Hi, my party has just started Spire of Longshadows and I noticed the Eviscerator beetles had DR 10/Silver.
It is my understanding that the parties weapons, though they be +2 or +3, even if they are adamantine do not beat this, right? You need a silver weapon?
My question is, does anyone modify these rules? I was thinking of saying that +2 is better than silver... but part of me just wants to stick to the rules.
Also I am starting to notice that DR in general never goes over 10-20. Is DR a big factor if the barbarian is doing 30-40 per blow anyways? My fighters are just shruggin when I say, "It seems like you are not doing full damage". They attack anyways, and they win anyways (with the help of the mages).
I donno, it just seems like this is not how DR is supposed to work. Shouldn't they be saying "Damn, I wish I had a Silver weapon!"?
It is my understanding that the parties weapons, though they be +2 or +3, even if they are adamantine do not beat this, right? You need a silver weapon?
Thats right. You need a silver weapon to beat silver DR. And just so you know, the bonus on a weapon isn't critical to DR anymore - any magic weapon with a bonus +1 or better beats DR/magic (making it the most worthless DR types available).
Now, I'm all for "behind-the-screen" mechanic changes that the players will not see, BUT in every case ask yourself why am I making this change. I think you may find that this creatures DR is critical to its CR - if you make an arbitrary change, you might find that the PCs defeat the creature too easily, but you know your PCs better than I. And I think you realize this in your post saying that the DR isn't very high. In this case, think of it as a form of "body armor" that might keep the creature around for a round or two longer than if it were bare-skinned.
In conclusion, stick to the RAW when in doubt. When you are experienced in the 3.5 system and know exactly what your changes will impact, then by all means, make the changes you think is necessary.
Weapon damage will not get through unless the weapon is made of silver. I think that by the time a party reaches the Spire, getting over 10 damage on a melee hit shouldn't be a problem.
My understanding of damage reduction is that it's a small resistance to ordinary metals. I think that elemental resistances follow the same sort of "limit." The more powerful version of damage reduction would probably be Regeneration, where all damage is converted to subdual and only things of a particular type actually deal "real" damage. Stronger monsters with a high regeneration score are more likely to to make people think, "damn, I wish I had a (element/type) weapon!"
I think that I've Got Reach has the right of it. The DR just helps keep the critters around a bit longer. And when you start getting up there in levels, the amount of "exposure time" becomes more important. With those eviscerator beetles, that means one more round of maddening chitter and one more round with a pretty good chance of getting a critical and dealing 8d6+22. A fighter might shrug off losing 10 points of the damage he could potentially deal, but it's hard to shrug off 28-70 points of damage received quite as easily.
Silver weapons are useful against all the minions of Kyuss, and the party maybe ought to figure this out at some point (i.e. plant this knowledge if they do any research on Kyuss and his minions, e.g. in libraries in the Free City). Granted that high-level tanks are going to be able to penetrate the DR of the Kyuss creatures in SOLS, some of the encounters are tough enough that the extra round or two the creature buys with its DR can mean the difference between life and death for the PCs. Fortunately for the PCs, a simple vial of silversheen solves the problem. If they are forewarned and smart, they'll bring crates of the stuff with them, or invest in some silvered weapons.
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As a side note, DR/magic is admittedly weak, but can pay off when used against outsiders that aren't equipped with weaponry, as their attacks are alignment-aligned but don't penetrate DR/magic. A half-fiend character in my old camapign found it modestly useful against the CR 11 or lower devils, and certainly nice when faced with some undead, all elementals, and many magical beasts, plants, aberrations & animals.
This paladin came at me with a +5 holy avenger, but it wasn't silver. His face looked so funny as he tried to smite me in vain. It was like some goofball trying to shoot Superman with a .357 magnum. I was pumped, man, pumped!!!
Um... I'd be highly disappointed if I was a 13th-level Paladin with a +5 Holy Avenger wasn't able to do more than 10 points of damage, especially on a smite. (Damage Reduction only reduces the damage by 10, you know. It doesn't negate an attack completely unless that attack does less than 10 damage.)