In several games I've been in recently, Damage Resistance (DR) came up several times and caused major havoc (which is likely what it's there for). Every time it did, however, there was a heated discussion as to what overcomes said Resistances.
Example:
Web Golems have DR 10/Adamantine.
Somewhere, I've read that, for every +1 of your weapon, you can overcome DR 5 of anything. Somewhere else, I read that Magic weapons overcome ALL material requirements, meaning a +1 magic longsword can belt a creature with Adamantine, Good, Cold Iron, etc. I can't remember exactly where I read all this, and it is likely that all of that was conjecture...
So, I guess the question is - what's the friggin' rule, here?? Can a magical sword that is NOT Adamantine hurt a Web Golem with DR 10/Adamantine? If not, aren't you basically requiring your party to go out and do the whole "golf bag" approach and have a weapon of every type available for any circumstance? Doesn't that somewhat defeat the whole roleplaying aspect, especially when you're dealing with, say, Samurai, who can't give up their primary weapon, no matter what? Kind of hard to have that Samurai give up their /ancestral weapon/ just to get its blade reforged in adamantine...
Thoughts? Professional opinions from the guys who know what they're doing (ie. Paizo or WotC folks)?
Syrinx
Bella Sara Charter Superscriber
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These are the official rules, I have bolded the portion pertaining to the ability of magic weapons to overcome material based DRs (short answer - they can't):
Damage Reduction
A creature with this special quality ignores damage from most weapons and natural attacks. Wounds heal immediately, or the weapon bounces off harmlessly (in either case, the opponent knows the attack was ineffective). The creature takes normal damage from energy attacks (even nonmagical ones), spells, spell-like abilities, and supernatural abilities. A certain kind of weapon can sometimes damage the creature normally, as noted below.
The entry indicates the amount of damage ignored (usually 5 to 15 points) and the type of weapon that negates the ability.
Some monsters are vulnerable to piercing, bludgeoning, or slashing damage.
Some monsters are vulnerable to certain materials, such as alchemical silver, adamantine, or cold iron. Attacks from weapons that are not made of the correct material have their damage reduced, even if the weapon has an enhancement bonus.
Some monsters are vulnerable to magic weapons. Any weapon with at least a +1 magical enhancement bonus on attack and damage rolls overcomes the damage reduction of these monsters. Such creatures’ natural weapons (but not their attacks with weapons) are treated as magic weapons for the purpose of overcoming damage reduction.
A few very powerful monsters are vulnerable only to epic weapons; that is, magic weapons with at least a +6 enhancement bonus. Such creatures’ natural weapons are also treated as epic weapons for the purpose of overcoming damage reduction.
Some monsters are vulnerable to chaotic-, evil-, good-, or lawful-aligned weapons. When a cleric casts align weapon, affected weapons might gain one or more of these properties, and certain magic weapons have these properties as well. A creature with an alignment subtype (chaotic, evil, good, or lawful) can overcome this type of damage reduction with its natural weapons and weapons it wields as if the weapons or natural weapons had an alignment (or alignments) that match the subtype(s) of the creature.
When a damage reduction entry has a dash (-) after the slash, no weapon negates the damage reduction.
A few creatures are harmed by more than one kind of weapon. A weapon of either type overcomes this damage reduction.
A few other creatures require combinations of different types of attacks to overcome their damage reduction. A weapon must be both types to overcome this damage reduction. A weapon that is only one type is still subject to damage reduction.
Ammunition fired from a projectile weapon with an enhancement bonus of +1 or higher is treated as a magic weapon for the purpose of overcoming damage reduction. Similarly, ammunition fired from a projectile weapon with an alignment gains the alignment of that projectile weapon (in addition to any alignment it may already have).
Whenever damage reduction completely negates the damage from an attack, it also negates most special effects that accompany the attack, such as injury type poison, a monk’s stunning, and injury type disease. Damage reduction does not negate touch attacks, energy damage dealt along with an attack, or energy drains. Nor does it affect poisons or diseases delivered by inhalation, ingestion, or contact.
Attacks that deal no damage because of the target’s damage reduction do not disrupt spells.
If a creature has damage reduction from more than one source, the two forms of damage reduction do not stack. Instead, the creature gets the benefit of the best damage reduction in a given situation.
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Bella Sara Charter Superscriber
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Now that the official rules are posted, take a look at the house rules on montecook.com. He suggests allowing magic weapons to penetrate material DR based on the amount of their "plus." For example, a +2 weapon could penetrate silver DR, whereas a +4 weapon would be needed to penetrate adantium DR. This is a house rule. The official rule is, as you say, golf club style.
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RPG Superstar 2013 Top 32
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So, I guess the question is - what's the friggin' rule, here?? Can a magical sword that is NOT Adamantine hurt a Web Golem with DR 10/Adamantine? If not, aren't you basically requiring your party to go out and do the whole "golf bag" approach and have a weapon of every type available for any circumstance? Doesn't that somewhat defeat the whole roleplaying aspect, especially when you're dealing with, say, Samurai, who can't give up their primary weapon, no matter what? Kind of hard to have that Samurai give up their /ancestral weapon/ just to get its blade reforged in adamantine...
There are ways to overcome your 'golf bag' problem. Look into the Forgotten Realms Underdark book for a new weapon special ability called 'metalline.' This ability gives the wielder the ability to change the material the weapon is made out of as a standard action. Also, there is a spell called 'Touch of Adamantine' in one of the books, though I can't remember which, which will turn any weapon or armor into adamantine for a limited amount of time. A believe a similar lower level spell exists to do the same thing for silver. Naturally, Align Weapon is always an option for overcoming good/evil DR. Plenty of options exist and, if all else fails, most successful adventurers should know to carry a silver dagger on them at all times 'just in case.'
The shadowstriking quality from Tome of Magic also allows for weapons, that, once they strike an opponent, "attune" themselves to the damage reduction of a creature that it hits.
> If a creature has damage reduction from more than one source, the two forms of damage reduction do not stack. Instead, the creature gets the benefit of the best damage reduction in a given situation.
I seem to remember that if a creature has DR of the same type (from two different sources), such as a 10th-level dwarven defender (DR 6/-) wearing adamantite full plate (DR 3/-), they stack for a total DR 9/-. I can’t find the reference though; maybe it was done away with in 3.5?
Some monsters have damage reduction which reads "X/Y and Z" rather than "X/Y or Z" in which case your weapon must have both Y quality and Z quality to bypass the DR. Check out the rakshasa for a totally bogus example of DR.
I've always wondered about monsters with a DR against magic items (like the Grick, which only has 5hp on average). What is the point if you give the party a magic item? The thing is then a simple matter of a single whack with decent strength behind it and it's done. Boom, here's XP...
I do comprehend that having creatures with DR makes for more interesting fights. However, the one thing I've found (especially with the more powerful monsters) is that while the creatures are rough to hurt, they are also disastrously powerful when it comes to their own attacks. Many demons have high DRs with obscure resistances, but deal out humungous amounts of damage. So, unless your party happens to have that particular type of weapon in combat with them (or has Bless Weapon or the like), they can barely touch the thing while it's obliterating them.
Sure, there's something to be said about the better part of valor, but come on...
Of course, the Grick is the opposite side of the coin when it comes to this, so I really don't have an answer. Just a comment that the whole idea seems wierd.
Oh, and in defense of the Grick? One of them ATE one of my party members in the Age of Worms game in the Whispering Cairn adventure because the character in question never used the +1 Short Sword on his belt... O_o - So I guess it's not entirely useless!
Syrinx
It seems to me that the idea of having different kinds of damage resistances for different creatures can be used in different ways by a good DM without making things too hard or too easy. For novice players, there is the element of novelty when they encounter their first Grick or their first lycanthrope and find out that their weapons don't work so well. The DM has pulled a trick on them, taught them a lesson that they will (hopefully) take to heart. Later, after a few lessons like this, the players will have their PCs do more homework when they know they're up against something new and unusual. This is an occasion to reward the use of knowledge skills, divination spells, and good old fashioned role-playing (questioning the victims, hiring a sage, etc.). Once the vulnerabilities and invulnerabilities of the adversary have been discovered, the party will naturally want to prepare. Maybe they can't hunt down the werewolf of the Haunted Forest yet because they need something they don't have--a silver weapon. Since no one nearby knows how to make them, the party has to explore the tomb of the hero X, who is reputed to have wielded a silver longsword and been buried with it. Etc.
With more experienced players, this doesn't always work, because they know you can buy silversheen for 300 gp a bottle, or buy a scroll of magic weapon, or whatever, and they know the village is big enough to have an 800 gp limit, ergo the DM ought to make this stuff available to them. Then the DM has to invent new challenges, or run a higher level campaign with trickier monsters, or provide an in-world reason why you can't buy silversheen in Mallow Gulch. This is the point where DMs start digging through their supplement libraries for new surprises to throw at their players. I.e. when you get to the major leagues, it helps to have either a wicked curve ball or be able to throw some serious heat.
I don’t think that rakshasas have bogus DR; they’re MEANT to be tough, although their offensive power is weak for their CR. What about say, a natural lycanthrope (10/silver) who becomes a lich (15/bludgeoning and magic)? A character needs a magic silver blunt weapon to bypass that creature’s DR, OR just deal a bus-load of damage, OR deal with the creature in other ways (like role-playing, or creative combat tactics).
I'm just the opposite; I hate the idea of DR that can't be overcome by a common weapon or core spell. So DR 30/+5 and Good is OK, but DR 30/+5 and piercing grates on my nerves. (undead DR versus weapon types are alright because they make logical sense) Requiring that PCs have a piercing weapon or a silver or cold iron or whatever to overcome DR just promotes the 'golf bag' syndrome. I also don't like 3.5 DR because...well a lot of reasons.