Resist damage vs. a multi-attack power

[Chronosome]

Hi all,

I'm sure this has come up here thousands of times before, but I gotta ask:

This minor rules-Q came up when a kobold slyblade's twin slash (one action for two attacks) struck a goliath with active stone's endurance: Does the damage resistance conferred by the power soak the damage as a whole (per action), or per attack?

At the session I did a quick rules-search, came up vague, so kept the flow flowin' by ruling "per attack" in the goliath's favor.

I'm curious: Was I incredibly, horribly wrong? If so, please tell me why...

Thanks in advance.

 

[Mort_Q]

That's how I would have called it.

 

[the-golem]

Same for me. Since the target makes two rolls, its two attacks. A nifty power that lets him perform two attacks in a standard action, but still two attacks.

 

[Zinovia]

In this case it doesn't matter how many attacks there were.

Stone's Endurance
Your foes’ attacks bounce off your stony hide.
Encounter
Minor Action Personal
Effect: You gain resist 5 to all damage until the end of your next turn.
Level 11: Resist 10 to all damage.
Level 21: Resist 15 to all damage.
First published in Player's Handbook 2.

While this power is active, the goliath reduces *all* damage that hits him by 5, no matter how many foes or how many attacks. The power stays up until the end of his next turn. So yes, the double attacks would each be reduced, as would a spell cast by a wyrmpriest against him during that round.

 

[Prestidigitalis]

It certainly makes sense when one visualizes it. Two quick, darting strikes versus one huge overhand wallop. Whether the resistance is from tough skin or a force field or similar, the quick strikes barely penetrate while the latter comes crashing through.

 

[Chronosome]

Glad to see we're all on the same page.
Thanks again for the replies, y'all.

 

[Amaroq]

Yep - incidentally, this is the "nerf" for those who find a Ranger's Twin Strikes power to be overpowered.

A good DM should allow it to shine in most cases, but can give some of his bosses a "resist 5" to put more emphasis on "big wallop" attacks against them.

 

[Mr. Teapot]

While this power is active, the goliath reduces *all* damage that hits him by 5, no matter how many foes or how many attacks.

But it does matter, since the question is how the damage is applied. If it were applied in a single lump sum of 2d6, then it would only be 2d6 -5 from Stone's Endurance (average damage then ~2). But since it is applied as two damage rolls, Stone's Endurance applies to each meaning the damage done is 1d6-5 twice (average damage near zero).



This is different from a power that might have several attack rolls but only a single damage roll. The assassin power Shadow Darts, for example, rolls three attack rolls but applies damage as a single lump sum based on how many attacks hit, so even if all three attacks hit Stone's Endurance only applies once.

 

[chitzk0i]

But it does matter, since the question is how the damage is applied.

If you slow it all down, it doesn't matter how many attack rolls there are. If you resolve one attack roll before moving on to the next, then you just ask, "Did I take damage?" If you did, reduce it by five. The number of attack rolls is irrelevant; it's instances of damage that count.

 

[BobTheNob]

Yep - incidentally, this is the "nerf" for those who find a Ranger's Twin Strikes power to be overpowered.

A good DM should allow it to shine in most cases, but can give some of his bosses a "resist 5" to put more emphasis on "big wallop" attacks against them.

BINGO!

Absultelty right. Multi attack powers are one of the things that consistantly put the balance out of whack. Once you have multi attacks with high static bonus's, the damage you can deal is horendous.

But what is DR was more commonplace? If a Boss had DR5 and you were twin striking...well, if both hit, it soaks 10 points. Double what the rest of the party put up with.

It would be nice if DR were a bit more "integral" to the system as a whole and not so fringe. That way multi attack powers could exist without upsetting the balance so much. Yes, they do decent damage, but come up against someone with a decent DR, and you have better have something else up your sleave...(all you twin striking cheeseballs out there!)