Poison Damage and extra effects ?

[Tellerve]

I have a game today and there is likely going to be some PCs getting hit with some poison damage. Those attacks include immobilization as part of the poison and I have one character that has a poison 5 resistance through her armor.

Now, I am probably missing this somewhere in the book, but figured I'd ask here as well while trying to find it. Does the resist 5 which would eliminate the 5 poison damage thereby eliminate the immobilization as well? Or would she be immobilized and just not take any damage?

Tellerve

 

[Nebulous]

I don't have an answer, i'd like to know as well.

I know that a player will argue to his or her dying breath that it would eliminate both poison damage and immobilization. I would probably agree, if the poison doesn't enter your bloodstream, you're not affected.

 

[Mengu]

Resist 5 Poison does not eliminate the secondary affects of poison such as being slowed or immobilized (for monsters or for PC's). Being immune to poison, will eliminate any ongoing damage as well as secondary effects.

 

[Obryn]

Resist 5 Poison does not eliminate the secondary affects of poison such as being slowed or immobilized (for monsters or for PC's). Being immune to poison, will eliminate any ongoing damage as well as secondary effects.

It'd be a pretty decent houserule, though, and as far as I can tell, you wouldn't break anything if you decided to allow it. RAW, I agree with the above. As a DM, I think it's a reasonable decision to make.

-O

 

[Tellerve]

After looking at the glossary of terms in the Monster Manual, specifically Immune and Resist, I think having a resist only protects you against the damage of said type.

Therefore, a resist poison thing wouldn't protect against immobilization or what have you, just as a pc's power of thunder with a stun save ends would still be able to stun a creature that was resistant to thunder damage, even if the creature took no thunder damage.

At least that's how I'm currently reading the RAW, and until they errata it to be more clear.


Tellerve

 

[Nebulous]

Resist 5 Poison does not eliminate the secondary affects of poison such as being slowed or immobilized (for monsters or for PC's). Being immune to poison, will eliminate any ongoing damage as well as secondary effects.

That works fine for me, but is that RAW or just a logical conclusion? Seems like the sort of thing the DMG should have covered.

Instead of of 30 pages of Loudwater.

 

[Mengu]

So it seems that my lack of being able to find any ruling was because there isn't a good ruling via RAW.

I don't know, to me it's pretty clear.

Resistance means you take less damage from a specific damage type (PHB pg 276). This is in no way tied to any conditions.

Immunity explicitly says the monster can't suffer any other ill effects from an attack of that damage type (poison as a matter of fact is the given example, MM pg 282).

 

[MrMyth]

One thing of note is that the Warforged Juggernaut Paragon Path (found in their Dragon Magazine article) have an ability that gives them Resist 5 All - and I believe it specifically says that any attack it reduces to 0 damage inflicts no other additional effects.

Given it states it outright, that implies to me that such is not normally the default, so resisting all the damage from an attack would still leave one vulnerable to secondary effects.