Kyuss Worms and Damage Resistance

[Radiating Gnome]

Okay, Here's a question that came up in our Age of Worms game.

Spawn of Kyuss hit a PC Warlock and deposited a worm. On the spawn's next turn the worm burrows into the PC's flesh, starting it's journey of 1d4+1 rounds towards the PC's brain, where it starts to cause bigger problems. Each round the worm is burrowing, it inflicts 1 point of damage.

That's all fine -- typical kyuss worm stuff. BUT the PC Warlock has DR 2/-, which is a class ability of the warlock based on their connection to demonic sources of power, blah blah blah.

So, how does the worm interact with the DR?

Is it:
1. The worm is unable to burrow into the warlock's flesh, and he is basically safe from the worms.

2. The worm is able to burrow into the warlock's flesh, but his DR prevents him from taking the hit point of damage each round.

3. something else . . . .

Now, the spawn of kyuss descriptions in the books and in the AOW adventure are silent on the matter. The RAW for Damage Reduction discuss two types of DR -- one that represents actual toughness, and another that represents a sort of instant healing, and it pointedly discusses the DR of a demon as being the instant healing kind.

The RAW for DR are very clear for poison -- if the attack doesn't inflict a point of damage, it doesn't deliver the poison -- but does that apply to the kyuss worms by extrapolation? Or does the damage created by the burrowing worm simple instantly heal behind the worm as it goes.

What do you think? Can a kyuss worm burrow into the flesh of someone with DR? Are there different sources/types of DR, and do those variations make a difference?

-rg

 

[Sir Falke]

I may be wrong, but I understood that a creature (PC or otherwise) with DR is immune to the burrowing of a Kyuss' worm. Sadly, I havent got any books with me right now.

 

[Radiating Gnome]

I'd love to see a reference for that -- I couldn't find it yesterday when I needed it.

-rg

 

[saucercrab]

I'd agree with Sir Falke (in that DR would negate it). I don't know where it states directly that worms of Kyuss can't hurt creatures with DR. Maybe in one of the Dragon issues with background material for the Age of Worms.

Variations in how DR works are just used for descriptive purposes. Whether the flesh heals super-quick or stuff bounces off of it is just flavor-text.

Go with what the RAW says. Whenever DR completely negates the damage from an attack, it also negates most special effects that accompany the attack. Using the examples listed, this seems more like an injury- related effect (which DR will block), rather than a contact- related or other type of effect (which DR wouldn't block).

 

[Radiating Gnome]

I'm pretty much convinced that's the way I should have gone, and will go in the future, but I would still LOVE to have someone point me in the right direction for something much more convincing in the RAW -- an actual reference would be great.

-rg

 

[Simplicity]

From the SRD:

"Whenever damage reduction completely negates the damage from an attack, it also negates most special effects that accompany the attack, such as injury type poison, a monk’s stunning, and injury type disease. Damage reduction does not negate touch attacks, energy damage dealt along with an attack, or energy drains. Nor does it affect poisons or diseases delivered by inhalation, ingestion, or contact."

I would consider the borrowing of a Kyuss worm to be a "special effect" that accompies an attack.

 

[Abraxas]

The description of the Spawn of Kyuss says the following "On the spawn’s next action, the worm burrows into its host’s flesh. (A creature with a natural armor bonus of +5 or higher is immune to this burrowing effect.)"

Because the text spells out what happens with Natural Armor and is silent on DR I could see ruling that the DR doesn't protect from the burrowing worm, just the damage that burrowing causes. Of course, the fact that they don't comment on DR could just as easily mean that the writers assumed it was obvious and worked the way others have presented here (or not)

 

[Squire James]

There's plenty of things in the Age of Worms series that can kill that warlock dead even if he's immune to the actual Worms. Let him have his chuckle. Better yet, rule that the Worm takes an extra round to burrow into the skin per point of DR. That will give that overconfident SOB a couple of rounds to laugh at the worm (or, if he's wise, destroy it), then let that laughter fade to screams on round 3 (if he wasn't wise)... that's the way I'd play it!

 

[Radiating Gnome]

I thought about that (the extra rounds, watching the poor worm trying to break the skin) but the worms only survive for one round exposed to the outside air -- so if they can't get under the skin in one round, they're done for.

Thanks for the references. I'd love to have something clearer, but I'm pretty well sold at this point on the idea that I should have ruled the other way and allowedthe DR to protect the warlock. Ah, well.

-rg

 

[Al'Kelhar]

Who says that the warlock's DR has anything to do with how tough his skin is? Spawn of Kyuss can throw their worms - this ranged attack never causes any damage, so the rule being quoting on what forms of "related" effects are blocked by DR doesn't even apply. In that case, one's confusing DR with natural armour bonus. The worm can burrow into your warlock just fine. In relation to the 1 hp damage inflicted by the burrowing worm every round it burrows, that is reduced to 0 by the warlock's DR. That doesn't mean the worm won't eat your warlock's brain when it gets there. Option 2 for mine.

Cheers, Al'Kelhar