Pyro/Cryo-hydra.

[Fates]

I was reading the passage in the hydra entry in the monster manual when I noticed that under the pyrohydra and cryohydra entries, they mention that each head fires a jet of cold or fire, and that each jet does 3d6 damage per head. While I'm sure this is a mistake, and the authors intended to say that each head fires a jet which does 3d6 damage, a literal reading of the rule implies that the hydra is doing 3d6 X # heads² damage every 1d4 rounds.

On a side note, what is the deal with pyrohydras and cryohydras anyway? They seem extremely overpowered given their challenge rating. Sure, their AC and Hitpoints are crappy, but 36d6 damage is likely to kill a lot of 13th-level characters outright. Even worse, they're extremely abusable as polymorph options...am I wrong about this?

[Silvanoshei]

Together they do 36d6, they are good polymorph options.

[herrhauptmann]

Nope, you read it right.
Might be able to keep your party alive longer by having just 2 or 3 heads breathe at a time.
It'll be pretty much continuous damage, but you won't be blasting the entire party with 36d6 damage, especially at the beginning of th efight when they might be all grouped up.

[LTwerewolf]

Negative, all heads must breath at once. That's why the CR on them goes up.

[Radar]

This is quite a lot of damage, but since it's divided between the heads makes it highly susceptible to elemental resistance. With a resistance of 10 you get rid of over half of it and a resistance of 15 would make you next to immune to this breath attack.

[Answerer]

This is quite a lot of damage, but since it's divided between the heads makes it highly susceptible to elemental resistance. With a resistance of 10 you get rid of over half of it and a resistance of 15 would make you next to immune to this breath attack.
Nope. Resistance, unlike Damage Reduction, is per-round, not per-attack.


...usually. I seem to recall there being some inconsistencies on this point.

[Glimbur]

Nope. Resistance, unlike Damage Reduction, is per-round, not per-attack.


...usually. I seem to recall there being some inconsistencies on this point.

Amusingly, the Resistance to Energy special ability seems to be per-round, while the Resist Energy spell is per source. I'm going to check my re-released core set and see what they say.

[Deophaun]

Amusingly, the Resistance to Energy special ability seems to be per-round, while the Resist Energy spell is per source. I'm going to check my re-released core set and see what they say.
Resistance to Energy, as cited in the MMs and Rules Compendium, is per attack, not per round.

[CIDE]

Negative, all heads must breath at once. That's why the CR on them goes up.

Ahem. (http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=rule%200)

[PairO'Dice Lost]

Nope. Resistance, unlike Damage Reduction, is per-round, not per-attack.


...usually. I seem to recall there being some inconsistencies on this point.

In 3.0, energy resistance was a per-round value, whereas in 3.5 some stuff is per-attack and some is per-round, and the per-round quotes are likely copy-paste holdover errors.

The SRD and DMG use the phrase "ignore some damage of a certain type each round," but the example given in the DMG says "A janni can ignore the first 10 points of fire damage it takes each attack" where it was per round in the 3.0 version. Meanwhile, the MM and RC (the primary sources for monster energy resistance) uses the phrase "anytime it takes [energy] damage," and the PHB says "ignores the first X points of [energy] damage dealt by each attack."

As a side note, if you compare 3.0 and 3.5 monsters, energy resistance tends to have decreased, from the 15-25 range in 3.0 to the 5-15 range for 3.5, which provides more support for that as it's basically consistent from going from resistance 20 per round against two casters to resistance 10 per attack against two casters.

[TuggyNE]

We've had this discussion before. No, by the strict wording, pyro/cryohydras do not in fact deal exponential damage. The wording is poor and confusing, but not actually ambiguous enough to pull that off. (The OP of the previous thread was amusingly brash about this, which probably triggered a more ferocious denial in response.)

[CIDE]

We've had this discussion before. No, by the strict wording, pyro/cryohydras do not in fact deal exponential damage. The wording is poor and confusing, but not actually ambiguous enough to pull that off. (The OP of the previous thread was amusingly brash about this, which probably triggered a more ferocious denial in response.)

I don't understand how the OP in the other thread got what he did at all. It is very clearly worded for 3d6 per head every 1d4 rounds with a max of 36d6 at 12 heads....

[The Viscount]

The text says that a pyrohydra's or cryohydra's breath weapon deals damage so that each jet deals 3d6 damage per head. It is quite clearly a matter of vagueness, but one might willfully interpret it to mean that by "jet" they mean the jet of breath weapon from each head.

[huttj509]

The text says that a pyrohydra's or cryohydra's breath weapon deals damage so that each jet deals 3d6 damage per head. It is quite clearly a matter of vagueness, but one might willfully interpret it to mean that by "jet" they mean the jet of breath weapon from each head.

That was how it seemed to me on looking it up while 'winging it' one session. I stared crosseyed for a minute figuring I was missing something, then substituted another beastie so I wouldn't need to worry about it.