Question. What is Damage Reduction?

[kirinke]

What is damage reduction?
What is fast healing?
What is regeneration?
What is the difference between the three?
I am confused. I am uncertain. HALP!

 

[Staffan]

Damage reduction is written as "Damage reduction X/quality". If you hit someone with DR with a regular attack, reduce that damage by X points unless the attack has the right quality. In D&D 3.0, the quality was a weapon with a specific enhancement bonus most of the time, and better weapons trumped worse ones. In D&D 3.5, the quality can be a specific material (usually silver, cold iron or adamantine), an alignment, a damage type (slash/pierce/bludgeon), or magic/epic, and there's no hierarchy where some things are better than others. Most spells bypass DR entirely, though there are elemental resistances that work similarly against those.

Fast healing is simple. Every round, unless you're dead, you regain X hit points.

Regeneration is a bit more complicated. First, regeneration turns most of the damage you get into subdual/non-lethal damage. Second, each round you remove X points of subdual/non-lethal damage. Some damage types will not be turned into subdual, depending on the creature in question. Trolls, for example, take normal damage from fire and acid.

Regeneration is generally considered stronger than Fast Healing, because regeneration basically makes you unkillable. On the other hand, fast healing doesn't give you an achilles heel the way regeneration does.

 

[Crothian]

Damage reduction is an amount subtracted from phsycal dame unless a specific material is used to cause the damage.

Fast Healing is an amount of damage that is healed each round.

Regeneration is like fast healing except there are certain types of damage that cannot be healed.

 

[kirinke]

*lol

thanks. i think it's about as clear as mud..... ^_^ but your explinations are alot better than the book's.

 

[Hypersmurf]

Fast Healing is an amount of damage that is healed each round.

Regeneration is like fast healing except there are certain types of damage that cannot be healed.

But in the absence of the correct bypass mechanic (fire or acid for trolls, for example), you can't kill someone with Regeneration via hit point damage, while you can kill someone with Fast Healing.

-Hyp.

 

[kirinke]

hmmm

So, for example, the immortal guys in Highlander say, have a kind of fast healing.
but the super baddie at the last Highlander movie had regeneration.

 

[The Souljourner]

Damage Reduction: x/y From each attack (weapons only, magic and energy ignore damage reduction), you take x less damage, unless the attack has component y. Example: Damage reduction 10/magic - you take 10 less damage from every attack unless it's a magic weapon.

Fast Healing: x Every round, the creature gains x hitpoints (up to its max hitpoints). This cannot bring the creature back from death, nor can it restore lost limbs, however.

Regeneration: x A creature with regeneration takes subdual damage instead of real damage for all attacks (including spells and energy). Generally there is a list of types of attacks that are not turned into subdual damage (for example, trolls take real damage from fire and acid). Every round, the creature heals x subdual damage (but not real damage, like the above mentioned fire damage to trolls). Creatures with regeneration can reattach or wholly regrow lost limbs.

-The Souljourner

 

[WonkaMania]

Here's a question that I've been wondering about concerning damage reduction and a rogue's sneak attack.

Say we've got a creature with DR 5/cold iron. Now let's say we've got a Halfling Rogue who uses a regular (i.e.- NOT cold iron) dagger (1d3 damage, no str bonus). He's flanking said creature with DR so gets to add his sneak attack damage. The Rogue can only do a maximum of 3 "normal" points, but let's say he has 2d6 in sneak attack damage.

Even though his "normal" damage did not do enough to bypass the creatures DR, what happens to the sneak attack damage? Is it rolled and then added to his "regular" damage for purposes of beating the DR? (so, let's say he rolled a 3 for his dagger attack, and sneak attack damage totalled 8. That's a combined damage of 11 points. Would this all go towards the DR, so 5 gets taken away because the creature has DR 5, and the remaining 6 points hurt the creature as normal?)

OR, since the "regular" damage did not beat the creature's CR, the sneak attack damage is just "lost" and doesn't count? (this would suck.. lol)

Please let me know! (3.5 mainly, but if it's different in 3.0 I'd like to know also). Thanks in advance!

~Wonka

 

[Hypersmurf]

Even though his "normal" damage did not do enough to bypass the creatures DR, what happens to the sneak attack damage? Is it rolled and then added to his "regular" damage for purposes of beating the DR?

Yup.

-Hyp.

 

[Tarril Wolfeye]

So, for example, the immortal guys in Highlander say, have a kind of fast healing.
but the super baddie at the last Highlander movie had regeneration.

No, it's more like regeneration for all of them. You can take them down, but eventually they come back. With fast healing, when you've taken enough damage you are dead. With regeneration it must be the right kind of damage to kill you (beheading for Highlander immortals). That super baddie probably just had higher regeneration or a lot more hp.