How does your DR work?

[crazy_monkey1956]

I have to agree wholeheartedly with Arkhandus. It varies depending on the creature. Fight with a skeleton last night with my first level party.

"Your scimitar connects and chips of bone are seperated from its ribs but it seems to have no effect."

Same fight, acid splash, "The spell splashes against the skeleton's skull, dissolving away most of the left side of what used to be its face. It keeps coming but looks as if it might collapse any second."

Different descriptions depending on what kind of DR it is.

 

[Vyvyan Basterd]

Other: all of the above, depending on the creature.

 

[(Psi)SeveredHead]

Voted other. It depends on the type of DR.

If it's Ex DR (something like DR 5/bludgeoning or 10/adamantium) your weapon will just bounce off. If it's Su DR (something like DR 5/cold iron or 5/evil) then the wound will close up as quickly as it forms.

 

[Drowbane]

D) All of the Above: depends on the critter in question.

Examples
A) Any construct, dragon, ooze
B) Any undead (with or without DR, Zombies seem unphased until the hit that drops them)
C) Other supernatural creature, varies greatly. Werebeast or ooze, for eample.

Edit: I could have saved time with a simple "what Arkhandus said".

 

[kigmatzomat]

I vary based on creature type. Something big and meaty (like barbarians) have the swords/weapons/etc penetrate less than expected, like hacking on wood. Feys will giggle if poked with a mundane weapon that does no damage. Celestials are protected by a glowing field. Fiends are just uninjured, as though they were made of clay.

 

[Kahuna Burger]

I always describe it as the damage not being done, simply because of the rule that special effects such as injury poisons or stunning fist do not take effect if the damage is less than needed to bypass DR. Nor are spells disrupted by successful attacks with do not overcome DR. So in my descriptions, an attack which doesn't overcome DR doesn't injure the target even for a moment.

 

[Nifft]

The situation where the attack is wholly ineffective seldom occurs IMC. More often it's a case of "your wealth of experience in combat tells you that this attack should have done more damage than it seems to have done".

Cheers, -- N

 

[Fifth Element]

My current DM is very pragmatic. This first time we hit something that has DR in combat, he tells it has DR 10 (in this example).

It works for use, doesn't ruin our suspension of disbelief at all. We just know that everyone in the group is a veteran gamer, and knows what's going on.

 

[Wulf Ratbane]

I voted other, but the rule is simple.

If the DR completely negates the attack, "it bounces off."

If the DR reduces the attack but some gets thru, "the wound quickly closes."

 

[CleverNickName]

I usually say something like "the attack did not do as much damage as you thought it should have."