Non-slashing damage to hydra heads

[kramis]

How does blunt and general fire/acid/cold/magic missile damage to a hydra's head work? For both regular and lernaean?

If each head has 10 HP and I shoot a bunch of magic missiles at it and deal 15 HP, does the head just die? If it is lernaean does it just die and not grow back?

I guess you get the idea of the question.

I would like to know if there are any official rules on this, failing that suggestions.

 

[Hypersmurf]

How does blunt and general fire/acid/cold/magic missile damage to a hydra's head work?

It doesn't.

If you don't have slashing weapons capable of dealing lots of damage in one hit, attack the body.

Especially if it's a Lernean Pyrohydra. It's not easy to deal 5 points of acid damage to the stump of every head you sever unless you're really prepared beforehand.

-Hyp.

 

[Hypersmurf]

Re: Re: Non-slashing damage to hydra heads

If you don't have slashing weapons capable of dealing lots of damage in one hit, attack the body.

Especially if it's a Lernean Pyrohydra.

Oops.

Except, of course, the Lernean Hydra's body is immune to attacks.

So if you come up against the Lernean Pyrohydra, either have lots and lots of acid handy... or hope you have a disintegrate or some sort of death spell prepared...

-Hyp.

 

[Ravellion]

Perhaps the dead head just falls off, like a lizards tail, just so that it can grow back a new one? (in which case any weapon type could hurt a head)

Rav

 

[Hypersmurf]

A hydra can be killed either by severing all its heads or by slaying its body. To sever a head, an opponent must hit the monster's neck with a slashing weapon and deal damage equal to the hydra's original hit point total, divided by its original number of heads, in one blow. Any excess damage is lost.

If you hit a head with a bludgeoning or piercing weapon, energy damage, a force effect, or anything that isn't a slashing weapon, you can't sever the head. You don't slay the hydra by damaging heads, you kill it by severing them.

Magic missiles don't work.

Oddly enough, it states that if an instakill spell (disintegrate, finger of death, slay living) fails (ie the hydra makes its save) and deals damage instead, that damage is applied to one of the heads.

... which seems pointless, since that damage isn't a slashing weapon.

-Hyp.

 

[Lazybones]

Funny, I had exactly the same question, and was going to start a new thread... Guess this teaches me to scroll down the page every time.

The illustration on page 122 on the MM seems to suggest that you can kill a hydra head without severing it, but I agree that the current text indicates differently. In addition, I had the same concerns with adjudicating the Lernean hydra, and I think I'll go with your rulings, Hypersmurf. I suppose I can give the L.hydra "instant healing" on all other injuries, since this is consistent with the head-regrowth thing.

Oh, boy, them Lernean pyrohydras sound like a can of worms for a group (and would probably be nigh-impossible for a group that wasn't familiar with the Monster Manual).

Best strategy: RUN!

 

[kramis]

stun

Well, in the absence of any decent ruling, I'm probably going to allow other types of damage to stun a head for 1d4 rds or something to that effect.