Concise Mode:
1. The goal of a RL slashing weapon is A) touch an exposed area; and B) drag along that area while applying forward pressure to cut flesh.
2. This makes those weapons terrible at chopping, which is why you never see anyone using a cutlass as a machete.
3. RL bludgeoning weapons use momentum, aided by the weapon's heft, to damage flesh through brute force, rather than, say, cutting open a vein and letting someone bleed to death.
4. Bludgeoning weapons are effective against skeletons, since slashing weapons, in theory, are ineffective against harder materials like bone.
5. Certain slashing weapons, like the machete, rely on their heft to chop rather than slice. This makes a butcher's cleaver, a knife, good at chopping through bone.
6. Shouldn't weapons like the greataxe be able to penetrate DR/bludgeoning?
6. Shouldn't weapons like the greataxe be able to penetrate DR/bludgeoning?
No. Bludgeoning damage is blunt-force trauma. Greataxes have a sharp edge, just like a sword. They aren't a blunt-force trauma weapon. Though there are similiarites in using an axe and say, a hammer, the edge on the axe means it isn't bludgeoning.
You have noticed a logical inconsistency that has existed throughout all of D&D 3rd edition. "Slashing" is practically a nonexistent damage source--it should be "hacking" or "chopping." Really, only the Rapier and maybe some daggers should be truly "slashing" weapons.
And Skeleton DR is especially silly because it's an oversimplification. Take a look at Blunt Arrows. Same as a regular arrow with a blunt tip--full damage to skeletons. Wha--?
So, two options:
1) Run it straight with a smirk, and everyone at the table can get a small laugh when you fight skeletons.
2) Change it, and deal with all the difficulties and baggage that comes with altering a rule in order to fix one infinitesimally small aspect of its impact.
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It sort of makes sense though... If you swing a greatsword or axe at a skeleton, you are likely to slip though the bones. There is not a lot of surface area to hit and the bone naturally deflects the edge unless you hit it at the right angle. A big hammer has a large striking area and is less likely to "slip", so does full damage.
Blunt arrows are a travesty. Arrows do piercing damage. Want bludgeoning damage, you throw a hammer.
Blunt arrows make me cry.
Where's my sword arrow? It's like a normal arrow, but with a dagger instead of an arrow head, so that it deals slashing instead of piercing damage.
Blunt arrows make me cry.
I don't know why they should. It's not like they are unrealistic. You can pick them up for less than a buck apiece on Amazon and use them to hunt small game, like rabbits.
For slashing arrows, they're generally called 'rope cutter' and I can get them for about five dollars.
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Blunt arrows make me cry.
I don't know why they should. It's not like they are unrealistic. You can pick them up for less than a buck apiece on Amazon and use them to hunt small game, like rabbits.
For slashing arrows, they're generally called 'rope cutter' and I can get them for about five dollars.
The reason is that they would do just as little damage to a skeleton for EXACTLY the same reason as a piercing arrow does very little damage to a skeleton. If the piercing arrow passes through the ribs without hitting anything, then the blunt arrow would have done exactly the same thing.
The reason is that they would do just as little damage to a skeleton for EXACTLY the same reason as a piercing arrow does very little damage to a skeleton. If the piercing arrow passes through the ribs without hitting anything, then the blunt arrow would have done exactly the same thing.
Except that the blunt has a diameter of up to an inch or more and will not fit between the ribs....
This is a situation where I like to have what is labeled "Precision Weaponry"
In the case of skeletons or slimes or whatever the heck else is immune to precision damage and resistant to all but one type of physical, would instead be resistant to "precision weaponry"
Here's how to determine if a weapon is a precision weapon:
1. Is it Sharp? If not, its not a precision weapon,
2. Is it designed to smash and tear flesh? If so, its not a precision weapon
3. Does it have a small blade or hook, designed to hit vital organs? If so, It is a precision weapon.
If a weapon is a weapon meant for targeting the vital organs of a creature that has none, then the damage resistance should apply to. Not to the weapon that's meant to smash and slash the ever-loving S*** out of flesh, bones, entrails, slime, ectoplasm, and everything else that may or may not have substance.
Also You may go as far as to keep it so that precision weapons are the only weapons to deal sneak attack damage on, to prevent min-maxing as far as sneak attacking with a Large-sized Greataxe.
Axes and Sword use speed. Hammers use weight.
6. Shouldn't weapons like the greataxe be able to penetrate DR/bludgeoning?
Simply put, no ,because that is not what the rules say. I am not saying this in a snarky or jerky way but it is a fantasy game, not real life.
I have seen posts on why a katana should be able to be used with Weapon Finnesse and why axes should work better on skeletons, etc. At the end of the day it is a game mechanic. Like any other rule or game mechanic the DM is free to change it as he sees fit in my opinion.
Usually these posts revolve around a player trying to craft some super-build but he just can't get it to work as well as he wants within the rules, so he throws it out to the boards. This op may be nothing like that, but many times that is indeed the case.
Huh. And I though it was as ridiculous as a boxing-glove arrow this entire time.Axes and Sword use speed. Hammers use weight.
Well you have to remember the Boxing Glove is non-lethal. A Metal Bludgeoning Arrowhead of 1 Inch is heavy and requires a lot of skill to make right.
How I see it is:
Piercing Arrows(20): 1GP
Slashing Arrows(20): 2GP Do to the additional Metal needed to make the prongs.
Bludgeoning Arrows(20): 3GP Do to both the additional Metal to make the larger arrowhead and the skill/time to make them correctly so as to not impose a hefty penalty on the shooter.
A badly made Bludgeoning Arrow would impose a massive -5 or worse.