I was playing last night and we were fighting a nasty enemy that had a decent amount of DR. Most of our attacks were only scratching it. Later in the fight we learned that it was DR/magic. I told our GM that my bow was a +2 bow, so my damage should have been cutting though it's DR. He then told me that that's not how DR/magic works. That it's only the magical enhancement bonus that gets through. So, only the +2 any any damage over the DR threshold were actually hurting the monster.
All of us weren't too sure about that. The GM said he would look it later just in case he had it wrong. I looked it up myself, and now I'm not sure.
In most games I've played in, and ones I've GMed, if a monster has DR/magic and the weapon has at least a +1 bonus, it will cut through the DR.
According to the SRD:
Some monsters are vulnerable to magic weapons. Any weapon with at least a +1 magical enhancement bonus on attack and damage rolls overcomes the damage reduction of these monsters. Such creatures’ natural weapons (but not their attacks with weapons) are treated as magic weapons for the purpose of overcoming damage reduction.
I can see how it may be interpreted as only the magical enhancement getting through DR, but I see it as it being a magical weapon, and so all the damage that weapon does gets though DR.
Who is correct, me or the GM?
Thanks in advance.
I thought so. Thank you.
You know, to be honest, it's one of the few things that cheeses me about Pathfinder dragons. They're these powerful magical beasts who have awesome DR, but magic cuts through it like butter. And by the time a party faces a dragon, they usually have mostly magical weapons, making the dragon's DR mostly pointless.
I know it's a balancing issue, and most dragons are powerful enough anyway, especially if they don't land and fight the party in melee. But why give them DR/magic if it's mostly pointless?
Anyway, thanks for the help, I'm going to message my GM with the quote from the SRD to show him the rule.
I thought so. Thank you.
You know, to be honest, it's one of the few things that cheeses me about Pathfinder dragons. They're these powerful magical beasts who have awesome DR, but magic cuts through it like butter. And by the time a party faces a dragon, they usually have mostly magical weapons, making the dragon's DR mostly pointless.
I know it's a balancing issue, and most dragons are powerful enough anyway, especially if they don't land and fight the party in melee. But why give them DR/magic if it's mostly pointless?
Anyway, thanks for the help, I'm going to message my GM with the quote from the SRD to show him the rule.
Dr magic makes then immune to npcs badically. A dragon can take on an army cause the non magic weapons don't faze it. You need adventures with expensive gear to fight it and have a chance. So it's more a fluff mechanic then a balancing against PCs mechanic
Thematic reasons, maybe, so "peasant" weapons basically just bounce off of them and most commoners, as a result, are pretty screwed even in large numbers.
Also, generally speaking, DR applies to the entirety of a weapon. If you have a Holy weapon, it gets through all DR/Good, for example. If you have a Cold Iron weapon, that goes through all of DR/Cold Iron. The only time when it might not be enough is if you had, say, DR/Magic and Cold Iron, in which case you would need both to overcome it instead of just one part.
Yeah, I'm aware of the double DR issue. I was running a campaign one time were a monster had DR 10/magic and bludgeoning. The party had plenty of magic weapons, but no magic bludgeoning weapons. That was a fun fight.
Since you are using a bow, the following rule is also relevant:
Ammunition fired from a projectile weapon with an enhancement bonus of +1 or higher is treated as a magic weapon for the purpose of overcoming damage reduction. Similarly, ammunition fired from a projectile weapon with an alignment gains the alignment of that projectile weapon (in addition to any alignment it may already have).
This is why you don't need +2 arrows to shoot from your +2 bow -- your bow automatically treats your mundane arrows as +2 for the purposes of overcoming DR/magic or having an alignment. Notably, it would not allow mundane arrows from a +3 or higher bow to overcome other types of DR, such as cold iron, silver, or adamantine. You still need special arrows for that.
Since you are using a bow, the following rule is also relevant:
Ammunition fired from a projectile weapon with an enhancement bonus of +1 or higher is treated as a magic weapon for the purpose of overcoming damage reduction. Similarly, ammunition fired from a projectile weapon with an alignment gains the alignment of that projectile weapon (in addition to any alignment it may already have).This is why you don't need +2 arrows to shoot from your +2 bow -- your bow automatically treats your mundane arrows as +2 for the purposes of overcoming DR/magic or having an alignment. Notably, it would not allow mundane arrows from a +3 or higher bow to overcome other types of DR, such as cold iron, silver, or adamantine. You still need special arrows for that.
Ohhh, that's a good point. I wonder if that was what he was thinking, because I was using regular arrows it wouldn't pierce the DR. I'll bring this rule up to him too.
He's actually an experienced and very good GM, and if the players present him with the rules for our arguments, he listens to us. The only time it wouldn't apply is if he purposely changed something (it's a custom campaign and there are a few house rules he uses).
I don't think I quite understand the question.