Damage reduction flavor

[Adjoint]

I started wondering, how to describe a situation when a creature with DR gets hit. I came up with few ideas:

• DR/slashing, DR/bludgeoning and DR/piercing are clearly a sign that certain weapons are not suited to properly damage a creature, e.g. swords and arrows will just slide off the bones of a skeleton;
  
• DR/adamantine can be seen as very hard skin or armor, that requires extremely hard weapons
  
• DR/silver, DR/cold iron and DR/magic is some magical protection that can be nullified by a specific material or opposed magical energy

I have some problem with DR/alignment though, I don't know how to depict such cases. Take for example azata lyrakien, it has DR 5/evil. Assume it slams a porcupine. By rules it's clear what happens: the damage from the quills gets negated completely. But how to describe it with flavor?

[Keante]

The azata's natural/celestial glow intensifies for a fleeting moment as the quills are turned aside. Most weapons meet this same resistance when making contact with the azata--only those with the most vile of natures are able to ignore it. When an evil weapon strikes, the glow sputters.

[Mysterious Stranger]

Damage reduction could also be that the wounds heal instantly.

[Snowblind]

I would say the reason the azata doesn't get hurt is the same reason that a paladin gets their powers - namely that they are both empowered by Good itself. In the azata's case, it is charged with Good aligned supernatural energy that greatly diminishes injuries it sustains, unless a creature attacks it with a weapon infused by evil (which disrupts or negates the good aligned energy and allows the Azata to receive regular attacks without injury).

[Quentin Coldwater]

I've read somewhere that DR is a combination of flavour things. You could also see DR from outsiders as a supernaturally quick healing, unless you hit it with the thing it's weak against. Flavourwise, the Lyrakien would still get hurt by the porcupine, but its wounds close immediately. But when it gets hit by a demon, the demon's essence counters the Lyrakien's divine healing ability.

[Snowblind]

There is a bit of a problem with the "DR=healing" line in that it doesn't explain very well how come one fairly hard hit can seriously injure the Lyrakien, but dozens or hundreds of smaller hits do roughly nothing. I mean, you can sort of explain it by saying that it can only heal a little damage at a time in any one spot, and anything beyond that stays (which would justify why things like clustered shots works), but it is still a little weird. Not deal breakingly weird, but less nice that "DR=Supernatural toughness".

[Adjoint]

I was considering instant healing, but I figured this interpretation poses another problem when the weapon dealing the damage is poisoned or causes some other effect when it causes damage. Of course it can be said that the same source that gives DR neutralizes such effects, but I found it strange when the creature has no poison or disease resistance otherwise.

Also, being injured, even if healing instantly, would still hurt, wouldn't it. My warped imagination created a picture of lyrakien tied to a porcupine (mechanically: in grapple). What happens then? It's constantly getting hurt and instantly healing? Quite a torture...

EDIT: lyrakien actually can't be tied to a porcupine, it has constant freedom of movement... take some other outsider with similar DR though.

[Snowblind]

Adjoint wrote:

I was considering instant healing, but I figured this interpretation poses another problem when the weapon dealing the damage is poisoned or causes some other effect when it causes damage. Of course it can be said that the same source that gives DR neutralizes such effects, but I found it strange when the creature has no poison or disease resistance otherwise.

Also, being injured, even if healing instantly, would still hurt, wouldn't it. My warped imagination created a picture of lyrakien tied to a porcupine (mechanically: in grapple). What happens then? It's constantly getting hurt and instantly healing? Quite a torture...

FYI, in many circumstances you aren't nearly as badly affected by pain as you are normally.

Two examples:

I can't remember where the first one came from, but I remember a story about a soldier on tour in the middle east. He was on patrol when he felt a sharp pain on top of his head. He thought that his buddy behind him had hit him with a plank, so he spun around to beat the *#&@ out of them. Only when he saw his buddy staring at him like "dafuk is with you?" did he realize that a rifle bullet had buried itself into his skull from above.

The second example is from here:
www.nononsenseselfdefense.com/Deadman10.html
TLDR: Former street tough bouncer gets kicked in the balls by some guy, is torn between "goug(ing) out his eye and skull f@~$(ing) him to death", and putting down his expensive personal radio first. Only when that guy was in the sheriffs car being driven away did this bouncer realize he was in complete and utter agony from being kicked in the balls by another man.

Is there a reason why Paizo is screwing up the above url when I try to tag it?

[Adjoint]

By now the idea for DR/alignment I like the most is some kind of energy emenating from the outsider and weakening/deflecting the attacks. Any other ideas?