DR vs. environmental effects

[dcollins]

Something has just occured to me that seems truly ambiguous in the core rules. I'm wondering if damage reduction is supposed to serve as protection from non-magical, non-energy effects that have no attack roll, such as: falling, landslides, tornados, crushing wall traps, or creature constrict and swallow whole abilities (DMG ch. 3, MM Introduction).

On the one hand, the DMG description says DR is protection from "normal attacks". On the other hand, the only things that it says sidestep DR are either magical or energy. I don't find anything in the SRD that clarifies this. Anyone have a rule quote/ SRD section/ Sage reply that responds to this?

 

[Xarlen]

Usually Swallow Whole damage is done by crushing or acid damage (Or Heat, by Remorhaz).

I would say that yes, it applies. While Damage Reduction can take the bite off of it, a Werewolf that falls 200 feet is still going to be a stain on the ground (15 DR is not going to save you from 20d6).

Things like Drowning and Suffication will still effect without problems.

 

[nameless]

Actually, 15 DR off of 20d6 is gonna be about 20% off the final damage. Taking away 15 from 60-80 is a pretty big difference, IMO.

 

[Xarlen]

You still have a good chance of topping 50 damage, calling for Death from Massive Damage.

 

[dcollins]

One bump on this. Apparently no one has a quote clarifying whether DR is supposed to be effective against falling or crushing?

 

[kreynolds]

Well, I can tell you that a Barbarian's DR would apply. As to other types of DR, I'd probably go ahead and allow it. Think about a rock being thrown at a creature with DR. It's DR applies. Now, throw the creature at the rock. Its the same concept in reverse. A creature with DR falling to the ground is basically the same as being thrown horizontally, so I think DR should apply to most environmental effects like this, such as falling, landslides, cave-ins, etc.

 

[dcollins]

That could certainly make "common sense".

However, I'm looking for a definitive rules quote somewhere.

 

[kreynolds]

However, I'm looking for a definitive rules quote somewhere.

Well that's easy...there isn't one.

 

[TuDogz]

I recently had PC's running in Acheron. A cleric of Olidimarra was stealing a party dress from Wee Jas. I don't have it at work, but the Manual of the Planes covers the effects of the razor ice storm that blows in Acheron. It states that DR did not reduce the damage but hardness did. Damage was equivalent to a greatsword +X (don't recall the plus but it wasn't that big) per round.

This would seem to indicate that DR does not help with an environmental effect. Of course, Acheron isn't the prime material but landslides and some of the effects discussed should do a lot more damage than the storm does.

 

[Viktyr Gehrig]

If the damage was equal to a greatsword +X, maybe that's because the blowing razors were +X? It's the planes, where environmental effects could very well be enchanted.

I'd say Damage Reduction applies to crushing, falling, and things like that. Damage from being swallowed whole, in a creature with a normal physiology, would be half crushing and half acid, for simplicity.

On an ecological note, anything with acid resistance higher than the creature's acid damage from Swallow Whole is indigestible, and will probably be in the creature's stomach for the rest of its life, interfering with normal digestion. If it also has high enough DR to survive the crushing, it may be in there for a long time, trying to burrow its way out and surviving as a parasite, until it burrows its way free or is expelled from one end of the GI tract or the other.