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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Dannyalcatraz" data-source="post: 3021655" data-attributes="member: 19675">Well, other than being algebraically correct?The extra damage is not dependent upon there being any underlying damage at all.  It is triggered by a successful hit. If I agree to give you X(Baby Seals) + 1DN(Baby Seals), and X equals zero for any reason, I still owe you 1DN Baby Seals.They are independent variables, not interdependent variables.  If they were interdependent, the extra damage could not be dealt without the underlying damage, which would be expressed by a phrase like:"...A (insert energy type) weapon deals an extra 1d6 points of cold damage on a successful hit if and only if the weapon does damage on a successful hit."Besides, if we really want to play with semantics, PHB p134 says of Attack Rolls: (emphasis mine)Similar language on p135 says:So a successful hit, by definition, deals damage...even if it doesn't actually deal damage!  It doesn't matter if that zero damage is because its a trip attack, or the damage is reduced to zero, or whatever- it still "damage" by the rules of the game.  By RAW.Of course, what they REALLY mean is that to have an attack have a successful result, you must have an attack roll that equals or exceeds the target's AC...in other words, you must hit your opponent.  Once you hit your opponent, you may do damage...or trip, or disarm, or stun, or sunder...  And, as I pointed out, the extra damage of energy enhanced weapons is triggered by a hit, not by dealing damage.PHB p50Arguably, "legs" are not true vital spots.  If they were, then logically SA damage should apply to anything with legs, including constructs and undead- the rogue would be messing up joints or breaking off chunks of her target's legs...Vital spots would be vital organs or nerve clusters.  For example, if I strike your vagus nerve correctly, I can disrupt your heartbeat, possibly your breathing, or perhaps you'll just go unconscious.  But it is a smaaaaaaall target located along the jaw.  Striking it takes skill and either precision or great force.  The precision strike hits that spot and only that spot.  The forceful strike is what we'd call a knockout blow- you hit the head hard enough and at the right angle to displace the jaw, driving the bone into the nerve.Are there nerve clusters in the legs?  Sure.  And if I were to slash or punch them a certain way, I might make your leg go numb, causing you to fall.But to strike that way, I must jab or slash a very small target- a very different kind of strike from wrapping a whip around your ankles to trip you up.  For one thing, the force of the blow is distributed over a broader area of flesh and over a longer period of time (the time it takes to wrap around both legs).</blockquote>

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