Explosion Overpressure ... Bludgeoning damage vs Sonic damage?

[Schattenbach]

So ... while Stating out modern weapons and such, I’ve been wondering for a while now about what of the two might seem more suitable to use as damage type for the effects of overpressure. Up until now, I’ve used Bludgeoning damage (as it also, to some degree, seems to be used in Pathfinder for various explosive effects and such) to do the job as it still fits blast waves quite nicely, though with shockwaves gradually degrading into actual sound waves and such, the other option seems to make sense, too (it is a bit of a balance problem, though, because defenses against non-Energy damage types wouldn’t apply).

So ... has someone some advice, idea or otherwise opinion they would like to share about this issue?

Thanks in advance.

[Darrin]

So ... has someone some advice, idea or otherwise opinion they would like to share about this issue?


I'm not sure this counts as advice, but... think of the catgirls, maybe?

(As in, if you're aiming for that level of realism in D&D, then be careful what you wish for.)

For simplicity's sake, I think I'd rather just treat it as untyped damage without any specific [energy] or weapon descriptor. I think that covers bludgeoning/laceration from debris, the concussion wave, and the propagation of kinetic energy through soft tissue fairly well.

[Goaty14]

I've always thought of it as force damage, since it's manipulating the very environment itself instead of a weapon, shrapnel, etc.

Though that's pretty biased because I've always read force as normal atoms being literally immovable, instead of some ectoplasmic magic-material...

[ExLibrisMortis]

Explosive runes is a force effect that deals force damage. Bombs deal fire damage. Dynamite, on the other hand, deals bludgeoning damage. Fragmentation grenades deal slashing damage. So, uh, anything goes, really.


Consider the behaviour of the explosion: Sonic damage ignores hardness, whereas slashing/piercing/bludgeoning/fire damage is only fully effective against living targets. Force damage ignores most any defence, and hits incorporeal creatures to boot. Anti-personnel explosives should probably have more slashing/piercing, anti-materiel explosives should focus on sonic. Magic explosives should probably use force.

[Andor13]

Overpressure damage is caused by a sound wave. I would, as a player, expect it to be stopped cold by a silence effect (it might not be, that's a GM call, but I'd give you a look. :smallsmile:) But like a sonic weapon, or the bang portion of a flash bang it seems clearly like a sonic effect to me.