UngeheuerLich
Legend
Every hit is a scratch. Just a slight one. Enough to deliver poison or break concentration.
If you go that route, you are usually safe.
If you go that route, you are usually safe.
Although both the PHB and the Basic Rules suggest that these details will vary according to the DM's preference, the Monster Manual states clearly that sharks frenzy against any creature that doesn't have full HP.
The distinction between HP and actual wounds has never been clear, in any edition, but the fact that HP damage necessarily draws blood in 5E is irrefutable.
It's designed to be easy to play, by making certain basic assumptions, such as that the shark is fighting one or more of the PC races. In most cases, the shark isn't fighting a golem or skeleton, and it won't be fighting someone who has only suffered psychic damage. That's fair. If the basic assumptions don't hold, for whatever reason, then the DM is there to adjudicate that.That's a good argument, but hardly "irrefutable".
Bear in mind that damage can be psychic. It's pretty easy to argue that 1 point of psychic damage won't draws blood. In addition, a shark gets advantage on creatures that don't even have blood, so long as they are below maximum hps. A damaged water elemental? Advantage. A damaged stone golem? Advantage. A damaged skeleton? Advantage.
Sorry, I don't fully buy your argument. Given that there is no hard and fast rule for when you actually leak blood after being damaged, and given the above, I have to conclude that the shark's blood frenzy ability is designed to make it easy to play, not to model when damage causes a creature to bleed.
That being said, the general underlying principle of the mechanic is that - barring exceptional circumstances - any amount of damage to a PC will necessarily draw blood.
Every hit is a scratch. Just a slight one. Enough to deliver poison or break concentration.
If you go that route, you are usually safe.
You can break concentration without drawing blood, and you only need a scratch IF you have a creature with poison. The need for damage for poison and similar attacks is why the rule says "typically shows no signs of damage." Otherwise, 5e very explicitly does no physical damage at all until you drop below 50% hit points.
Every hit might be a scratch.