Monk and overcoming damage reduction : help


Pathfinder First Edition General Discussion


I need help to understand the monk's ability (the ki strike) to overcome damage reduction. Our party had to fight a (3.5.edition) dragon with a resistance of +4/adamantine. My monk character is a 13th level character overall, but a 7th level monk. He wears a magical Monk's robe, and therefore he treats his unarmed strikes as if he was a 12th level monk.

His unarmed attacks are treated as magic weapons ever since he reached 4th level (cf. ki pool description), but they're treated as if they were magic weapons with what enhancement equivalent (+1,+2,+3 or +4) ? Would the Monk's robe increase the bonus equivalent of such attacks?

The Monk's description states that the Monk can overcome adamantine resistance at level 16. Does it mean that the weapon enhancement bonus equivalent of his unarmed attacks will only be +4 at that level (using the table on page 562)?

If the character casts "Magic Weapon" (he's also a sorcerer), giving his unarmed strike a +1 enhancement bonus on attack and damage rolls, does it increase the weapon enhancement bonus equivalent (i.e., does it stack?).

While we're at it, does the Smite Evil (SUpernatural) ability of the paladin (adding the Charisma bonus to the attack rolls) increase the weapon enhancement bonus equivalence for the monk's unarmed attacks?

Thanks for your help!


Damage resistance based off enhancement bonus hasn't been since 3.0, 3.5 and Pathfinder only check for Magic or not. Somewhere in 3.5 there was the conversion to change a scary +4/40 DR to Magic/10 or something like that

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Taman wrote:

I need help to understand the monk's ability (the ki strike) to overcome damage reduction. Our party had to fight a (3.5.edition) dragon with a resistance of +4/adamantine. My monk character is a 13th level character overall, but a 7th level monk. He wears a magical Monk's robe, and therefore he treats his unarmed strikes as if he was a 12th level monk.

His unarmed attacks are treated as magic weapons ever since he reached 4th level (cf. ki pool description), but they're treated as if they were magic weapons with what enhancement equivalent (+1,+2,+3 or +4) ? Would the Monk's robe increase the bonus equivalent of such attacks?

The Monk's description states that the Monk can overcome adamantine resistance at level 16. Does it mean that the weapon enhancement bonus equivalent of his unarmed attacks will only be +4 at that level (using the table on page 562)?

If the character casts "Magic Weapon" (he's also a sorcerer), giving his unarmed strike a +1 enhancement bonus on attack and damage rolls, does it increase the weapon enhancement bonus equivalent (i.e., does it stack?).

While we're at it, does the Smite Evil (SUpernatural) ability of the paladin (adding the Charisma bonus to the attack rolls) increase the weapon enhancement bonus equivalence for the monk's unarmed attacks?

Thanks for your help!

By the rules you wouldnt be able to bypass the DR/+4 until you were 16th level and can hit as adamantine. (kind of a quirky side effect of combining systems)

Would the robe increase the bonus equivalent of such attacks? If you were 12th level and hit as a 16th level monk, yes, until that point, no.

If you cast magic weapon on his fists, would it increase the enhancement bonus? No, if you had used all of your ki pool for the day and cast the Magic Fang spell on your fists it would make them +1 again, Greater Magic Fang would provide a higher bonus (+4 at 16, +5 at 20).

Can the paladin's smite help? Yes, a paladin using the Aura of Justice to spread the Smite Evil ability to the party will allow you to bypass all DR the dragon has for 1 minute, provided that you stay within 10 feet of the paladin. This ability negates DR, it does not increase the enhancement bonus of your monk's fist, so this would work even if you were level 1.

Seems like you are indeed using a mash of 3.0,3.5, and Pathfinder so oddities like this can come up often. My suggestion would be to find one of the DR systems that works for your group and use that.


Christopher Vrysen wrote:
Damage resistance based off enhancement bonus hasn't been since 3.0, 3.5 and Pathfinder only check for Magic or not. Somewhere in 3.5 there was the conversion to change a scary +4/40 DR to Magic/10 or something like that

In pathfinder, you can overcome DR/type with certain enhancement bonuses:

Source = http://paizo.com/pathfinderRPG/prd/glossary.html

Text:
Weapons with an enhancement bonus of +3 or greater can ignore some types of damage reduction, regardless of their actual material or alignment.

example: +3 can overcome DR/cold iron and DR/silver
+4 can overcome DR/adamantine
+5 can overcome DR/alignment-based

Sovereign Court

Scarymike wrote:


In pathfinder, you can overcome DR/type with certain enhancement bonuses:

Source = http://paizo.com/pathfinderRPG/prd/glossary.html

Text:
Weapons with an enhancement bonus of +3 or greater can ignore some types of damage reduction, regardless of their actual material or alignment.

example: +3 can overcome DR/cold iron and DR/silver
+4 can overcome DR/adamantine
+5 can overcome DR/alignment-based

Monk's Ki is just "magic" and has no plus RAW.

Since adamantine DR is overcome at 16th for a Monk you could houserule the Ki equivalent plus works as +1 - 4th, +2 - 8th, +3 -12th, +4 -16th, +5 -20th for the purposes of DR avoidance. This is different to RAW but seems reasonable and it's neat.

Hop over to the gauntlet thread for some other Monk options ;-)


Miranda wrote:
Scarymike wrote:


In pathfinder, you can overcome DR/type with certain enhancement bonuses:

Source = http://paizo.com/pathfinderRPG/prd/glossary.html

Text:
Weapons with an enhancement bonus of +3 or greater can ignore some types of damage reduction, regardless of their actual material or alignment.

example: +3 can overcome DR/cold iron and DR/silver
+4 can overcome DR/adamantine
+5 can overcome DR/alignment-based

Monk's Ki is just "magic" and has no plus RAW.

Since adamantine DR is overcome at 16th for a Monk you could houserule the Ki equivalent plus works as +1 - 4th, +2 - 8th, +3 -12th, +4 -16th, +5 -20th for the purposes of DR avoidance. This is different to RAW but seems reasonable and it's neat.

Hop over to the gauntlet thread for some other Monk options ;-)

Enter the fist.. amulet of mighty fists +5 or.. hire a level 20 druid to greater magic fang you then get it permanencied and get a amult of mighty fists (flaming,shocking, freezing, holy or whatever floats your boat)


Thanks everyone! That was helpful. I didn't know about the change from 3.0 to 3.5 regarding damage reduction. Makes more sense now.

Liberty's Edge

Could my 1st-level monk wrap his hands in silver cloth and get through a DR n/Silver (such as that of werewolves) ?


Pathfinder Pathfinder Accessories, Starfinder Accessories, Starfinder Adventure Path, Starfinder Society Subscriber; Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Superscriber
The black raven wrote:
Could my 1st-level monk wrap his hands in silver cloth and get through a DR n/Silver (such as that of werewolves) ?

As Miranda said, you'll want to go to this thread about monks and gauntlets for various reasoning along that particular can of worms.

Short answer: Ask your GM.

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Scarymike wrote:

example: +3 can overcome DR/cold iron and DR/silver

+4 can overcome DR/adamantine
+5 can overcome DR/alignment-based

God I hate that system. Note for house rules, kick that jank to the curb...

I let adamantine count as cold iron, though. (Mithral already counts as silver.)

The Exchange Owner - D20 Hobbies

Taman wrote:
+4/adamantine.

You are using a 3.0 book somewhere, go grab the 3.5 book that has the update of that dragon, or find the 3.0 to 3.5 conversion document with the translation table.


Wow, I did not see that in the glossary, looks like they tried to meet the old 3.0 table half way, so the special materials aren't obsolete, but give an extra reward for straight enhancement rather than abilities on a magic weapon. Seems every time I read the PF core book I find another bit that I had assumed stayed the same so didn't process on earlier readings. Apologies for my incorrect post, and thanks for the correction.
However, the +4/40 style of DR is still an artifact of 3.0. Good questions if you are playing with that still, I don't have the answers in that case.

The Exchange Owner - D20 Hobbies

I was confused ... still am. I don't think Monk's Belt helps with anything but damage dice.


Noob question on DR.

Aside from the monk question can someone help me out with understanding how DR works normally? I read the section and am confused on what the difference is between overcoming DR and ignoring DR. Let me give an example:

A 4th level rogue with a +2 magical shortbow attacks and scores a hit on a Dretch demon that has DR 5/cold iron.

Does the demon get hit for full damage since he was hit with a magical weapon and DR is therefore not taken into account?

If so what is the point of the section that reads in the rulebook:

"Weapons with an enhancement bonus of +3 or greater can ignore some types of damage reduction, regardless of their actual material or alignment.

example: +3 can overcome DR/cold iron and DR/silver
+4 can overcome DR/adamantine
+5 can overcome DR/alignment-based"

We have been playing it that a +1 weapon is all you needed to ignore DR. But now I think we have been playing it wrong. Help please.

The Exchange

A magic weapon ignores DR/magic
But when you get to weapons with +3-5 they can also over come other damage reduction

A plus 2 short bow, firing normal ammunition, does not overcome DR 5/ cold iron


Ok I understand now, thank you very much.

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