Damage Reduction how does it work?

[Nornalhorst]

I'm curious how does damage reduction work?

I know it reduces damage by a certain amount indicated in the entry for the creature but if a creature like a lich has "DR 15/Bludgeoning and Magic" what does that mean exactly? Does that mean the weapon that is used against has to be both bludgeoning and magic to overcome DR?:smalleek:

Also does DR protect against things like fire and other such effects? For example would a nice flask of alchemist fire bypass all DR?

[Deophaun]

II know it reduces damage by a certain amount indicated in the entry for the creature but if a creature like a lich has "DR 15/Bludgeoning and Magic" what does that mean exactly? Does that mean the weapon that is used against has to be both bludgeoning and magic to overcome DR?:smalleek:
Yes.

Meanwhile 15/Bludgeoning or Magic would mean the weapon could be bludgeoning, or it could be magic, or it could be both, and it will overcome DR.

Also does DR protect against things like fire and other such effects? For example would a nice flask of alchemist fire bypass all DR?
It does not protect against energy (whether mundane or magical), or force damage, or really any magically inflicted damage unless otherwise stated (for instance, splinterbolt is identified as being affected by DR). If you want to prevent fire damage, you look to energy resistance, not DR.

[Shadowknight12]

Yes, that's exactly what it means. "And" means that the weapon must fulfill both conditions in order to bypass DR. In the lich's case, a weapon must be both magical and bludgeoning to do so. "Or" means that the DR is bypassed by either of the conditions. It's rarer, but "silver or magic" means that a magical weapon can bypass the DR, and so can a silvered weapon.

The amount stated in the DR is reduced from every attack. If you have four attacks per round and the enemy triggers an AoO from you, it reduces damage all five times (assuming you actually hit him every single time).

DR only applies to weapon attacks. It does not apply to spells or other effects under otherwise stated.

For cases like fire, acid, electricity, cold and sonic, you have Energy Resistance, which is like DR, but is not constrained by weapon attacks. Energy Resistance applies to any source of damage that is of the specified resistance, and can only be bypassed by specific feats or features (such as the Searing Spell feat, which allows a spellcaster to deal Fire damage to creatures immune or resistant to fire).

EDIT: Ah, Time Stop'd as usual.

[Karnith]

In addition to what others have said, you may find the rules on damage reduction (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/specialAbilities.htm#damageReduction) useful to read.

[Divide by Zero]

I'm curious how does damage reduction work?

I know it reduces damage by a certain amount indicated in the entry for the creature but if a creature like a lich has "DR 15/Bludgeoning and Magic" what does that mean exactly? Does that mean the weapon that is used against has to be both bludgeoning and magic to overcome DR?:smalleek:

Also does DR protect against things like fire and other such effects? For example would a nice flask of alchemist fire bypass all DR?

http://www.d20srd.org/srd/specialAbilities.htm#damageReduction

Relevant parts:

"A few creatures are harmed by more than one kind of weapon. A weapon of either type overcomes this damage reduction.

A few other creatures require combinations of different types of attacks to overcome their damage reduction. A weapon must be both types to overcome this damage reduction. A weapon that is only one type is still subject to damage reduction."

A lich would be the latter, since its DR says and.

"The creature takes normal damage from energy attacks (even nonmagical ones), spells, spell-like abilities, and supernatural abilities."

Edit: damn, this thread is just full of swordsages.

[Nornalhorst]

okay thanks everybody I understand now.

So tons of flasks of alchemist fire can kill it:smallbiggrin:

Also if said lich had SR 20, what would this entail as well?

[Divide by Zero]

okay thanks everybody I understand now.

So tons of flasks of alchemist fire can kill it:smallbiggrin:

Also if said lich had SR 20, what would this entail as well?

If anyone tries to affect it with a spell that allows spell resistance, they have to make a caster level check and roll at least 20.

[Tanklin]

i have questions...

what happens with a dwarven defender ( DR 6 / - ) with armor specialization ( DR 2 / - ) and a adamantine full plate ( DR 3 / - )

those numbers stack?

[Shadowknight12]

If the lich is a spellcaster, he or she can cast Protection from Energy (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/spells/protectionFromEnergy.htm) or Energy Immunity (from Spell Compendium, if I recall correctly) to ignore that pesky fire damage.

SR 20 means that any spell that says "Spell Resistance: Yes" forces the spellcaster to perform a caster check (1d20 + caster level) in order to affect the lich with that spell. If the caster check is 19 or less, the lich is not affected by that spell.

EDIT: Time Stop'd again...


i have questions...

what happens with a dwarven defender ( DR 6 / - ) with armor specialization ( DR 2 / - ) and a adamantine full plate ( DR 3 / - )

those numbers stack?

Nope. DR doesn't stack. The armor specialisation and adamantine full plate are essentially useless.

[Karnith]

Also if said lich had SR 20, what would this entail as well?
Other people have already explained the gist of SR, but you can find the full rules on it here (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/specialAbilities.htm#spellResistance).

those numbers stack?
Separate instances of damage reduction overlap and do not stack, unless specifically called out as stacking. Per the SRD: (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/specialAbilities.htm#damageReduction)
If a creature has damage reduction from more than one source, the two forms of damage reduction do not stack. Instead, the creature gets the benefit of the best damage reduction in a given situation.

[Hiro Protagonest]

So tons of flasks of alchemist fire can kill it:smallbiggrin:

You're fighting a lich and your brutes can't deal more than 20 damage per attack?

Also, spells ignore it unless they're called out as a weapon, Just use the Orb line from Spell Compendium.

[Tanklin]

thank you for the info :)