Post/Author/DateTime	Post
Leonis472 07-31-07, 08:33 AM	If someone is warded by protection from arrows, would magical energy damage delivered by arrows count against it? For an easy example, see the Harpy Archer's Full Attack entry on the upper-right portion of page 151 in the MM3.5. The damage there detailed comes from a +1 frost composite longbow, adding an extra 1d6 cold damage to successful shots. Does this damage count against the duration of the spell? I would think not at first, but I'm not certain.
Kouk 07-31-07, 09:50 AM	Actually, Protection from Arrows only works against mundane ranged attacks. The warded creature gains resistance to ranged weapons. The subject gains damage reduction 10/magic against ranged weapons. (This spell doesn’t grant you the ability to damage creatures with similar damage reduction.) Once the spell has prevented a total of 10 points of damage per caster level (maximum 100 points), it is discharged. If someone is shooting with you with a Frost bow, your concern is not the energy damage, it is the fact that in order for a weapon to have the Frost property it must have at least a +1 enhancement bonus. That enhancement bonus will let the arrow pass through the Protection from Arrows without any trouble at all. Magical Projectile weapons such as bows, crossbows and slings bestow their magical properties on the ammunition fired, so that a +1 bow will always fire at least +1 arrows, even if the actual arrows used were normal cheap stuff you buy for 1 gold. If an ammunition's enchantment bonus is higher than the projectile weapon, then that takes precedence but of course it will still bypass Protection from Arrows. The spell is useless against "magical" attacks, not necessarily "energy" attacks. The thing is though, that most of the time "energy" attacks are produced with magic, such as the various weapon enchantments, and so there is no difference for Protection from Arrows. An otherwise normal or masterwork bow, firing a normal or masterwork arrow that has been set on fire with a normal flame (or even Flame Arrow) would not be able to bypass the spell Protection from Arrows, because the arrow itself is not magical or fired from a magical weapon (which bestows the properties on the ammunition). DR/magic basically means it will stop any attack that does not have at least a +1 or higher enhancement bonus to hit and to damage. Some effects count as if the weapon is magical though. DR/magic is one of the weaker forms of Damage Reduction due to the prevalence of magic in most D&D campaigns.