D&D 5E Werewolves/rats and damage immunity

[ad_hoc]

Actually, no you can't do that either. No matter where the force comes from, the sword remains a weapon. However, a cliff is not a weapon...not even an improvised weapon.

So if you push them into an object that can't be wielded then they take damage?

I am trying to wrap my head around this but it just sounds ridiculous to me so I am having trouble.

Like if you push them into a lot of pointy buts that don't have handles and you don't call them swords then it is damage but if the objects are separate things that have handles then no damage?

 

[Galendril]

So if you push them into an object that can't be wielded then they take damage?

I am trying to wrap my head around this but it just sounds ridiculous to me so I am having trouble.

Like if you push them into a lot of pointy buts that don't have handles and you don't call them swords then it is damage but if the objects are separate things that have handles then no damage?

You may have missed this, but I posted this earlier in the thread:

Might I direct you to page 147 of the PHB the pertinent part which I'll reproduce here for your convenience: "An improvised weapon includes any object you can wield in one or two hands"

So, an improvised weapon is an object. Some could argue a cliff is not so much an object but terrain. Even so, the second qualifier being any object you can wield in one or two hands. A cliff cannot be wielded in one nor two hands. Hence it's not an improvised weapon.

However, any of the objects you described above do fit the description of improvised weapons.

 

[ad_hoc]

You may have missed this, but I posted this earlier in the thread:

Might I direct you to page 147 of the PHB the pertinent part which I'll reproduce here for your convenience: "An improvised weapon includes any object you can wield in one or two hands"

So, an improvised weapon is an object. Some could argue a cliff is not so much an object but terrain. Even so, the second qualifier being any object you can wield in one or two hands. A cliff cannot be wielded in one nor two hands. Hence it's not an improvised weapon.

However, any of the objects you described above do fit the description of improvised weapons.

A wall of pointy bits can't be wielded in one or two hands.

But seriously, you are actually arguing that the wererat has immunity only to objects that can be wielded in one or two hands.

Think about what you are saying.

 

[SheckyS]

That is a good example of Chekhov's Gun.

Ha! I never thought of that, but yes, you are exactly right.

 

[Azurewraith]

WoW my head hurts. So can we not drown a wererat either as water isnt silver? or what about pushing the sun into the wererat using a force spell etc i mean you cant wield the sun in 1 or 2 hands so its not a weapon just hot.

I can see the argument that the rope wont constrict anyone's airways as its not silver and therefore cant crush any muscle or flesh etc but thats abit of an asshatish interpretation.

 

[Galendril]

A wall of pointy bits can't be wielded in one or two hands.

But seriously, you are actually arguing that the wererat has immunity only to objects that can be wielded in one or two hands.

Think about what you are saying.

I don't know how plainly I can state this without sounding condescending. So, I'll repeat the line in the Monster Manual which states: Damage Immunities: bludgeoning, piercing, and slashing damage from nonmagical weapons that aren't silvered.

I've also provided you with the definition of an improvised weapon. It should be pretty easy to see how pretty much anything can be turned into a weapon. But there are some things which aren't, like cliffs.

So, for instance, if you lured a wererat into a put filled with punji sticks, it would take damage from the fall. However, it would not take damage from the punji sticks.

 

[SheckyS]

I don't know how plainly I can state this without sounding condescending. So, I'll repeat the line in the Monster Manual which states: Damage Immunities: bludgeoning, piercing, and slashing damage from nonmagical weapons that aren't silvered.

I've also provided you with the definition of an improvised weapon. It should be pretty easy to see how pretty much anything can be turned into a weapon. But there are some things which aren't, like cliffs.

So, for instance, if you lured a wererat into a put filled with punji sticks, it would take damage from the fall. However, it would not take damage from the punji sticks.

You're taking an extremely literal version of the rules.

I study martial arts and it's a common practice in the martial arts to refer to your fists as a weapons, as well as referring to the floor or the wall as a weapon. So by that rationale, I would assume that a lycanthrope cannot take falling damage.

As for strangulation or drowning, this seems like a judgement call to me, and it depends on the nature of the lycanthrope's damage resistance.

If you can grapple a werewolf and essentially move (or prevent from moving) it's limbs against it's will and without causing "damage' (and I think you can), then I cannot see any reason why you could not constrict it's windpipe against it's will without causing damage, either. Perhaps it's more difficult than choking a person, but it seems possible.

So then the question becomes, does a lycanthrope need to breathe? I dunno. I'm inclined to think that it does, but I've never seen a specific rule about it and I've never seen a movie or a TV show or a book in which this question is answered. So I will leave this up to the DM to decide how lycanthrope's "work" in his world.

 

[ad_hoc]

I don't know how plainly I can state this without sounding condescending. So, I'll repeat the line in the Monster Manual which states: Damage Immunities: bludgeoning, piercing, and slashing damage from nonmagical weapons that aren't silvered.

I've also provided you with the definition of an improvised weapon. It should be pretty easy to see how pretty much anything can be turned into a weapon. But there are some things which aren't, like cliffs.

So, for instance, if you lured a wererat into a put filled with punji sticks, it would take damage from the fall. However, it would not take damage from the punji sticks.

So natural phenomena can hurt them but constructed objects can't?

What if they fall on a pointy stalagmite? Do they take piercing damage? What if a giant is nearby and could potentially wield it?

If a tree falls in a forest onto a wererat and no one is around to wield it, is it a weapon?

 

[Bawylie]

The idea that the success or failure of an action is dependent on whether the DM thinks it's "creative" or "unoriginal" is ridiculous.

Oh you want to slay the dragon? What a cliche! Fail!

Players want to strangle the were-rat? Can it breathe? Can it suffocate? If yes, then it can be strangled.

Does it need food to live? Then it can also starve.

Does it need warmth? Then it can freeze.

I mean, provided you try any of those things in a non-cliche way... /s

 

[Azurewraith]

I don't know how plainly I can state this without sounding condescending. So, I'll repeat the line in the Monster Manual which states: Damage Immunities: bludgeoning, piercing, and slashing damage from nonmagical weapons that aren't silvered.

I've also provided you with the definition of an improvised weapon. It should be pretty easy to see how pretty much anything can be turned into a weapon. But there are some things which aren't, like cliffs.

So, for instance, if you lured a wererat into a put filled with punji sticks, it would take damage from the fall. However, it would not take damage from the punji sticks.

May i ask what damage type a rope would deal?