Black Pudding Weapon Damage

[noblejohn]

If an attacker does not pass a DC 21 reflex save, his weapon takes 2d6 acid damage when hitting a black pudding.

Questions:
Do you subtract the weapon's hardness first and then start applying damage if any is left?

If the attacker misses, does he need to make a reflex save?

Thanks,
John

[noblejohn]

Sorry if this is a dumb question, but can someone please clarify?

Thanks,
John

[Majuba]

You are correct - subtract hardness. I believe this is an unintentional thing (acid/sonic energy damage bypassed hardness in D&D 3.5), but that's how the rule works.

A +1 metal weapon is thus immune to the damage. No reflex save required on a miss.

[Reecy]

This is the rule:

Energy attacks deal half damage to most objects. Divide the damage by 2 before applying the object's hardness. Some energy types might be particularly effective against certain objects, subject to GM discretion. For example, fire might do full damage against parchment, cloth, and other objects that burn easily. Sonic might do full damage against glass and crystal objects.

Now based on what +'s do they add 2 to the hardness and 10 to the hit points

So these weapons are more Durable...

Generally

Wood and cloth are vulnerable to Fire and Acid
Metal is Acid and Sonic
Glass is Sonic
But again that is just trending

the actual rule is at the top of the post...

[Pendin Fust]

That's assuming the person is not engulfed or whatnot. If it stays in contact with metal for 1 full round it does an automatic 21 points damage.

And I think that's what the Reflex save is for, getting your weapon out of contact. But dang, I never realized that a +1 metal object takes NO damage from the Black Puddings Acid property when attacking it.

[Majuba]

I would not halve the damage done to an object, as the ability is explicitly dealing damage to objects only.

[Reecy]

Yeah Pendin, I knew it was written somewhere acid damage bypasses hardness.

Bestiary 1... Ha

[noblejohn]

Thanks guys - much appreciated. I wish is specifically clarified to subtract hardness under the Puddings description.

[Majuba]

If they had thought about it, it would probably specifically say that it bypasses. As it stands, default rule is hardness applies to just about everything.