Slashing and Piercing Damage

[Vegan Squirrel]

Hello, Playground.

It just occurred to me that I can't recall an instance (at least in 5th ed.) where a creature is immune/resistant/vulnerable to either piercing or slashing damage, but not the other. I understand that there's a difference in function between a weapon that pierces and one that slashes, but there doesn't seem to be much practical difference in the game. So, are there examples I'm missing where the difference between slashing and piercing damage matters? Is this pure legacy, or have the designers utilized the difference in some way?

Part of this is just idle curiosity, but I've also been putting together my own simpler OGL system. I'm considering using sharp and blunt instead of piercing, slashing, and bludgeoning.

Thanks for your thoughts. :smallsmile:

[hymer]

There must be some jelly or ooze that reacts differently to slashing than it does to piercing.

[Vegan Squirrel]

There must be some jelly or ooze that reacts differently to slashing than it does to piercing.

Good catch! The black pudding and ochre jelly are immune to slashing damage, but the gelatinous cube and gray ooze are indifferent to your weapon choice.

Anything else?

[nickl_2000]

They aren't creatures, but Nets get destroyed if you deal 5 slashing damage to it. But bludgeoning and slashing damage do nothing.

[leogobsin]

Treants are resistant to bludgeoning and piercing but not slashing, a Rakshasa is vulnerable to piercing from magical weapons wielded by Good creatures.
The DMG also talks about giving objects damage immunity/resistance/vulnerability at the DM's discretion, and similarly a Net can be destroyed only with slashing damage.
So there's very few situations where slashing vs. piercing makes a difference, but probably not fewer situations than where say slashing vs. bludgeoning matters.

[hymer]

Treants are vulnerable to slashing, I think?

Edit: Shadowmonk'ed and corrected.

[Theron_the_slim]

Vegepygmy from Volos Guide to Monsters are have Resistance against piercing, but not slashing

[Vegan Squirrel]

They aren't creatures, but Nets get destroyed if you deal 5 slashing damage to it. But bludgeoning and slashing damage do nothing.


Treants are resistant to bludgeoning and piercing but not slashing, a Rakshasa is vulnerable to piercing from magical weapons wielded by Good creatures.
The DMG also talks about giving objects damage immunity/resistance/vulnerability at the DM's discretion, and similarly a Net can be destroyed only with slashing damage.
So there's very few situations where slashing vs. piercing makes a difference, but probably not fewer situations than where say slashing vs. bludgeoning matters.

Thank you! So there's quite a bit more difference than I realized, and that point about bludgeoning is interesting. Skeletons are usually the first example people mention when talking about damage types, so it often feels like bludgeoning is more distinct than the others.

[PhantomSoul]

Thank you! So there's quite a bit more difference than I realized, and that point about bludgeoning is interesting. Skeletons are usually the first example people mention when talking about damage types, so it often feels like bludgeoning is more distinct than the others.

Which makes sense intuitively; I feel like "sharp" vs "not-sharp" is a bigger difference than "slice-y sharp" vs. "poke-y sharp".

[nickl_2000]

Thank you! So there's quite a bit more difference than I realized, and that point about bludgeoning is interesting. Skeletons are usually the first example people mention when talking about damage types, so it often feels like bludgeoning is more distinct than the others.

There is also a difference in some magical items.
Many items are only swords, Maces, or Axes. The vorpal sword requires that it be a slash sword.

[Man_Over_Game]

I don't have a monster manual in front of me, but our DM likes to follow the rules, and the Cranium Rat swarm he threw at us was resistant to Piercing but not Slashing. If that's accurate, then I'd probably say it's true of every Swarm creature.

[sophontteks]

The morningstar:
https://static.giantbomb.com/uploads/scale_small/0/1992/1201795-morningstar.jpg
Doesn't deal bludgeoning damage in 5e.
Its a piercing weapon, like a rapier, or a dagger.
I provided a picture to show how dagger-like it is.

[Misterwhisper]

The morningstar:
https://static.giantbomb.com/uploads/scale_small/0/1992/1201795-morningstar.jpg
Doesn't deal bludgeoning damage in 5e.
Its a piercing weapon, like a rapier, or a dagger.
I provided a picture to show how dagger-like it is.

Yeah I have had a problem with lots of those kinds of things.

It was so arbitrary to make all weapons crit on the same roll and for the same lower amount than 3.5 then they add in thinks like Pam/GWM/ss/CBE that goes completely against that philosophy.

Also a pike which is really just a long spear weighs 18 lbs.
So does a heavy crossbow.
Daggers can’t slash.
And the biggest issue, Spears are not polearms.

It is like they just threw the whole weapon section together on playtest 1 and never bothered to change anything.

[Lord Vukodlak]

The morningstar:
https://static.giantbomb.com/uploads/scale_small/0/1992/1201795-morningstar.jpg
Doesn't deal bludgeoning damage in 5e.
Its a piercing weapon, like a rapier, or a dagger.
I provided a picture to show how dagger-like it is.

Those spikes don’t actually add a lot. If you wanted to be more realistic it’s be 80% bludgeoning and 20% piercing.

[sophontteks]

Those spikes don’t actually add a lot. If you wanted to be more realistic it’s be 80% bludgeoning and 20% piercing.
You may have missed my sarcasm there.
But I agree. It's 100% a bludgeoning weapon. Its practically the spokesman of bludgeoning weapons. It's just so weird to me.

[Zuras]

Fiend Pact Warlocks can choose resistance to a single type of damage, and the default for the NPC ones in Volo’s is slashing, so you may run into it that way.