D&D 5E Werewolves/rats and damage immunity

[Lucas Blackstone]

A rope has no damage dice. You never roll any damage with it. That is what people mean by it does no damage. In the D&D sense of how much damage did you do with your rope attack. Zero.

 

[Galendril]

If you're doing zero damage, then you're not strangling anything.

 

[KahlessNestor]

It's really obtuse to say one cannot strangle a lycanthrope.

Do wererats need to breathe? If yes, then constricting its airway long enough, whether or not the rope does physical damage, will suffocate it and thus defeat it. Your position is that if you constrict its airway...they somehow are able to breathe anyway? Why are you so averse to reality? Nowhere in the lore or the RAW are lycanthropes immune to suffocation.

 

[KahlessNestor]

If you're doing zero damage, then you're not strangling anything.

Um...yes you are. That's why the suffocation rules exist... It isn't HP reduction but an alternate way to subdue.

 

[Galendril]

But anyway, RAW says lycanthrope are immune to non magical non silvered weapons. I've shown that rope is a weapon. Ergo, the lycanthrope in question is immune. You can rationalize it however you want. The rope cannot constrict the airways of such a magical creature or what have you.

 

[Galendril]

Um...yes you are. That's why the suffocation rules exist... It isn't HP reduction but an alternate way to subdue.

You're trying to strangle a creature with a rope to cause a situation of suffocation. To do so, you need to exert enough pressure with the rope to cause DAMAGE to the trachea to cause it to collapse. Then suffocation can occur. However, non-magical / non-silvered rope cannot cause this damage to begin with.

It's like saying you can beat a wererat to death with a club because the club isn't damaging the wererat, but just crushing bones within the wererat.

 

[iserith]

But anyway, RAW says lycanthrope are immune to non magical non silvered weapons. I've shown that rope is a weapon. Ergo, the lycanthrope in question is immune. You can rationalize it however you want. The rope cannot constrict the airways of such a magical creature or what have you.

Damage refers to hit point reduction in the rules. If the DM rules that rope is a weapon, perhaps doing 1d4 bludgeoning damage, it does no damage to the wererat because it is non-magical and not silver.

But nothing in the rules says you need to reduce hit points to deprive a creature of air and bring the suffocation rules into play. It appears you're just using the rules as a non-magical, non-silvered bludgeoning weapon to beat down the hypothetical player's tactic because you don't like it. And that's fine as far as that goes - you're the DM and your ruling stands. Let's just not pretend you're following RAW and others are not.

 

[Anselyn]

It's like saying you can beat a wererat to death with a club because the club isn't damaging the wererat, but just crushing bones within the wererat.

I quite like this point ...

But does this mean that all wererats can survive falls of any height as they are immune to any form of falling damage? (c.f. breaking/damaging bones)

 

[Galendril]

Damage refers to hit point reduction in the rules. If the DM rules that rope is a weapon, perhaps doing 1d4 bludgeoning damage, it does no damage to the wererat because it is non-magical and not silver.

But nothing in the rules says you need to reduce hit points to deprive a creature of air and bring the suffocation rules into play. It appears you're just using the rules as a non-magical, non-silvered bludgeoning weapon to beat down the hypothetical player's tactic because you don't like it. And that's fine as far as that goes - you're the DM and your ruling stands. Let's just not pretend you're following RAW and others are not.

RAW states lycanthropes are immune to non-magical non-silvered weapons. I've already proven rope is a weapon. I guess you're saying that the rope is being used in a non-damaging way. However, I think anyone who's hung from the gallows would disagree

 

[iserith]

RAW states lycanthropes are immune to non-magical non-silvered weapons. I've already proven rope is a weapon. I guess you're saying that the rope is being used in a non-damaging way. However, I think anyone who's hung from the gallows would disagree

Do you agree that others who would rule strangulation via rope a viable tactic are following RAW as much as you claim to be? Because I don't really care how you rule - my only beef is with your apparent assertion that you're the one following the rules.