Oozes and damage types

[bbangerter]

I'm trying to understand how oozes react to attacks that deal multiple damage types at once:

For example, if we have an ochre jelly:

Quote:

Immune electricity, mind-affecting effects, ooze traits, slashing and piercing damage
Slashing weapons, piercing weapons, and electricity attacks deal no damage to an ochre jelly. Instead the creature splits into two identical jellies, each with half of the original creature’s current hit point total, rounded down. A jelly with 10 hit points or less cannot be further split and dies if reduced to 0 hit points.

What happens if said creature is attacked by a weapon that deals both bludgeoning and piercing damage (like a gunslingers attacks).

Does it take half damage (the bludgeoning half) and then split? Does it take full damage with no split? Full damage and also splits (damage first, then split, or split first, then damage one of the halves)? No damage and also does not split? Other?

[Java Man]

An attack that deals 10 points of damage with the type "bludgeoning and piercing" is not 5 B and 5 P, it is 10 points that is both.

So the gunshot to the ooze would do full damage (it is piercing) and split the ooze in half (it is piercing).

[Taja the Barbarian]

Right answer, but there is a typo in this response that might create confusion:

Java Man wrote:

An attack that deals 10 points of damage with the type "bludgeoning and piercing" is not 5 B and 5 P, it is 10 points that is both.

So the gunshot to the ooze would do full damage (it is piercingBludgeoning) and split the ooze in half (it is piercing).

[Java Man]

Cool, thanks for catching that.

[Pizza Lord]

The other answers are a fair interpretation, but the wording says otherwise. The wording clearly says slashing and piercing weapons deal no damage. It doesn't say anything about bludgeoning. Java Man is correct, the attack is both bludgeoning and piercing, that means that it counts as both. Normally an attack would deal damage... unless that attack (yes the wording says 'weapon') is piercing (or slashing).

RAW would mean the bullet (piercing and bludgeoning) would do no damage, and split the slime, because it is piercing and piercing attacks deal no damage, whether they are also bludgeoning.

Just like if the ooze were hit with an electricity attack that somehow dealt bludgeoning damage as well, it would be electricity, which deals no damage (and would split the ochre jelly). Just like an attack that dealt mind-effecting bludgeoning damage wouldn't work on it.

Note that this isn't the same as two separate damage types, such as a flaming or shocking weapon which would deal slashing or piercing or bludgeoning and then another damage type separately, this is about damage that is two simultaneous things.
Also note that this isn't like Damage Reduction or Regeneration, which is specifically bypassed by a certain damage type, because that's listed as a damage type or effect that bypasses (or disables) a defense or ability, rather than an ability that does something to, or acts in response to, a damage type or weapon.

For instance, a creature that was listed as taking double damage from bludgeoning but also that it takes no damage from silver weapons, doesn't receive double damage from a silver mace. It would take no damage, the attack is both silver and bludgeoning and the no damage is clearly meant to trump what normally happens. In the case of the ochre jelly, the specific wording is that attacks that are slashing or piercing do no damage, whether they are also bludgeoning, magic, silver, adamantine, epic, or mythic makes no difference. If it said that bludgeoning damage did something as well, then you'd have to apply both effects, since it's both, but that's not discussed.

Just having the immunities listed as slashing or piercing isn't what does this, it's the specific split ability that does.

Do I believe that's how it's intended? Probably not. But that's still how the wording is.

[Java Man]

Relevant CRB quote:

Some weapons deal damage of multiple types. If a weapon causes two types of damage, the type it deals is not half one type and half another; all damage caused is of both types. Therefore, a creature would have to be immune to both types of damage to ignore any of the damage caused by such a weapon.

That leads me to my view, perhaps I am not splitting enough hairs.

[Derklord]

CRB pg. 144 wrote:

Some weapons deal damage of multiple types. If a weapon causes two types of damage, the type it deals is not half one type and half another; all damage caused is of both types. Therefore, a creature would have to be immune to both types of damage to ignore any of the damage caused by such a weapon.

Quoted to make clear that all the above is copy-pasted form the CRB.

It's a really weird interaction. The entry in the "immune" line of the defense section of the stat block is definitely ignored, but the the Split ability is a different thing. The issue is that the shape of the weapon is responsible for splitting, and if you attack with, say, a claw, you can't not have the slashing part touch the ooze. I actually think an attack with such a weapon should do both, dealing damage, and splitting the ooze! In that order.