"Cannot Be Reduced"

[krellen d20]

So, this phrase comes up a lot, mostly on the most annoying cards that I hate having to deal with that ruin my fun the most. I just don't get the design philosophy behind this phrase, and why it's in so many places (especially the Shrine of Lamashtu, which the game insists on reusing over and over again.)

Basically, my problem boils down to one simple fact: in every instance of this phrasing, it's applied to a damage type that is already non-combat - meaning the basic function of armour is already unusable upon it and only a very few methods of reducing the damage exists. Particularly damning are the "Mental" damage instances of this; as far as I can tell, there exist exactly four ways to reduce Mental damage to begin with - be Sajan who has chosen a role card (and the appropriate power feat), be Amiri who has chosen the Juggernaut role and has acquired two power feats (currently impossible as of the time of this posting), having a Ring of Protection, or burying/banishing an armour (already the rarest card type in the game).

I might even understand a consistent "Mental damage is unavoidable" mindset, but Pillbug Podiker has "cannot be reduced" Poison damage, so clearly this is not the idea.

Given that this damage is already so hard to avoid, what is the reasoning for further compounding it with the "cannot be reduced" phrasing? If having the damage be unavoidable is actually the idea, why burden it with a type at all? "Two points of damage that cannot be reduced" would be far less infuriating, I think.

[h4ppy]

I don't think this is a problem. Damage needs to have a type (e.g. Combat, Poison, etc) and these particular sources cannot be reduced so you need to come up with fun strategies to deal with them...

[Mike Selinker]

Philosophically:
All damage must have a type. That's so we can say "All Poison damage is instead Combat damage," and things like that. You'll want it there if you design a scenario in the elemental plane of fire, and can thus say "Increase all Fire damage by 2."

Some damage wants to ignore armor. Armor is useful for getting rid of "all" damage, except in those cases where we don't want it too. No amount of armor stops the Satyr from making you dance yourself to death.

So some damage will be of a non-Combat type and ignore armor. It's rare, and it's awful, and that's why those cards are no fun to encounter.

Mike

[Foxiferous]

Krellend, you've also missed the amulet of life and sihedron medallion. Both of those items just say 'reduce damage', not 'reduce combat damage'.

So it's fairly pertinent for the shrine to say it's mental damage that can't be reduced. There are also character traits and armours (shield of fire resistance) that reduce fire/acid/electricity or damage of a specific type. So saying it's mental damage is flavour, we know how our character is getting hurt, saying it can't be reduced means you have to suck it up and take the pain regardless of items/powers that would normally reduce damage of that type.