Necrotic damage

[.::Pr0 n00b::.]

Hey fellas just wanted to ask a question. My DM is using basic necrotic dmg as an anti heal. I know some monsters have that ability but most low lvl monsters have necrotic just as a type of dmg not as an ability to let you not heal.

Does this homebrew rule buff them to much? A few undead dudes hit you 3-4 times and you are basically screwed untill you long rest

[Naanomi]

So you can take infinite necrotic damage and not die? Seems like a big nerf to creatures (and characters) relying on that damage type

[Unoriginal]

Hey fellas just wanted to ask a question. My DM is using basic necrotic dmg as an anti heal. I know some monsters have that ability but most low lvl monsters have necrotic just as a type of dmg not as an ability to let you not heal.

Does this homebrew rule buff them to much? A few undead dudes hit you 3-4 times and you are basically screwed untill you long rest

As in, all necrotic damage is substracted from your max HP until a long rest?

That's pretty bonkers, if your DM uses necrotic-damage-dealing enemies the same way as before the buff.

[.::Pr0 n00b::.]

So you can take infinite necrotic damage and not die? Seems like a big nerf to creatures (and characters) relying on that damage type

No bro i worded it wrong.

Every creature who has necrotic damage as its damage type can anti heal you. Basically every creature with necrotic damage has the life drain that a Specter has no matter if its just a damage type. If they hit you at 0 you died because they use necrotic

[.::Pr0 n00b::.]

As in, all necrotic damage is substracted from your max HP until a long rest?

That's pretty bonkers, if your DM uses necrotic-damage-dealing enemies the same way as before the buff.

Yes all necrotic dmg takes from your max hp

[stoutstien]

Hey fellas just wanted to ask a question. My DM is using basic necrotic dmg as an anti heal. I know some monsters have that ability but most low lvl monsters have necrotic just as a type of dmg not as an ability to let you not heal.

Does this homebrew rule buff them to much? A few undead dudes hit you 3-4 times and you are basically screwed untill you long rest

What is anti heal? Like it reduces max HP or just adds a layer of reverse THP that have to be handled before any real HP is recovered?

[Unoriginal]

No bro i worded it wrong.

Every creature who has necrotic damage as its damage type can anti heal you. Basically every creature with necrotic damage has the life drain that a Specter has no matter if its just a damage type. If they hit you at 0 you died because they use necrotic

Yeah, that's plain bonkers, if your DM doesn't adjust for the new power level of those creatures post-houserule.

I'm gonna assume your DM didn'thave a lot of PCs dealing necrotic damage at their tables.

[.::Pr0 n00b::.]

Yeah, that's plain bonkers, if your DM doesn't adjust for the new power level of those creatures post-houserule.

I'm gonna assume your DM didn'thave a lot of PCs dealing necrotic damage at their tables.

We are pretty new to dnd so many rules we need to check. He is a pretty good DM who is more story driven then mechanics and it pretty fun. Just figured to ask if this is overpowered. Figured if a couple of undead hit you you are pretty screwed. He kinda likes this homebrew rule for more of a challenge which could be a good thing?

[Leon]

Sounds like a throw back to 3.5e's Negative levels. Which were a potent debuff but also not just on any undead just the more nasty ones

[Kane0]

Its pretty damn potent. Maybe not gamebreaking with an experienced DM but if you're just getting to grips with the game then i'd advise putting a hold on that until you're more familiar with things.

[ad_hoc]

Could be fun in a horror survival one shot.

[J-H]

It depends on what you're fighting. Some undead have this as a normal property, such as vampires.
If he's giving it to Chill Touch or similar abilities, I'm a lot more wary of it.

[Segev]

Yeah, my advice to your DM would be to only use monsters as they are written, wrt necrotic damage. Some monsters DO reduce your max hp, or say that you die if you go to 0 hp from their attacks, but that is not an inherent property of necrotic damage; that's just a damage type, typed that way because some things interact with particular damage types (e.g. by having resistance to, vulnerability to, or immunity to necrotic damage).

[kazaryu]

Hey fellas just wanted to ask a question. My DM is using basic necrotic dmg as an anti heal. I know some monsters have that ability but most low lvl monsters have necrotic just as a type of dmg not as an ability to let you not heal.

Does this homebrew rule buff them to much? A few undead dudes hit you 3-4 times and you are basically screwed untill you long rest

Well, its tough to say if its 'too much' as thats subjective. Its certainly a massive spike in lethality whenever the parry faces necrotic damage. As such it requires careful consideration to ensure that at least some level of fairness is maintained.

[animewatcha]

Proper playtest? Everyone makes Death Domain Clerics (DMG) or similar and spams inflict wounds everywhere. If the DM makes any mobs (BBEG or not) resistant, immune, or even absorb to necrotic damage in response, then it is an acknowledgement from that DM that the 'life drain' needs to remain as is and not be 'changed to all necrotic damage'.

[loki_ragnarock]

Proper playtest? Everyone makes Death Domain Clerics (DMG) or similar and spams inflict wounds everywhere. If the DM makes any mobs (BBEG or not) resistant, immune, or even absorb to necrotic damage in response, then it is an acknowledgement from that DM that the 'life drain' needs to remain as is and not be 'changed to all necrotic damage'.

That's not terribly illustrative to the DM, as NPCs in a combat have an assumed lifetime of... that combat. Lingering injuries don't matter as much when death is all but inevitable. And if they escape? They long rest and come back.

Nah, this hits at player dynamics almost exclusively.

[huttj509]

Not a fan, due to a GM doing that in a ravenloft game without telling anyone it was a houserule.

Also ran into a bookkeeping situation where he was counting up damage we had taken, and noted our max HP. So necrotic damage was *both* adding to the damage number and subtracting from the max health number.

"And you're down." "What? No I'm not." "You've taken 15 necrotic damage, and your max health is down to 14." "Yeah, but I still have 14 health left, I just can't heal any."

It was a *thing*...

Sounds like something that gets implemented as thematic, but REALLY throws off pacing.

[animewatcha]

That's not terribly illustrative to the DM, as NPCs in a combat have an assumed lifetime of... that combat. Lingering injuries don't matter as much when death is all but inevitable. And if they escape? They long rest and come back.

Nah, this hits at player dynamics almost exclusively.

Also it hits at regeneration and is a work around of temp hitpoints. Reaching max hitpoints of 0 while temp hitpoints are above 0 is still is a headscratcher.

I can see this 'necro damage buff' as something like a boss/lair mechanic that can be used every one in a long while. But not every instance of necro damage.

[loki_ragnarock]

Also it hits at regeneration and is a work around of temp hitpoints. Reaching max hitpoints of 0 while temp hitpoints are above 0 is still is a headscratcher.

I can see this 'necro damage buff' as something like a boss/lair mechanic that can be used every one in a long while. But not every instance of necro damage.

I don't disagree.

Regenerating enemies are fairly uncommon; chill touch already worked for this as a sideways tactic, but letting everyone with a cantrip slot double as a clay golem seems a bit over the top. But then again, enemies dealing necrotic damage aren't *that* common, either, with only 22 monsters in the MM that fit the bill in their stat block... although there may be more with specific spells that deal necrotic damage, none of the things in the MM come with Chill Touch in their loadout to my knowledge.
I'm not even sure what problem the DM trying to solve with this rule. Without that bit of the puzzle I'm not sure I can provide any useful thoughts. I'm not sure they were thinking to themselves "You know what this game needs? Slightly scarier beholders," but it is one of those weird consequences.

Even so, it's unlikely that necrotic dealing PCs will trigger a realization regarding how the rule interacts with PCs. It's just too different a dynamic when NPCs - opponent types - are inherently disposable.

[animewatcha]

Also depends upon if the DM likes to use monsters or NPCs with class levels and what not (pretty much like Matt Mercer).