Awareness of one's DR [Archive] - Wizards Community

Awareness of one's DR [Archive] - Wizards Community

Post/Author/DateTime Post
UmbralKnight
09-18-06, 09:47 AM So here's a silly question; is a creature aware of whether or not your attacks bypass its DR?

For example; a gargoyle with DR 10/magic is fighting two monks. Monk A is level 4, and thus has ki strike (magic). Monk B is level three, and does not have ki strike.

Now, Monk A scores a hit on the gargoyle, bypasses its DR, and deals x damage.
Monk B also scores a hit, but does not bypass the DR, and deals a total of y damage.

Is the gargoyle aware that Monk A bypassed its DR, or is it only aware that it took roughly x damage?
Likewise, is it aware that its DR was effective against Monk B, or is it only aware that Monk B only dealt it roughly y damage?

(For the record, I know that creatures wouldnt know how much damage they take in game, they would just get a general indication of pain. Still, is a creature only aware of the general severity of the hit, or is it aware of its DR's effectiveness?)
Sorcen_Anenooata
09-18-06, 09:51 AM I'd say it realizes that Monk A hurt it worse than Monk B and realized that Monk A used a magical attack; therefore, putting that together it understands that magic hurts it worse. Something like that.
UmbralKnight
09-18-06, 01:47 PM Thats what I'd guess at first, but if you think about it, it could really be either or.
See, when it comes to regeneration, I figure its kinda obvious. A troll cant not realise that its busy sizzling. But DR is more subtle, and Im not sure which way to rule :confused:

Whats the status quo on this? If you have pc's with DR, do you inform them when something bypasses, or do you just give them the damage value?

So far Ive been using a creature's Int and Wis to ad hoc this, but I have no textual reference to go by.
Khael
09-18-06, 02:23 PM I would say it depends on how you interpret DR as working. The entiresin the MM/DMG give two ideas:
1) An extremely fast but limited regeneration.
2) Simply ignores the force blow/stops the strike, as if it hit something it couldn't cut.

If you go with 1) like me, then yes, it knows, because it can see/feel its wounds reknit in seconds. Anything that involves it never actually taking the extra damage like 2), and i'd guess it wouldn't have any idea it suffers less damage from monk b, since it never took the damage DR prevented.
In the case of barbarians and other things with DR/- I would say it gets 2) bvased on the description but the point is moot there since DR/- applies to every non-elemental attack...
Mysticaloctopus
09-18-06, 02:48 PM I'd houserule that, like fire burning and electricity being... zappy feeling, like licking batteries but worse..., those who know it can tell if an attack was magical or not, though it'd have to be done carefully to avoid munchkins chaining up gargoyles to test for magic swords.

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
UmbralKnight 09-18-06, 09:47 AM	So here's a silly question; is a creature aware of whether or not your attacks bypass its DR? For example; a gargoyle with DR 10/magic is fighting two monks. Monk A is level 4, and thus has ki strike (magic). Monk B is level three, and does not have ki strike. Now, Monk A scores a hit on the gargoyle, bypasses its DR, and deals x damage. Monk B also scores a hit, but does not bypass the DR, and deals a total of y damage. Is the gargoyle aware that Monk A bypassed its DR, or is it only aware that it took roughly x damage? Likewise, is it aware that its DR was effective against Monk B, or is it only aware that Monk B only dealt it roughly y damage? (For the record, I know that creatures wouldnt know how much damage they take in game, they would just get a general indication of pain. Still, is a creature only aware of the general severity of the hit, or is it aware of its DR's effectiveness?)
Sorcen_Anenooata 09-18-06, 09:51 AM	I'd say it realizes that Monk A hurt it worse than Monk B and realized that Monk A used a magical attack; therefore, putting that together it understands that magic hurts it worse. Something like that.
UmbralKnight 09-18-06, 01:47 PM	Thats what I'd guess at first, but if you think about it, it could really be either or. See, when it comes to regeneration, I figure its kinda obvious. A troll cant not realise that its busy sizzling. But DR is more subtle, and Im not sure which way to rule :confused: Whats the status quo on this? If you have pc's with DR, do you inform them when something bypasses, or do you just give them the damage value? So far Ive been using a creature's Int and Wis to ad hoc this, but I have no textual reference to go by.
Khael 09-18-06, 02:23 PM	I would say it depends on how you interpret DR as working. The entiresin the MM/DMG give two ideas: 1) An extremely fast but limited regeneration. 2) Simply ignores the force blow/stops the strike, as if it hit something it couldn't cut. If you go with 1) like me, then yes, it knows, because it can see/feel its wounds reknit in seconds. Anything that involves it never actually taking the extra damage like 2), and i'd guess it wouldn't have any idea it suffers less damage from monk b, since it never took the damage DR prevented. In the case of barbarians and other things with DR/- I would say it gets 2) bvased on the description but the point is moot there since DR/- applies to every non-elemental attack...
Mysticaloctopus 09-18-06, 02:48 PM	I'd houserule that, like fire burning and electricity being... zappy feeling, like licking batteries but worse..., those who know it can tell if an attack was magical or not, though it'd have to be done carefully to avoid munchkins chaining up gargoyles to test for magic swords.