Resist 5 - how does it work

[Traveon Wyvernspur]

I can see the argument either way, but at my table I'd rule it the way I stated above, otherwise the resistance is way over powered.

Of course this is just my opinion and how I do it, others may think differently and that's up to them and their table rules. I just say that as long as everyone is having fun that's what matters most.

 

[Infiniti2000]

So Resist X All gets more effective the more (separate) components the damage consist of?

Yes. And, I don't see a problem with that and it's certainly not way overpowered. It's rare that a power is written this way and it's a design issue of the power itself, not the resistance. Simply, just change it to "20 necrotic and cold damage" and it's fixed. Note that as [MENTION=1210]the Jester[/MENTION] points out, you have the exact same problem with multiple resistances. In your example of 10 necrotic damage and 10 cold damage, if you have resist 5 necrotic and resist 5 cold, you take only 10 damage right (otherwise the only way to rule it is to take all 20 damage, making such a damage expression unresistable except by all)? But, if the damage were 20 necrotic and cold damage, you would take 15 damage, right? Isn't that an equally appalling outcome?

 

[Ryujin]

Didn't they errata away this whole issue by saying that 10 of this type plus 10 of that type is now 20 of thisthat type?

 

[Grydan]

Didn't they errata away this whole issue by saying that 10 of this type plus 10 of that type is now 20 of thisthat type?

Not quite.

Originally, when an attack specifically did two types of damage (not the "1d10+4 damage + 1d6 cold damage" sort of thing being discussed here, but stuff like "2d10+4 fire and radiant damage"), you had to arrive at the total damage, then divide it amongst the various damage types equally. If the numbers didn't divide equally, the first listed type got the remainder. Which was a mess and a hassle. Especially when you encountered damage that had more than two types.

That got simplified down into all of the damage of an attack with multiple types on it being combined, as you said. But that's still specifically for damage that is "x and y damage", not for things that split "damage + x damage". If the damage is already split like that, there was never a need to figure out how to split it afterwards, so it's not covered by the revision.

 

[Unwise]

Resistance works whenever you take damage, not whenever a power functions or whenever you are attacked. Thus, if an attack/power does 1d10 weapon damage and 1d10 fire damage, resist 5 all would resist 5 from the first damage and 5 from the second. This is merely an artifact of bad design in the attack/power, not of the resistance mechanic. The simple solution to this if you have a problem with it like [MENTION=59182]Colmarr[/MENTION] is to change the damage to 2d10 weapon/fire damage.

I agree with this, if it were based on per attack, then resistance should not help with ongoing damage. It would also not work for environments or other damage that does not make an attack.

That being said, generally those attacks written with multiple types of damage are poorly conceived so I tinker with them a bit. In effect I do just let people use resistance against one of the damage types, but I don't pretend it is RAW and consider it a house rule.

 

[Istar]

FWIW, I believe that some of the MM1 fire giants did AdX untyped damage and BdY fire damage, so this may not be a homebrew power at all.

I personally would find it strange that a creature with 'resist all 5' resists 5 points of damage from a "2d10" attack, but resists 10 from a "1d10 and 1d10" attack, so I would rule the other way, but I don't think RAW (or at least the rules compendium) has a clear answer for this... probably because that method of recording damage was abandoned before it was written.

I may have mixed my examples, its just Goliath racial power resist 5.

This is one of the standard campaigns, dont think anything modified much at all.

 

[S'mon]

Each type of DR only applies once each per attack.

DR 5 (untyped) applies once, to any.
DR 5 (fire) applies once, to fire damage.
DR 5 (cold) applies once, to cold damage.

If you have all three, and you take 8 cold, 8 fire and 8 untyped damage from 1 attack, you can apply them all and take 3+3+3=9 damage.

If you have only DR 5 (untyped) you can ony apply it once, and take 3+8+8=19 damage.

Simples.

 

[Oldtimer]

In your example of 10 necrotic damage and 10 cold damage, if you have resist 5 necrotic and resist 5 cold, you take only 10 damage right (otherwise the only way to rule it is to take all 20 damage, making such a damage expression unresistable except by all)? But, if the damage were 20 necrotic and cold damage, you would take 15 damage, right? Isn't that an equally appalling outcome?

No, not quite. To me it makes sense. A single resistance is useful against damage of a single type. Against damage of a combined type (necrotic and cold) you need to combine your resistances into a single value before applying it (and there are clear rules for that).

The suggested rule for Resist X All, however, goes the other way and consider it like white light that can be split up into its constituent resistances before applying it to the damage.

So it comes down to whether you consider Resist X All to be an amalgam of all different resistances (and so can be split up into several when needed) or if it's just a single resistance that can be applied against any type of damage.

My personal preference is the latter option. But I think the rules are unclear on this.

 

[Nullzone]

Each type of DR only applies once each per attack.

DR 5 (untyped) applies once, to any.
DR 5 (fire) applies once, to fire damage.
DR 5 (cold) applies once, to cold damage.

If you have all three, and you take 8 cold, 8 fire and 8 untyped damage from 1 attack, you can apply them all and take 3+3+3=9 damage.

If you have only DR 5 (untyped) you can ony apply it once, and take 3+8+8=19 damage.

Simples.

Uh. No. If you have DR 5 fire and DR 5 cold, you resist 5. It's the same principle as differing resistance values; if you have DR 2 fire and DR 7 cold and get hit by a fire and cold attack, you're only going to resist 2. Lowest common denominator (except resist all, which trumps everything else) is all you get.

 

[S'mon]

Uh. No. If you have DR 5 fire and DR 5 cold, you resist 5. It's the same principle as differing resistance values; if you have DR 2 fire and DR 7 cold and get hit by a fire and cold attack, you're only going to resist 2. Lowest common denominator (except resist all, which trumps everything else) is all you get.

No, you are right that if you have DR 2 fire and DR 7 cold and get hit by a fire and cold attack, you're only going to resist 2
BUT I'm not talking about post-MM style "20 fire and cold" damage attacks; I'm talking about MM-style "10 fire damage and 10 cold damage" attacks. Kapeesh?