Post/Author/DateTime	Post
AT-AT Assault 07-08-06, 06:43 PM	So I've been working on a d20 project and I dont like WotC's way of handling various damage types. The first thing I decided to do is say "There is no difference between physical and energy damage; damage is damage", Thus there is only DR (but thats been changed somewhat also, more on that later). Next I decided to create main damage categories:: Kinetic, Thermal, Chemical, Electricity, and EM. Kinetic consists of physical forms of damage: Slashing, Bludgeoning, Piercing, and Concussion. Thermal consists of extreme temperatures (relative to the target): Heat and Cold. Chemical consists of damage being caused by chemical reactions: Acid, Combustion (there's a difference between being exposed to high heat and being on fire), and other generic chemical reactions (could use some help here). Electricity is just that. EM consists of photons: Radiowaves, Micro Waves, Infrared, Visible light, Ultraviolet, X-Ray, Gamma Ray (depending on the target, some of these would become radiation, which Im working on, but I dont believe is presentable yet). DR is just that, damage reduction. But it works differently: A number followed by a slash indicates all damage is reduced by the number except for damage from the type(s) after the slash; A number followed by a dash indicates only damage from the type after the dash is reduced by the number; It would be extremely rare to have just a DR number, that would mean all damage is reduced by that amount. For Example: DR 10/Electricity, Concussion, or Cold (remember temperature is relative: An icicle wouldnt be cold to an Ice Elemental, you'd need it to be an icicle made out of , say, frozen nitrogen for the IE to consider it to be cold damage) means all damage is reduced by 10 points except from damage that is either Electricity, Concussion, or Cold; DR 5-Acid, Slashing, or Visible light means only damage that is either Acid, Slashing, or Visible Light is reduced by 5 points; DR 25/Heat and Piercing means all damage except damage that is both Heat (remember temperature is relative: A poking iron that came out of a fire place after a while wouldnt be hot to a Fire Elemental, you'd need it to be hotter than the FE for the FE to consider it to be heat damage) and Piercing is reduced by 25 points; DR 20-Slashing and Bludgeoning means only damage that is both Slashing and Bludgeoning is reduced by 20 points. Questions, Comments?
Xeviat-DM 07-08-06, 07:14 PM	Seems too complicated; there is already energy resistance as Energy Damage Reduction. I do agree that force effects should be considered physical damage for the most part (except for magic missile).
AT-AT Assault 07-09-06, 04:58 PM	While it can be complicated, it shouldnt be as complicated as my examples. And Im mainly making a modern/futuristic d20 game, but since this is the "House rules forum"... (and mainly because the D20 Design forums dont get much traffic)
Tequila_Sunrise 07-12-06, 02:18 PM	I think these damage types would be great for d20 modern or futuristic games, but they're too scientific for d&d. While a modern or futuristic game should be mostly scientific and rational, a fantasy game should be mostly intuitive and instinctual.
willpower 07-12-06, 06:43 PM	The first thing I decided to do is say "There is no difference between physical and energy damage; damage is damage", Thus there is only DR (but thats been changed somewhat also, more on that later). Next I decided to create main damage categories:: Kinetic, Thermal, Chemical, Electricity, and EM. Kinetic consists of physical forms of damage: Slashing, Bludgeoning, Piercing, and Concussion. I am only going to address the kinetic damage topic, because it is the one I know the most about. You may feel that damage is damage, but sorry that is not the case. You even don't feel that way as you brake damage into different categories. If anything, I think they don't do enough based on the damage types they already have available. I do however agree with a lot of the new types on your list, but I do not think the different types of physical damage should be put just into one category. Aside from magic, and maybe even with magic, since when counting NPC's the majority of people in a fantasy world do not have magic, the physical damage types would be the most prominent. Slashing, Bludgeoning, Piercing, and Concussion should all be different, (except maybe concussion) and given its prominence since they do separate them, but the seperation does virtually nothing mechanics-wise. Sure certain spells don't work on certain damage types, but that is all post-theoretic, since magic is not real in the D&D sense in the first place. If they were going to make separations, they should have started with how the damage works, and where it works the best. If they were to do this, piercing damage would work best against armors like cloth, and chainmail, things easy to pierce, not as good versus other types of armor, and would work least well versus hard armors like full plate. Slashing would work best against more armor types than piercing, but not as good against chain, or scale armor types. Bludgeoning would work well against a lot of armor types, because it is just smashing things, but wouldn't be best against really anything, since it doesn't really cut through defenses. It might work a bit better versus full plate though. However including these aspects of damage would complicate the game, and you would also have to include ways to get around some of the restrictions, such as certain small weapons with piercing edges that may work more like a smashing weapon in use than a rapier. A dagger for instance if up close, while grappling might get through full plate easier than a rapier could. I think this is why they do damage the way they do. It would make the rules twice as thick if they tried to make damage work more realistically, and combat would take much longer. Though, I know an unarmored swashbuckler using the equivilent of a foil beating a knight in full plate using a greatsword is a bit silly.