3.0 vs 3.5 damage reduction [Archive] - Wizards Community

3.0 vs 3.5 damage reduction [Archive] - Wizards Community

Post/Author/DateTime Post
bomaz
02-07-05, 09:24 AM can anybod explain to me more precisely how damage reduction works in 3.5 and how to convert between 3.0 & 3.5?
was_fired
02-07-05, 09:47 AM In 3.0 damage reduction is best described as: You must be this magical to enter. In 3.5 damage reduction is a weakness a creature has against a given type of weapon. There really isn't any way to directly convert between these two systems based on the 3.0 information. The best advise I can give is that you should check out the 3.5 SRD and monster manual. In general the following rules apply to 3.5 DR:

The maxium DR is 15 pre-epic
Evil Subtype: DR / good
Good subtype: DR / evil
Demon: cold iron and/or good (good cold iron weapons for higher demons, good weapons or cold iron weapons for lesser demons)
Devils: silver and/or good (see demon)
Dragons: DR / magic
Constructs: DR / adamantium
Fey: DR / cold iron
Werecreatures: DR / silver

No amount of enchantment bonus allows a weapon to be treated as if it were made from another metal. The same applies for alignment base DR types. DR comes in four catagories which can be combined with and/or statements in the case of "and" all of the properties are needed, in the case of "or" any one of the properties will function. These catagories are:

Magical: Magic (+1 or higher), Epic (+6 or higher)
Damage Type: Bludgeoning (skeleton), Piercing, Slashing (zombie)
Material: Adamantium (golems), Cold Iron (fey), Silver (werewolves)
Alignment: Good (demons), Evil (celestials), Lawful (slaad), Chaotic (inevitables)

A few examples of mixing these are as follows:
1. Balor: DR 15 / good and cold iron
2. Lich DR 15 / magical and bludgeoning
Staffan
02-10-05, 09:17 AM And just to complete the discussion... if a creature has multiple types of DR, apply the one that will protect the best under the circumstances. For example, let's say we have an Eberronian Warforged with the Adamantine Body feat (which gives DR 2/adamantine). It's also a mid-level barbarian, which gives DR 1/-. Its wizard buddy just cast a Protection from Arrows on it, giving DR 10/magic that only counts against missiles (I guess this could technically be written as DR 10/magic or melee, or something).

Anyway, let's say someone's shooting at our warforged buddy. If the arrow is a plain, ordinary arrow (and so is the bow), it is affected by the Magic DR, and reduced by 10 points. If it's magic, it still has to go through the 2/adamantine DR, and gets reduced by 2 points. If it's both magic and adamantine-tipped, the barbarian DR 1/- stops a slight bit of it.

In the case where multiple DRs are equal in protection value (e.g. a powerful dragon with DR 15/magic who casts stoneskin on himself (giving DR 15/adamantine)), you can put the DRs together with "and" (so the dragon would get DR 15/magic and adamantine), but that's technically slightly incorrect.

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
bomaz 02-07-05, 09:24 AM	can anybod explain to me more precisely how damage reduction works in 3.5 and how to convert between 3.0 & 3.5?
was_fired 02-07-05, 09:47 AM	In 3.0 damage reduction is best described as: You must be this magical to enter. In 3.5 damage reduction is a weakness a creature has against a given type of weapon. There really isn't any way to directly convert between these two systems based on the 3.0 information. The best advise I can give is that you should check out the 3.5 SRD and monster manual. In general the following rules apply to 3.5 DR: The maxium DR is 15 pre-epic Evil Subtype: DR / good Good subtype: DR / evil Demon: cold iron and/or good (good cold iron weapons for higher demons, good weapons or cold iron weapons for lesser demons) Devils: silver and/or good (see demon) Dragons: DR / magic Constructs: DR / adamantium Fey: DR / cold iron Werecreatures: DR / silver No amount of enchantment bonus allows a weapon to be treated as if it were made from another metal. The same applies for alignment base DR types. DR comes in four catagories which can be combined with and/or statements in the case of "and" all of the properties are needed, in the case of "or" any one of the properties will function. These catagories are: Magical: Magic (+1 or higher), Epic (+6 or higher) Damage Type: Bludgeoning (skeleton), Piercing, Slashing (zombie) Material: Adamantium (golems), Cold Iron (fey), Silver (werewolves) Alignment: Good (demons), Evil (celestials), Lawful (slaad), Chaotic (inevitables) A few examples of mixing these are as follows: 1. Balor: DR 15 / good and cold iron 2. Lich DR 15 / magical and bludgeoning
Staffan 02-10-05, 09:17 AM	And just to complete the discussion... if a creature has multiple types of DR, apply the one that will protect the best under the circumstances. For example, let's say we have an Eberronian Warforged with the Adamantine Body feat (which gives DR 2/adamantine). It's also a mid-level barbarian, which gives DR 1/-. Its wizard buddy just cast a Protection from Arrows on it, giving DR 10/magic that only counts against missiles (I guess this could technically be written as DR 10/magic or melee, or something). Anyway, let's say someone's shooting at our warforged buddy. If the arrow is a plain, ordinary arrow (and so is the bow), it is affected by the Magic DR, and reduced by 10 points. If it's magic, it still has to go through the 2/adamantine DR, and gets reduced by 2 points. If it's both magic and adamantine-tipped, the barbarian DR 1/- stops a slight bit of it. In the case where multiple DRs are equal in protection value (e.g. a powerful dragon with DR 15/magic who casts stoneskin on himself (giving DR 15/adamantine)), you can put the DRs together with "and" (so the dragon would get DR 15/magic and adamantine), but that's technically slightly incorrect.