

[Nifft]

I suppose vile damage could be cold damage or internal damage? Wasn't it something like- damage you can only heal naturally or without magic?

1) Not really; and 2) the opposite. Vile damage could only be healed magically, and even then, only on hallow'd ground.

Cheers, -- N