Hello, all. Been a long time since I've come to these parts, but I'm again scratching my head a bit.
For an upcoming homebrew campaign, I've undertaken an effort to rewrite all of the archetypes for the four Unchained classes in order to both ensure their compliance and give them a slight to significant boost to keep them in line with the new class features.
But while working on the Monk of the Four Winds, I appear to have hit an unexpected snag. I find myself unclear as to whether the damage added by a paladin's smite evil feature - and by proxy, any smite feature that functions in that manner - actually has a type or not. The way I see it, there are only three possibilities.
A) The extra damage from smite evil has a distinct type, such as sacred or divine, and I'm just not remembering where to go to find that stated outright or implied in the rules.
B) The extra damage is considered the same type of damage as dealt by the base weapon. IE, smite with a light mace, and the extra damage is transformed into bludgeoning damage. This is the way I'm currently leaning, as it is implied by "adds her paladin level to all damage rolls."
C) The extra damage dealt by smite evil actually has no type at all.
If anyone can show me a definitive answer to this question, backed by either rules excerpts or errata, it would be much appreciated. I've been searching and Googling for an answer to this question all day, and can't seem to find it.
Damage Reduction is not the issue; I'm fully aware of how smite evil interacts with DR.
Specifically speaking, an unchained Monk of the Four Winds that adheres to the oni spirit gets, under my rules, regeneration similar to actual oni which is overcome by acid damage and one other source.
I've been waffling between just making it acid and fire, as I believe kuwa oni have, but I was thinking of making it acid and good like more powerful oni and I was curious if the extra damage from smite evil would negate the monk's regeneration. For that matter, if the extra damage from a holy weapon might also apply.
Is there an actual ruling that the damage added from smite evil is untyped, or is it untyped because nothing says it is typed? I get that the distinction here may seem overly fine, but it matters for what I'm attempting to rule.
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Smite has no damage type of its own, it adds damage to some other attack, which does have a type.
If you attack with a longsword it is slashing.
If you attack with a Flaming longsword the damage is still slashing, but there is an extra d6 of fire.
If you attack with the Flame Blade spell then the damage is fire.
Smite has no damage type of its own, it adds damage to some other attack, which does have a type.
If you attack with a longsword it is slashing.
If you attack with a Flaming longsword the damage is still slashing, but there is an extra d6 of fire.
If you attack with the Flame Blade spell then the damage is fire.
That's what I was thinking, I just wasn't sure if there was a specific ruling beyond the fact that it's added to a specific damage roll rather than added as a discrete bonus to overall damage.
Glad to know I'm looking at it the right way, then.
Ok. So you're thinking perhaps like the flame strike spell in a way? Half acid half divine and (like smite) unable to be resisted?
Do you feel then that would add too many kind of damage now that some is resistance? For instance I attack with a long sword and strength 18. 1d8+4 then the "oni Smite?" Or is it all Smite?
It would be best to figure the answers to that first and work backwards once you know once and for all.
Not trying to be douche, but I'm honestly not sure what you're trying to say here. The Monk of the Four Winds doesn't get a smite attack for selecting the oni spirit, I was trying to figure out of a smite attack used against them would negate the regeneration they'll get - assuming I made it overcome by good - the same way hitting a troll with a lit torch negates its regeneration.
I think maybe we're getting our signals crossed here, or coming at this question from completely different directions?
As others have stated, Smite Evil adds on to the previous weapon's base damage. For the purposes of DR, it would count as part of the base attack... were it not for the fact that the act of Smiting ignores DR.
However, one thing touched on, which should be clarified here, is whether attacks made with Smite Evil are considered good-aligned. The answer is, they do not; there is no text that allows it to.
For a Paladin's attacks to count as good aligned, they either need to gain the Holy special quality on their weapon (either normally or through their Divine Bond), or by reaching level 14 and gaining their Aura of Faith ability. Only then is a paladin able to thwart Regeneration keyed with a good vulnerability with their weapon.
For a Paladin's attacks to count as good aligned, they either need to gain the Holy special quality on their weapon (either normally or through their Divine Bond), or by reaching level 14 and gaining their Aura of Faith ability. Only then is a paladin able to thwart Regeneration keyed with a good vulnerability with their weapon.
Actually I'm not sure that works?
... a paladin's weapons are treated as good-aligned for the purposes of overcoming Damage Reduction...
I'm genuinely saying I'm not sure here ... Would that also stop Regeneration? or is it ONLY for the purposes of Damage Reduction?
Fair point, I missed that.
Guess it's only Holy weapons then?
As no type is specified, it is untyped damage. This also applies to the other three alignment flavors of smite.
