What does force damage do?

[Dhavaer]

Specifically, if I hit someone with an Eldritch Blast or Magic Missile, what will the wound look like?

[Ralanr]

I imagined it was very similar to bludgeoning damage, but could affect non physical things.

[Naanomi]

I see force as covering a variety of magical effects; could be concussive 'Cyclopes Blast', disintegration type effects, bludgeoning piercing or slashing damage done by 'pure magic force'; or even some sort of defuse 'essence' damage that leaves little visible marks

Regardless, the key feature being how little it interacts with other effects that would boost or hinder other 'energies'

[jkat718]

I picture force damage to be bolts of energy, but more "laser pistol" or "Iron Man's hand blasters" than the more magical/holy effects that I tend to associate with Radiant damage.

[XmonkTad]

Since disintegrate does force damage now, I figure force damage slightly disintegrates things.

[Safety Sword]

I have a physics degree and I am still loathe to mix real world physics and D&D.

However, you could think of force damage as invisible hammers that hit stuff.

For instance a "Wall of Force" would be an area that literally just pushes you back harder than you can push through to pass through it.

Magic missiles would be something like arrows that "push" extremely hard on the surface of your body, to the point (haha) where they are damaging your tissue.

Or, you could go the other way and think of them as very small masses that accelerate quickly and stop suddenly on the target, depositing their energy. Magic Proton Cannon, anyone?

[Ziegander]

The better question, in my opinion, is what does Psychic Damage do?

[Ralanr]

The better question, in my opinion, is what does Psychic Damage do?

Give headaches?

[Safety Sword]

The better question, in my opinion, is what does Psychic Damage do?

Extreme brain freeze.

[Naanomi]

The better question, in my opinion, is what does Psychic Damage do?
Low self esteem after particularly potent insults

[goto124]

That explains Vicious Mockery.

Possible Insult for the spell:
Sorry everyone, I can't use Vicious Mockery on this guy. It doesn't work on mindless undead.

[Ziegander]

As a DM, whenever a Bard "kills" an enemy with Vicious Mockery, I have no idea how to describe this occurrence...

[Amaril]

As a DM, whenever a Bard "kills" an enemy with Vicious Mockery, I have no idea how to describe this occurrence...

Pretty sure the enemy should commit suicide.

[Dhavaer]

As a DM, whenever a Bard "kills" an enemy with Vicious Mockery, I have no idea how to describe this occurrence...

Cerebral haemorrhage would probably be how psychic damage would kill you, I'd think.

[Slipperychicken]

Specifically, if I hit someone with an Eldritch Blast or Magic Missile, what will the wound look like?

I imagine chemical-y scorch marks. But then, I imagine my eldritch blasts as green lightning, like Avada Kedavras. Hex adds a tinge of black to the green lightning bolt.

[Gnomes2169]

The better question, in my opinion, is what does Psychic Damage do?

Attacks the person's psyche and consciousness to the point where they black out, shredding all thought and unraveling all life force, and then causing the target to forget how to live. Those that survive probably have a few of their memories unraveled, and likely have to re-learn how to properly move their limbs before they can function properly after such an assault. They likely even have lingering madness and other negative psychic effects (which are in the DMG).

... The system does not reflect this properly, but that's how I like to imagine it.

[Xyk]

I describe force damage as inertial damage. Kind of like hitting with a hammer minus the impact if that makes sense. It's magic so I want it to feel unnatural, and this differentiates it enough from bludgeoning.

An eldritch blast would be like a bolt of kinetic energy passing into and through a target.

[Flashy]

As a DM, whenever a Bard "kills" an enemy with Vicious Mockery, I have no idea how to describe this occurrence...

Blood pours out of their ears, they writhe on the floor, their eyes roll back into their head and they weep puss, they let out a piteous wail, they simply fall lifeless, they dance like a marionette long after they've obviously died, really anything. Heck, their eyes go black and then their head explodes; it's magic it doesn't have to be explicable.

[goto124]

Behold the Muscle Wizard (https://i.warosu.org/data/tg/img/0270/60/1378479158042.png)

As for psychic damage: the 'commit suicide' option is great :3

[Grek]

Force damage is like this: http://i.imgur.com/iwimaIo.jpg


As a DM, whenever a Bard "kills" an enemy with Vicious Mockery, I have no idea how to describe this occurrence...They burst into flames with the sickness of the burn.

[jkat718]

Force damage is like this: http://i.imgur.com/iwimaIo.jpg
I'm not sure if you're making a joke about the fact that it's called "force" damage, or whether you're saying you picture that when you think of force damage. If the latter, I'd say that Dooku is casting Lightning Bolt, which deals lightning damage, not force damage. If the former...*woosh*.


They burst into flames with the sickness of the burn.
Nice. :smallbiggrin:

[HoarsHalberd]

As a DM, whenever a Bard "kills" an enemy with Vicious Mockery, I have no idea how to describe this occurrence...

I imagine it like the scene in the matrix where Cipher is unplugging people, their eyes glaze over suddenly and they fall limp.

As to the OP, force is a catch all damage type for magically applied damage. Just like the heat of heat metal is going to cause a different kind of burn to a firebolt, so is the force of eldritch blast going to cause a different kind of damage to the force of disintegrate. Eldritch blast damage damage I describe as like a force being applied, so low damage they hit them in the shoulder, jerking it in a manner most disturbing and unnatural. A big whopper of a crit and they caught them in the stomach, the opponent staggers back a step and blood sprays from his mouth.

[Wartex1]

I describe force to basically be pure destructive energy. It pushes, it disintegrates, it explodes.

[Easy_Lee]

Force damage is tricky because we don't have it in the real world. Concussion damage from an explosion seems like a good match, until we realize that's thundering / sonic damage depending on the generation (complete with burst eardrums). Force damage reaches across the Astral plane, so it has to be magical / spiritual to some degree. I'd imagine it like ki blasts from DBZ.

[Ralanr]

Force damage is tricky because we don't have it in the real world. Concussion damage from an explosion seems like a good match, until we realize that's thundering / sonic damage depending on the generation (complete with burst eardrums). Force damage reaches across the Astral plane, so it has to be magical / spiritual to some degree. I'd imagine it like ki blasts from DBZ.

Why not just use kinetic energy but remove the bullet.

DBZ ki blasts could work, but force seems invisible to me. Kinda like how telekinesis can be shown as invisible (though to be fair, telekinesis bugs me. If they show it like invisible arms it implies it can be dodged which never seems to happen).

[Easy_Lee]

Why not just use kinetic energy but remove the bullet.

DBZ ki blasts could work, but force seems invisible to me. Kinda like how telekinesis can be shown as invisible (though to be fair, telekinesis bugs me. If they show it like invisible arms it implies it can be dodged which never seems to happen).

Well, the kinetic energy of a bomb blast, for example, is air hitting you. It may include shrapnel or other debris, and may include heat, but the sudden air blast and resultant rapid change in velocity is what tears structures apart.

I suppose force could be a push against one's Astral essence or something, so it's the same as concussion but without an apparent source. Some versions of ki follow the same principal, right down to being invisible. It's probably related to ki from the fact that open hand monks can enter the Astral plane.

[JackPhoenix]

I'm not sure if I can explain what I mean in english, but for me, it's some sort of material disruption. Disintegration, ripping the target apart WITHOUT applying the force from outside, weaponised entropy...though in the later case, it kinda overlap with Necrotic

IIRC, antimatter weapons in D20 modern cause Force damage, as do various form of radiation (if they don't work as a poison, that is), I think there are singularity launchers and gravity mines causing Force damage too.

[Wartex1]

Antimatter does necrotic in 5e according to the DMG.

Necrotic seems to refer to the removal of necessary proteins and such from cellular tissue like actual necrosis.

[Battlebooze]

PEW! PEW! PEW!

I always imagined force damage is like an "sharpened eggbeater" effect, scrambling, tearing, shredding whatever it hits with magical force power.

So in my mind, force damage wounds would look like the target got hit by a drill bit or a blender, nasty torn and shredded flesh.

[Battlebooze]

As a DM, whenever a Bard "kills" an enemy with Vicious Mockery, I have no idea how to describe this occurrence...

Like in all Kungfu movies, the target bleeds out of the mouth and nose, then falls over dead.
:smallbiggrin:

[Gnomes2169]

PEW! PEW! PEW!

I always imagined force damage is like an "sharpened eggbeater" effect, scrambling, tearing, shredding whatever it hits with magical force power.

So in my mind, force damage wounds would look like the target got hit by a drill bit or a blender, nasty torn and shredded flesh.

MINE IS THE DRILL THAT WILL PIERCE THE HEAVENS!

... And it's even a nice shade of purple! :D

[Kane0]

I usually picture force damage like ki blasts from DBZ. Things like eldritch blast and magic missile are like regular dakka, stronger stuff like disintegrate would be more like a full power kamehameha to the face.

[JackPhoenix]

Antimatter does necrotic in 5e according to the DMG.

I know, I was refering to older editions. It's weird it does necrotic damage, why should undead be resistant or immune to antimatter?

edit: unless (other issues with antimatter weaponry aside) it's not shooting some sort of contained antiparticles, but the annihilation happens in the weapon's chamber itself, and the gun just bathes the target in various types of radiation the annihilation produces, with the side effect of killing catgirls in a large radius.

[ChubbyRain]

When I DM force damage doesn't exist. Force effects can, like wall of force or whatever, exist but all damage from that sort of magic is just bludgeoning/piercing/slashing damage (when you learn the spell/ability then you pick one for that specific spell). Two Warlocks in 5e can have a piercing eldricth blast and another may have a bludgeoning eldritch blast but they can never change the damage type.

Of course I don't differentiate between "magic" and "non-magic" damage. Fire is always fire and piercing is always piercing. The source may give a creature advantage (gnome) but the actual damage is all just damage.

Anti-Magic zones don't exist and immunity to weapon/magic damage doesn't exist (resistance is just resistant to specific damage types). Things like the Terrasque and other awesome creatures can keep specific defensive properties but I change some things.

This simplifies a lot of things and brings D&D damage from weapon and magic in on the same playing field. Honesty I have never had a complaint that Anti-Magic/Nul Magic doesn't exist.

[RedMage125]

Cerebral haemorrhage would probably be how psychic damage would kill you, I'd think.

I go with this as well.

Force damage is just raw concussive force. Being shot with a bullet while wearing a kevlar vest, for example, would be like getting hit with magic missile.

[Easy_Lee]

Force damage is just raw concussive force. Being shot with a bullet while wearing a kevlar vest, for example, would be like getting hit with magic missile.

What's the difference between that and bludgeoning?

[Slipperychicken]

What's the difference between that and bludgeoning?

The difference is that casters get to overcome resistances for free because magic.

[Easy_Lee]

The difference is that casters get to overcome resistances for free because magic.

That's fair. The name "force" does imply that a push, concussion, bludgeoning kind of thing is going on.

Do we have any examples of telekinetic blasts in 5e? I wonder if those would be force.

[ChubbyRain]

What's the difference between that and bludgeoning?

I always thought the same thing.



The difference is that casters get to overcome resistances for free because magic.

I like how in Final Fantasy they don't really distinguish between "magic" and "non-magic" damage, which is why I run games the way I do. There is less fiddly bits for exactly as you say, "because magic".

Magic doesn't have to be a separate force of nature if it is imbued within the setting already. This is one of the things that bugs me about D&D settings. They tend to take (real world) + (magic) when it should be (Fantasy World With Magic) from the very beginning.

Magic fire burns and acts the same way as non magic fire because they are the same thing.

Types of Damage I would leave in a game such as 5e
Bludgeoning (Force and Thunder are both bludgeoning)
Piercing
Slashing
Fire
Cold
Lightning
Acid/Alkalinity (Difference is fluff, nerding it up a bit)
Positive/Negative (Radiant broken into good and evil type energies. The difference is fluff)
Necrotic (Poison damage is necrotic)

Oh and morningstars will have both piercing and bludgeoning qualities again :p

[JAL_1138]

Force damage might be a bit like this: https://youtu.be/Bo8Q88bAXyQ?t=42

And Lewis Black explains psychic damage. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sJ0s0KUUpxo

[VoxRationis]

Acid/Alkalinity (Difference is fluff, nerding it up a bit)


I always wanted to throw lye at an acid-immune monster and say a one-liner about learning chemistry.

[Fralex]

I see force damage as the neutral version of necrotic/radiant damage. Not positive or negative energy, just pure destructive energy. I imagine a force-caused wound would be an area of flesh that just magically vanished off the body. Like a partial disintegrate spell.

Objects made of force are solid and can deal ordinary physical damage unless their surfaces contain a thin layer of force in energy form.

[Suichimo]

DBZ ki blasts could work, but force seems invisible to me. Kinda like how telekinesis can be shown as invisible (though to be fair, telekinesis bugs me. If they show it like invisible arms it implies it can be dodged which never seems to happen).

Then let's use Yusuke's Spirit Gun as a reference. An untrained person can't perceive it, but if you can harness it yourself you can view it.

Two examples:
Warlock v Fighter(non-EK)
The Warlock extends his hand and the fighter feels pain in his gut.

Warlock v Wizard
The Warlock extends his hand and the Wizard sees a ball of pure arcane essence shoot forward and impact him in his gut.

This is also how magic/psynergy worked in Golden Sun.

[Logosloki]

Then let's use Yusuke's Spirit Gun as a reference. An untrained person can't perceive it, but if you can harness it yourself you can view it.

Two examples:
Warlock v Fighter(non-EK)
The Warlock extends his hand and the fighter feels pain in his gut.

Warlock v Wizard
The Warlock extends his hand and the Wizard sees a ball of pure arcane essence shoot forward and impact him in his gut.

This is also how magic/psynergy worked in Golden Sun.

Whelp, looks like my next warlock is using spirit gun as eldritch blast.

[ChubbyRain]

I always wanted to throw lye at an acid-immune monster and say a one-liner about learning chemistry.

Right?

I mean if you are going to have acid you really need the other aide of the spectrum. We have fire and cold, this would do great within the system.

More water spells would be nice too.

[JAL_1138]

I always wanted to throw lye at an acid-immune monster and say a one-liner about learning chemistry.

Or use baking soda on an acid-composed critter, like some oozes or a gelatinous cube.