yes
yesty
To expand on the very tidy answer you already have:
Yes. DR X/Y and Z means the weapon hitting must be both Y and Z to bypass the DR.
DR A/B or C means that if the weapon is either B or C, it will bypass the DR.
Note that weapons of +3 enhancement bonus or higher can bypass more than just /Magic (see the Glossary at the back of the CRB, this doesn't get mentioned in the Bestiary at all).
How does that work for equivalent magic enhancement? add +1?
Equivalent magic enhancement does nothing against DR (I am presuming that you are referring to, say, flaming being +1, or speed being +3).
There are only four things that matter when comparing against DR:
The damage type of the weapon (P/S/B)
The material the weapon is made of (silver, cold iron, adamantine)
The alignment of the weapon (Anarchic, Axiomatic, Holy, Unholy)
The enhancement bonus (see the Glossary for what enhancement bonuses also overcome)
Uhm... I don't think you would need BOTH to overcome DR.
If you re-read the rules on DR in the Glossary, it is nowhere mentioned that if multiple exceptions to DR are given, then an attack must benefit from both exceptions to bypass DR. If this was the intent, I'm sure it would have been specifically mentioned.
Granted, the RAW don't specify the inverse situation either; that EITHER of the DR exceptions would bypass DR, but it seems the most logical interpretation to me...
Take 'historical' (well...) vampires, for instance who are reportedly allergic to both garlic and silver - You wouldn't need a silvered string of garlic to scare them off; either one item would do the trick. It seems to me that the same logic can be applied here.
Then kindly explain:
A few creatures are harmed by more than one kind of weapon. A weapon that inflicts damage of either type overcomes this damage reduction.
A few other creatures require combinations of different types of attacks to overcome their damage reduction, and a weapon must be both types to overcome this type of damage reduction. A weapon that is only one type is still subject to damage reduction.
Then kindly explain:
A few creatures are harmed by more than one kind of weapon. A weapon that inflicts damage of either type overcomes this damage reduction.
That part, at least, seems to support my interpretation...
Then kindly explain:
A few other creatures require combinations of different types of attacks to overcome their damage reduction, and a weapon must be both types to overcome this type of damage reduction. A weapon that is only one type is still subject to damage reduction.
I see... So, how are you supposed to know which is which?
Am I correct to assume that 'DR X /y, z' notation is the OR variant and 'DR X / y and z' is the AND variant?I wasn't aware there was any difference up until now - could you please name the source of that quote (can't find it in the Glossary bit)
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Margrave, Chemlak's quote is from the Universal Monster Rules. Basically, you can have DR come with different combinations. For example, a balor has DR 15/cold iron and good; a weapon has to match both properties to overcome the DR 15. On the other hand, a Quasit has DR 5/cold iron or good; a weapon that is either cold iron or good would do the job. The difference is in the conjunction (and, or).
Your hypothetical vampire would have DR X/garlic or silver; either would work. Some other creature might have DR X/garlic and silver; this critter would need to be attacked by the silver coated garlic.
Margrave, Chemlak's quote is from the Universal Monster Rules. Basically, you can have DR come with different combinations. For example, a balor has DR 15/cold iron and good; a weapon has to match both properties to overcome the DR 15. On the other hand, a Quasit has DR 5/cold iron or good; a weapon that is either cold iron or good would do the job. The difference is in the conjunction (and, or).
Your hypothetical vampire would have DR X/garlic or silver; either would work. Some other creature might have DR X/garlic and silver; this critter would need to be attacked by the silver coated garlic.
Thanks for clearing that up! I wasn't aware of both options and thought it was always read as DR/ x OR Y. So it did strike me as odd if everything was AND.
Crystal-clear now, thanks! :-)
Sorry I didn't get the chance to respond myself - Howie cleared it all up nicely, though.
One thing that's always interested me, though, is why there aren't creatures with multiple different DRs. (Probably to keep things simple, I guess).
For example, you could make a creature with (to extend your hypothetical garlic and silver weakness) DR 5/garlic and DR 10/silver. Both together would merrily overcome the DR, but having only a silver weapon would still leave the creature with 5 DR that you can't overcome.
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Chemlak, you can end up with that situation through templated creatures, through spells, equipment, etc. A recently tossed a friend the example of a werewolf who became a lich and hand had stoneskin active, for example. I suspect the KISS reason you suggest is why they don't often come in off-the-shelf monster writeups.(no offense intended by the extra S in KISS)
One thing that's always interested me, though, is why there aren't creatures with multiple different DRs. (Probably to keep things simple, I guess).
For example, you could make a creature with (to extend your hypothetical garlic and silver weakness) DR 5/garlic and DR 10/silver. Both together would merrily overcome the DR, but having only a silver weapon would still leave the creature with 5 DR that you can't overcome.
You know I was wondering the same thing while writing up that example. :-) The reason I didn't was so as not to overcomplicate things, so I assume that your guess (keeping it simple) would be correct.