Would a creature hit by an effect that does only ability damage wake up if unconscious?
Whether it wakes them up would probably depend on the type of unconsciousness and the source of the ability damage. I don't believe ability damage or drain are inherently painful, though some sources of it certainly are.
Is there a particular example where this has come up?
I waould say yes as it is damage. Typically damage is caused be some sort of trauma such as:
STR: A blow to your arm
DEX: A blow to your hand
CON: A blow to your stomache
INT: A blow to your head
WIS: A severe headache
CHA: A blow to your groin/feelings
Many poisons are said to cause great pain. Therefore I would say Ability Damage is enough to wake you up if you're asleep.
Drain is more of a sapping away of your physical/mental abilities such as try to stay awake for 24hrs straight: not inheirently painful, but not exactly comfortable. You may notice a mosquito on your arm but you can't feel the 5 on your back. Therefore I would say Ability Drain is not enough to wake you up if you're asleep.
I would side with it strongly depending on what caused the damage. A spirit slow siphoning your life essence, probably not. A poison attacking you muscles could cause many aches and pains though.
I waould say yes as it is damage. Typically damage is caused be some sort of trauma such as:
STR: A blow to your arm
DEX: A blow to your hand
CON: A blow to your stomache
INT: A blow to your head
WIS: A severe headache
CHA: A blow to your groin/feelingsMany poisons are said to cause great pain. Therefore I would say Ability Damage is enough to wake you up if you're asleep.
Drain is more of a sapping away of your physical/mental abilities such as try to stay awake for 24hrs straight: not inheirently painful, but not exactly comfortable. You may notice a mosquito on your arm but you can't feel the 5 on your back. Therefore I would say Ability Drain is not enough to wake you up if you're asleep.
drain is a permanent thing unless you got restoration, a mosquito might do damage (more probably HP damage) but you won't feel it,ability drain is very powerful and dangerous. damage depending of what it does won't be painful like a ray of enfeeblement that damage your STR by sapping your STR away, while drain i would always assume it is very painful
Edit:not sleeping do not drain your stat you gain the fatigued condition or exhausted if for too long, it has its own penalty which are neither drain nor damage
I was just making some real world comparisons for the idea of damage vs drain being painful or not. Mosquito is a irl vampire while staying awake too long definitely drains you cognitive functions. It was not meant to be a 1:1 comparison to Pathfinder.
While I agree that Drain is a lot more dangerous, I would also say that often times the most dangerous things go unnoticed.
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but the thing is damage can come from effect that just sap a thing and damage is temporary but can be lethal (0 to a stat make you unconscious or dead if its CON) so sleep deprivation would be more akin to damage because it is temporary, while a good drain comparison in physical term would be finger being chopped off (DEX drain) loosing an organ (CON drain) muscle being ripped apart (STR drain), severe cerebral commotion (INT and/or WIS and/or CHA drain) since all of them are pretty permanent damage that can't go away unless you live in a fantasy world with magic. damage and drain can be both go unnoticed or being easily noticed and painful depending of what they do much like Josh-o-Lantern saidI was just making some real world comparisons for the idea of damage vs drain being painful or not. Mosquito is a irl vampire while staying awake too long definitely drains you cognitive functions. It was not meant to be a 1:1 comparison to Pathfinder.
While I agree that Drain is a lot more dangerous, I would also say that often times the most dangerous things go unnoticed.
Fair enough...I would just like to say that I have been awake for 17 hours at this point and am suffering some Mental Ability Damage...
Whether it wakes them up would probably depend on the type of unconsciousness and the source of the ability damage. I don't believe ability damage or drain are inherently painful, though some sources of it certainly are.
Is there a particular example where this has come up?
An example of this would be something like a sleeping enemy hit by a ray of enfeeblement.
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The answer is it depends. Drinking too much booze in pathfinder causes Int and wisdom damage, and the act of getting drunk doesn't cause pain. But the wracking pain of say, filth feaver would.
In general, look at the source. Some say they specifically are subtle and nearly unnoticeable, some are obvious. I do recall a monster that says it does con damage while people are asleep, and implies it doesn't wake people, but I also remember there is a dust that is described as super painful that also does con damage.
No rules exist for this.
If I was the GM, anything that causes any sort of damage would be enough to wake someone up if sleeping.
Would a creature hit by an effect that does only ability damage wake up if unconscious?
I'd also say it will be effect dependant. Some ability damage sources might be painful, while others may be not.
Two examples of CON damage: A poison or a disease may not pe painful at all, although you feel weaker and weaker everyday. A wraith on the other side may perfectly deal a cold and painful sensation at the same time you feel your life is being drained away.
I'd say, think of the effect that generates the stat damage and decide based on that.