Mythic Clarion Call and Smite Evil vs. DR / Epic

[RobertTHEPerylous]

I have situation about to come up in my home game with a Paladin with Smite Evil and her Marshal Path Ability of Clarion Call, versus a creature with DR/Epic. Smite Evil per RAW says, "Regardless of the target, smite evil attacks automatically bypass any DR the creature might possess."

The Clarion Call RAW says, "You bestow your wrath on your allies. As a swift action, you can expend one use of mythic power to grant all allies within 30 feet the benefits of your active smite or challenge ability, directed at the same opponent you’re targeting with that ability. Only the constant effects from the smite or challenge are conferred with this ability, not the ones you can use only once. This ability lasts a number of rounds equal to your tier or until either the combat ends or the subject of the smite or challenge is dead or unconscious."

By my reading of this, I would have to say that all allies within 30 feet of the Paladin at the time she uses Clarion Call CAN bypass the DR/Epic for a number of rounds equal to the Paladin's tier, but they would not gain the benefit of double damage vs. Evil Outsiders, Evil Dragons, or Undead.

Am I correct in this interpretation?

Considering that there are going to be 8 PC's on the board for this fight, that sub-boss is going to go down pretty quick. Could anyone suggest any ways to help alleviate this negation of what should be a potent defensive ability? BTW, I am NOT considering GM fiat of, "It just doesn't work."

[Brain in a Jar]

Yes. Those affected by Clarion Call/Smite Evil will bypass the DR.

If you're looking for a way to negate this take a look at Beyond Morality.

[wraithstrike]

Yes, all of them get to ignore DR. Even the basic(not mythic) paladin can share his smiting.

Also, I would advise not using a one boss/creature fight against a party, even if is only 4 of them.

As an example a CR 17 fight is more challenging if it is made of 1 CR 15 and 2 CR 13's. It stops the party from dogpiling onto one creature.

Mythic does amazing(for the PC's) things to their power level and the monsters don't get enough defenses to stand up to it.

My advice is to add more monsters per my above suggestion, and use max hit points if you are not already doing so for any monsters you have.

[Movin]

Overcoming DR is nice but just about every mythic combat character has one mythic ability or another that punches through all DR.
And if not theres stuff like mythic power attack and mythic vital strike that help warriors just flat out ignore the issue.

From smite:

If the target of smite evil is an outsider with the evil subtype, an evil-aligned dragon, or an undead creature, the bonus to damage on the first successful attack increases to 2 points of damage per level the paladin possesses.

So yes the damage doubling effect would not work.

As to negating or lessing it, assuming the boss survives a round of that kind of punishment I'd say you should write in some sort of escape mechanism.
If even one bad guy gets away to tell others then they can adjust tactics to deal with it.

To declare a smite you need to see your target: Concealment with smoke, snow or fog can work to lessen the possibility.
Make sure to read and understand how the concealment rules work before trying this. Misunderstanding them just leads to miserable times for everyone involved.
Engage with additional minions to try and distract, forcing the group to fight a battle that does not allow them to concentrate their offense on one target.
Difficult terrain or types of cover to slow the warriors advance.

[Zenogu]

Yup. Damage Reduction doesn't look like much of an issue in regards to mythic adventures.

Off topic: I've always wondered how Smite interacted with DR/-. The DR/- states it cannot be overcome, but Smite says it bypasses all DR. I'm inclined to say Smite gets by it.

[Brain in a Jar]

Zenogu wrote:

Yup. Damage Reduction doesn't look like much of an issue in regards to mythic adventures.

Off topic: I've always wondered how Smite interacted with DR/-. The DR/- states it cannot be overcome, but Smite says it bypasses all DR. I'm inclined to say Smite gets by it.

"Damage Reduction (DR): Creatures that are resistant to harm typically have damage reduction. This amount is subtracted from any damage dealt to them from a physical source. Most types of DR can be bypassed by certain types of weapons. This is denoted by a “/” followed by the type, such as “10/cold iron.” Some types of DR apply to all physical attacks. Such DR is denoted by the “—” symbol. See Special Abilities for more information."

Smite trumps DR/-

Normally nothing physical beats DR/- but Smite is more specific.

[Zenogu]

Myth: busted. Thank you, talking brain in a receptacle!

[RobertTHEPerylous]

Thanks for the input, friends. They had run into an inquisitor earlier who had cast Corruption Resistance and were stunned to find that the Smite did not go through. I may have to slip that in somewhere. Then again, only the Paladin can fly and so can this Sub Boss. So I may just have to play games with maneuverability.

Thanks again.