Unarmed Fighting Style grappling damage vs Reduction/Immunity

[Unoriginal]

Hi folks.

The Unarmed Fighting Style allows you to deal 1d4 bludgeoning damage to one creature you have in a grapple, at the start of your turn.

Damage Resistance/Immunity for monsters usually mentions that it applies to damage from attacks made with non-magical weapons, and one module at least mentions how a weretiger isn't immune to bludgeoning damage from a fall.

Would you say that the Resistance/Immunity does apply to the Unarmed Fighting Style grappling damage? It isn't the result of an attack.

Personally, I would not consider that OP, and I like the visual of the Fighter slowly crushing a werewolf in a bear hug.

[PhoenixPhyre]

By the text, resistance shouldn't apply IMO. I'd be apt to run that way as well.

[Darthnazrael]

Wizard: "They're werewolves, they're allergic to silver."
Fighter: *slaps biceps* "They're also allergic to not breathin'."

[Lille]

I mean, this is basically Heracles and the Nemean Lion, so it's not like there isn't precedence.

[Unoriginal]

Wizard: "They're werewolves, they're allergic to silver."
Fighter: *slaps biceps* "They're also allergic to not breathin'."


I mean, this is basically Heracles and the Nemean Lion, so it's not like there isn't precedence.

Outright suffocating the target can also work for this, but that's heavily DM-dependent.

[Wraith]

I think it's a case-by-case issue, to be honest.

RaI, I would agree that it should be a straight d4 specifically because of how you have flavoured it - your weretiger is not just being punched and shrugging it off, he's having a Goliath Barbarian squeezing him by the neck and slowly trying to unscrew his head which isn't something that can just be ignored. Unless you're a Dullahan, but that aside....

Then again, there are some creatures for whom being wrestled/choked/etc to death should not be plausible. A Stone Golem, for example, is a Large creature that is immune to non-magical bludgeoning, and I don't think that anyone can reasonably argue that a human could slowly pull it to pieces, barehanded, over the course of about 5 minutes while it was also fighting back.

Like Unoriginal said - DM dependant. I would allow it in my games most of the time, but make it very clear to the player that there are exceptions for which they're going to have to make very strong justification. Doesn't matter if you're STR20 and Enlarged, you are NOT going to choke out a Cursed Tree or a Brass Juggernaut!

[Zaile]

Most resistance/immunity have clauses like "resistance too X from non-magical weapons". The style says "deal 1d4 bludgeoning damage," so it isn't a weapon attack. It would bypass resistances/immensities that have the the "from weapons" clauses, but not straight "This thing has resistance/immunity to bludgeoning damage."

On a fluff/RP note, I think this damage is is supposed to represent crushing, bending, or wrenching body parts like WWE/MMA. I'm playing a grappler now and I use him like a wrestler. His unarmed attacks range from punches to suplexes.

[Greywander]

Then again, there are some creatures for whom being wrestled/choked/etc to death should not be plausible. A Stone Golem, for example, is a Large creature that is immune to non-magical bludgeoning, and I don't think that anyone can reasonably argue that a human could slowly pull it to pieces, barehanded, over the course of about 5 minutes while it was also fighting back.
It's important not to mix up fluff and mechanics. The mechanics say you do 1d4 damage, period. How that damage is dealt is open to interpretation; are you choking them out, crushing a limb or windpipe, crushing them with your weight? It can be fluffed however you like. Also, this is fantasy, so while it might be unrealistic it would still be on model to have the barbarian crush a stone golem so hard that its stones begin to crack. The other thing to consider is that HP is also open to interpretation. Technically, only the killing blow is a true hit, anything else can vary from minor injuries to near misses that exhaust or demoralize the target. That 1d4 damage dealt to the stone golem could literally just be the golem being sad he can't move.

[Unoriginal]

Then again, there are some creatures for whom being wrestled/choked/etc to death should not be plausible. A Stone Golem, for example, is a Large creature that is immune to non-magical bludgeoning, and I don't think that anyone can reasonably argue that a human could slowly pull it to pieces, barehanded, over the course of about 5 minutes while it was also fighting back.

A D&D human absolutely could slowly destroy a creature made of stone, barehanded, over the course of 5 minutes while it's fighting back, if they're trained in a way that allow them such power.

D&D humans can chew through a solid adamantine door, with the right training.

HOWEVER, if the creature is immune to all non-magical bludgeoning or to all bludgeoning damage (not just bludgeoning from a non-magical weapon), then the human nor anyone else could do it.

[Greywander]

HOWEVER, if the creature is immune to all non-magical bludgeoning or to all bludgeoning damage (not just bludgeoning from a non-magical weapon), then the human nor anyone else could do it.
If it was immune to all non-magical damage, then fall damage wouldn't hurt them, either. The fact is, they're not immune to all non-magical damage, they immune to non-magical attacks. Yes, it's kind of dumb, but I didn't make these rules. Anything that deals damage without making an attack roll bypasses such resistance or immunity.

[Unoriginal]

If it was immune to all non-magical damage, then fall damage wouldn't hurt them, either. The fact is, they're not immune to all non-magical damage, they immune to non-magical attacks. Yes, it's kind of dumb, but I didn't make these rules. Anything that deals damage without making an attack roll bypasses such resistance or immunity.

I know, that's what I wrote in the OP.

My point was that if there was an creature immune to all bludgeoning damage, then Wraith's point would apply, but otherwise a D&D humanoid can destroy the creature.

An humanoid being able to wrestle a golem until it's broken isn't more outlandish than n humanoid being able to kill one by insulting it very hard.