(Epic) Lingering Damage and Damage Reduction

[the Jester]

How does the Lingering Damage epic feat interact with DR?

I'm inclined to rule that DR applies against the lingering damage as well, but as a pc rogue has the feat imc I'd like to track down any actual rulings by the Sage or anything. I don't recall seeing one though... anyone know of anything?

 

[ruleslawyer]

Almost positive there's nothing definitive on this. There have been too few errata and clarifications on epic issues, despite the fact that the epic rules are some of the buggiest out there (designers, take note!).

I'm actually inclined to say that DR does not apply against the extra damage from Lingering Damage, for two reasons. First, DR seems to apply (although this is annoyingly unclear) to each individual attack. Lingering Damage is not a second attack; it's a special effect of the first attack, much like an injury poison (which, as the description of DR notes, is only negated if the entire attack's damage is negated by DR). Second, Lingering Damage does not inflict weapon damage on the second turn, only sneak attack damage. Again, that seems that it's a special effect of the initial attack, and not a second attack. Consequently, it would be double-counting to apply DR against the second round of Lingering Damage.