Is ability damage still damage?

[Ramanujan]

I have hunted all over the web for a RAW answer to this, originally posed here; http://rpg.stackexchange.com/questions/65219/does-an-incorporeal-creature-t ake-half-ability-damage-from-corporeal-sources/65235#65235.

Incorporeal creatures take half damage from corporeal sources. Or if not dealing damage, corporeal sources have a 50% hit chance.

Does ability damage count as damage for the sake of Incorporeal creatures?
Or does ability damage have a 50% hit chance?

What about ability drain?

[DM_Blake]

Yes, ability damage is damage; that's why they call it "damage". Since the incorporeal creature must make an attack to deliver its "damage", then all the rules for attacking an incorporeal target apply.

Drain is somewhat worse. For example, it actually makes you lose the ability score rather than just damaging it. It also cannot be healed without magic. Powerful stuff. But, ultimately, it's just a stronger version of ability damage (like a greatsword is a stronger version of a short sword), so treat it the same with regard to draining incorporeal targets.

[Nefreet]

Ability Damage and Hit Point Damage are different things.

Damage Reduction, for example, only uses the word "Damage", but is understood to apply to Hit Point Damage only, and not Ability Damage.

A Demon with DR 10/cold iron isn't immune to the 1d6 Strength Damage from a Shadow, for example.

Likewise, some creatures have special defenses or immunity against Ability Damage. That does not make them immune to Hit Point Damage.

[Ramanujan]

The rules for DR specifically exclude a bunch of stuff - that arguably covers most sources of ability damage, though there may be exceptions. ("Spells, spell-like abilities, and energy attacks (even non-magical fire) ignore damage reduction.")

As a corollary, when an incorporeal creature attacks another incorporeal creature, does it deal double damage?
(or half damage if attacking a corporeal creature - but I'm assuming the half damage is already written into it's stats so we don't need to do as much multiplication seeing as players are nearly always corporeal)

I was going to say when a Shadow attacks another Shadow, but then remembered that they don't have a strength score...

[Archaeik]

Damage wrote:

Damage reduces a target's current hit points.

Ability Damage is covered under this section but seems to its own category of damage. I'd say it's likely, based on this, that you use the 50% chance to affect them rather than always dealing 1/2 ability damage.

Ramanujan wrote:

As a corollary, when an incorporeal creature attacks another incorporeal creature, does it deal double damage?

Incorporeals deal full normal damage to each other (and their damage is not reduced vs corporeal targets, so there is no wonky math)

Also, regardless of whether shadows had a strength score to damage, they would be immune by virtue of their undead traits anyway. A shadow attacking a non-immune incorporeal with a strength score would not have any disadvantage.