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<blockquote data-quote="Anax" data-source="post: 2689127" data-attributes="member: 19868">Yeah.&nbsp; This is one of the weirder intersections of the rules for subdual damage, DR, and weapon damage types.&nbsp; Without using a good and piercing weapon, these guys don't get hurt by small amounts of damage (and that includes subdual damage.)&nbsp; So, in order to effectively do subdual damage, you need a good piercing weapon.Normally, I'd describe what Hariel's doing as attempting to slug the enemy with the hilt of the weapon, but that doesn't make sense with the DR in this case.&nbsp; (Actually, that's what I originally wrote as flavor text, but then I noticed this problem.)There's no super good way to imagine what's going on here, according to the rules.&nbsp; But, the easiest way I can think of it is that Hariel is still doing &quot;real&quot; damage to the opponent, but she's being very careful to avoid hitting anything vital.&nbsp; Kind of the opposite of making a sneak attack.&nbsp; Things like piercing a shoulder or the flesh of an arm or leg...&nbsp; Those still hurt a lot, result in blood less and gradual weakening, (and in reality, could still get seriously infected by deep puncture wounds, but this isn't reality...)&nbsp; But they aren't as severe a danger as punctures to the chest cavity.&nbsp; This way, the attack penalty is then because she's trying really really hard to avoid vital areas, not because she's using the &quot;flat&quot; of the blade or something.&nbsp; And, the inability to sneak attack is because sneak attacking depends on striking for a vital area.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Anax, post: 2689127, member: 19868"] Yeah. This is one of the weirder intersections of the rules for subdual damage, DR, and weapon damage types. Without using a good and piercing weapon, these guys don't get hurt by small amounts of damage (and that includes subdual damage.) So, in order to effectively do subdual damage, you need a good piercing weapon. Normally, I'd describe what Hariel's doing as attempting to slug the enemy with the hilt of the weapon, but that doesn't make sense with the DR in this case. (Actually, that's what I originally wrote as flavor text, but then I noticed this problem.) There's no [i]super[/i] good way to imagine what's going on here, according to the rules. But, the easiest way I can think of it is that Hariel is still doing "real" damage to the opponent, but she's being very careful to avoid hitting anything vital. Kind of the opposite of making a sneak attack. Things like piercing a shoulder or the flesh of an arm or leg... Those still hurt a lot, result in blood less and gradual weakening, (and in reality, could still get seriously infected by deep puncture wounds, but this isn't reality...) But they aren't as severe a danger as punctures to the chest cavity. This way, the attack penalty is then because she's trying really really hard to avoid vital areas, not because she's using the "flat" of the blade or something. And, the inability to sneak attack is because sneak attacking depends on striking for a vital area. [/QUOTE]

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