Emulating Warcraft's Chaos damage

[Spore]

The premise is simple. Chaos damage is never reduced and ignores armor (resistances and immunity in out case since AC makes you miss). It however is also a mix of every magic school. These in WoW being Holy (Radiant), Shadow (Necrotic), Nature (not only Poison but also Lightning), Frost (Cold), Fire, Arcane (Force) and Physical (Blunt, Pierce, Slash).

You basically only avoid it if you are immune to all damage. How would you do that whort of DM fiat? Is there an equivalent? Does 5e have some kind of typeless damage like 3e Flame Strike?

As an extension to that question: Would you allow permanently adapting the warlock's eldritch blast to fire and necrotic damage? Some kind of fel fire that can be chosen ro be one either (functionally identical to chaos damage if you know the resistances).

[DeTess]

As an extension to that question: Would you allow permanently adapting the warlock's eldritch blast to fire and necrotic damage? Some kind of fel fire that can be chosen ro be one either (functionally identical to chaos damage if you know the resistances).

I think this would be fine as long as the player doesn't metagame creature stats. Force damage is the least resisted damage type, I think, so it won't break anything.

[hymer]

Is there an equivalent?

Force damage. There is no resistance to Force in the MM, and only one Immunity.

As an extension to that question: Would you allow permanently adapting the warlock's eldritch blast to fire and necrotic damage? Some kind of fel fire that can be chosen ro be one either (functionally identical to chaos damage if you know the resistances).

There's some advantage to getting to pick damage types, as there are nine cases of MM vulnerability to fire. So there is some mechanical effect, one I'd rather not mess with. What would be the point? [Edit: That's not a rhetorical question, btw.] Just call it chaos damage and be done with it.

[Joe the Rat]

Force is the closest analog - not even ghosts can avoid it.

I'd go ahead and create a new damage type. You have to have elemental spectrum ( fire, cold, lightning, acid, and thunder) or yin-yang ( necrotic and radiant) resistance or immunity for the equivalent chaos resist. The elemental angle invokes the elemental chaos - always nice to tie back to something.

The only problem is the lack of corruption effects, but that should probably be left an exercise for the reader.

[Vitruviansquid]

I thought the damage types in Warcraft were Melee, Piercing, Magic, Siege, Spell, Hero, and Chaos.

I would make sources of damage from Chaos ignore any AC from armor as well as resistance and immunity to simulate how it ignores armor in Warcraft.

[Spore]

I thought the damage types in Warcraft were Melee, Piercing, Magic, Siege, Spell, Hero, and Chaos.

I would make sources of damage from Chaos ignore any AC from armor as well as resistance and immunity to simulate how it ignores armor in Warcraft.

One paragraph is about Warcraft 3, the other is about WoW.

[Honest Tiefling]

I'd go ahead and create a new damage type. You have to have elemental spectrum ( fire, cold, lightning, acid, and thunder) or yin-yang ( necrotic and radiant) resistance or immunity for the equivalent chaos resist. The elemental angle invokes the elemental chaos - always nice to tie back to something.

I really like this idea, and the idea of tying it to the elemental chaos makes it quite fitting for the setting. As a question, what setting is this from? If you make it setting appropriate, I think you'll get a lot more leeway from the DM.

As for the warlock question, I would be a bit iffy on it. For an infernal warlock (which is the closest you are going to get to the WoW variety) yes, I'd be okay with it but the cost being that you can't do force damage. Bit of a trade off, so why not? However, if the warlock was celestial or fey in nature I think I would have questions...

[pagnabros]

Force is the closest analog - not even ghosts can avoid it.

I'd go ahead and create a new damage type. You have to have elemental spectrum ( fire, cold, lightning, acid, and thunder) or yin-yang ( necrotic and radiant) resistance or immunity for the equivalent chaos resist. The elemental angle invokes the elemental chaos - always nice to tie back to something.

The only problem is the lack of corruption effects, but that should probably be left an exercise for the reader.

In my opinion, this is by far your best bet. Also there is online a Warcraft RPG 5e Conversion Document, you will like to check it out.

[Joe the Rat]

5e standard cosmology has elemental chaos as the extreme deep outside of the elemental planes. This is a port from 4e, where EC is the primordial soup from which material planes are formed (and The Abyss was located, IIRC)

[Spore]

Force is the closest analog - not even ghosts can avoid it.

Chaos damage would capitalize on vulnerabilities. And yes, maybe incorporating holy/radiant is a stretch.

Also there is online a Warcraft RPG 5e Conversion Document, you will like to check it out.

Cool beans! But Warlock always deal fel (= necrotic) damage in there, with the exception of destruction that does both fel and fire. I cannot find any revamped monster so I assume they work as prior. Shadows would then be immune to fel magic (and shadows are most likely void being in this context) but take full damage from shadow priest spells (psychic damage)?

The interactions are still a bit wonky ^^