Is psychic damage mental damage or brain damage? Would a creature hit by viscious mokery actually feel pain in their brain or will they just loose their will to fight and live.
I personally describe it as a really sharp and painful head-ache or migraine that doesn't last long (unless the effect lasts longer than a round). PCs and NPCs should typically be capable of feeling that they're taking damage, just to keep it from having a situation where a character doesn't know that they're dying and thus can't do anything to stop it from happening, but if you're the DM, it's up to you how you do it at your table. As far as I know, the PHB has no rules for this.
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Please check out my homebrew, I would appreciate feedback:
Is psychic damage mental damage or brain damage? Would a creature hit by viscious mokery actually feel pain in their brain or will they just loose their will to fight and live.
Like Sundering said, it all depends on how the player and DM decide it is. As a DM, I let players narrate their characters’ actions. If a PC casts VM and their player narrates it as pain, then it’s painful when they cast it. If another player in the same party narrates it the other way then that’s how it works when their PC cast it. If neither narrates it then I do it however seems most appropriate at the time. If a player narrates it one way sometimes and the other way at other times then that’s fine too.
Basically, it’s D&D, there isn’t one right way to do it.
The flexibility and non-specificity of D&D which aggravates people also makes things like psychic damage flexible. The nature of hit points being a mishmash of things allows certain types of damage to be defined loosely.
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"Sooner or later, your Players are going to smash your railroad into a sandbox."
-Vedexent
"real life is a super high CR."
-OboeLauren
"............anybody got any potatoes? We could drop a potato in each hole an' see which ones get viciously mauled by horrible monsters?"
Psychic damage can be a variety of things. It could be like an intense headache. It can also be other things. For example, Shadow Blade is an illusory blade that does psychic damage but the target might perceive it like physical stabs/cuts. Similarly the psychic damage from other illusion spells like Phantasmal Force or Phantasmal Killer will be perceived to be relevant to the illusion they are made to see. A target might 'feel' like they are being burned, electrocuted, slashed, punched, etc depending on the illusion but since it's not real and all in the mind only, it's actually psychic damage.
It's therefore important to consider the source of the psychic damage. It's also important to note that some illusions do "real" damage rather than psychic damage - such as a weapon made by the Creation spell or the elemental breath of the Illusory Dragon. Some sources might be generic, like Mind Sliver cantrip which is just "a blast of psychic energy" and for that it's really more up to you/the DM to decide what is meant by that.
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Click ✨ HERE ✨ For My Youtube Videos featuring Guides, Tips & Tricks for using D&D Beyond. Need help with Homebrew? Check out ✨ thisFAQ/Guide thread ✨ by IamSposta.
Yeah, Black Canary's Canary Cry damages objects in the area in addition to hurting people. Psychic damage can't do that- objects are pretty much universally immune to psychic damage. In addition to it being explicitly noise.
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Find your own truth, choose your enemies carefully, and never deal with a dragon.
"Canon" is what's factual to D&D lore. "Cannon" is what you're going to be shot with if you keep getting the word wrong.
It helps to realize that damage types are just a set of imperfect groups that struggle to categorize literally any kind of damage you can think of into fewer than 15 types. The spells come first, and then their damage type is determined by the best fit.
The best descriptor for morale damage is psychic.
The best descriptor for when the telepath overloads their abilities and gets a nosebleed is psychic.
The best descriptor for mind-shattering fear that erodes your very sanity is psychic.
They're all very different things, but what they have in common is that they are definitely not fire, piercing, acid, bludgeoning, etc.
I think it causes mental stress and insanity, kinda like brain damage, but also headaches. This is basically insanity. A house rule I have is that too much psychic damage, makes rolls at a disadvantage, or do the opposite of what was intended.
Yeah, Black Canary's Canary Cry damages objects in the area in addition to hurting people. Psychic damage can't do that- objects are pretty much universally immune to psychic damage. In addition to it being explicitly noise.
So is Black Canary's cry Thunder Damage? even though it is thematically high pitched sound?
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"Sooner or later, your Players are going to smash your railroad into a sandbox."
-Vedexent
"real life is a super high CR."
-OboeLauren
"............anybody got any potatoes? We could drop a potato in each hole an' see which ones get viciously mauled by horrible monsters?"
Yeah, Black Canary's Canary Cry damages objects in the area in addition to hurting people. Psychic damage can't do that- objects are pretty much universally immune to psychic damage. In addition to it being explicitly noise.
So is Black Canary's cry Thunder Damage? even though it is thematically high pitched sound?
Yes, because what's "Thunder" in this edition was "Sonic" in 3.5.
Then what does it attack in plants, oozes, elementals, or undead?
I think anything with an Intelligence can be affected by psychic. Unless it has specific immunity to psychic damage. Monsters have an INT of at least one.
Then what does it attack in plants, oozes, elementals, or undead?
I think anything with an Intelligence can be affected by psychic. Unless it has specific immunity to psychic damage. Monsters have an INT of at least one.
Yes, I was replying to the post above mine who was describing it as an attack on the target's nervous system and pointing out there were a large amount of monsters that don't have nervous systems but are not immune to psychic damage.
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Find your own truth, choose your enemies carefully, and never deal with a dragon.
"Canon" is what's factual to D&D lore. "Cannon" is what you're going to be shot with if you keep getting the word wrong.
Then what does it attack in plants, oozes, elementals, or undead?
I think anything with an Intelligence can be affected by psychic. Unless it has specific immunity to psychic damage. Monsters have an INT of at least one.
Yes, I was replying to the post above mine who was describing it as an attack on the target's nervous system and pointing out there were a large amount of monsters that don't have nervous systems but are not immune to psychic damage.
Creatures that can move and attack with intent should have some semblance of a psyche. That should give you a target for psychic damage. I would agree with you on that if you were talking about Green Slime or Yellow Mold since they are in the system as hazards and not monsters.
hit points are an abstraction to bodily integrity, but also morale and the will to go on. Psychic damage falls into different categories depending on the source. Vicious Mockery is an attack against the morale, thus the damage implies the mental fortitude of the opponent to fight on. High psychic damage from a spell, could be akin to a mental breakdown, ptsd or other psychological trauma that just renders its victim unable to continue to fight or even live on. For a creature with lesser intelligence, this could be just emotional damage, like extreme fear causing a heart attack, or in the case of a slime, failing to hold its body together due to being stressed out to no end.
Then what does it attack in plants, oozes, elementals, or undead?
I think anything with an Intelligence can be affected by psychic. Unless it has specific immunity to psychic damage. Monsters have an INT of at least one.
Yes, I was replying to the post above mine who was describing it as an attack on the target's nervous system and pointing out there were a large amount of monsters that don't have nervous systems but are not immune to psychic damage.
Creatures that can move and attack with intent should have some semblance of a psyche. That should give you a target for psychic damage. I would agree with you on that if you were talking about Green Slime or Yellow Mold since they are in the system as hazards and not monsters.
No, I'm pointing out that psychic damage can't be an attack on the target's nervous system because creatures that lack nervous systems aren't automatically immune to it.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Find your own truth, choose your enemies carefully, and never deal with a dragon.
"Canon" is what's factual to D&D lore. "Cannon" is what you're going to be shot with if you keep getting the word wrong.
Then what does it attack in plants, oozes, elementals, or undead?
I think anything with an Intelligence can be affected by psychic. Unless it has specific immunity to psychic damage. Monsters have an INT of at least one.
Yes, I was replying to the post above mine who was describing it as an attack on the target's nervous system and pointing out there were a large amount of monsters that don't have nervous systems but are not immune to psychic damage.
Creatures that can move and attack with intent should have some semblance of a psyche. That should give you a target for psychic damage. I would agree with you on that if you were talking about Green Slime or Yellow Mold since they are in the system as hazards and not monsters.
No, I'm pointing out that psychic damage can't be an attack on the target's nervous system because creatures that lack nervous systems aren't automatically immune to it.
Apparently you missed the part where I said, "or their equivalents in abberations, etc." Plants would be in the "etc." Any creature that can sense pain or physical damage has a sensory system whether you want to call them nerves or something else. I explain psychic damage as attacking that sensory system.
You can explain it any way you wish in your games.
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Playing D&D since 1982
Have played every version of the game since Basic (Red Box Set), except that abomination sometimes called 4e.
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Is psychic damage mental damage or brain damage? Would a creature hit by viscious mokery actually feel pain in their brain or will they just loose their will to fight and live.
I personally describe it as a really sharp and painful head-ache or migraine that doesn't last long (unless the effect lasts longer than a round). PCs and NPCs should typically be capable of feeling that they're taking damage, just to keep it from having a situation where a character doesn't know that they're dying and thus can't do anything to stop it from happening, but if you're the DM, it's up to you how you do it at your table. As far as I know, the PHB has no rules for this.
Please check out my homebrew, I would appreciate feedback:
Spells, Monsters, Subclasses, Races, Arcknight Class, Occultist Class, World, Enigmatic Esoterica forms
Like Sundering said, it all depends on how the player and DM decide it is. As a DM, I let players narrate their characters’ actions. If a PC casts VM and their player narrates it as pain, then it’s painful when they cast it. If another player in the same party narrates it the other way then that’s how it works when their PC cast it. If neither narrates it then I do it however seems most appropriate at the time. If a player narrates it one way sometimes and the other way at other times then that’s fine too.
Basically, it’s D&D, there isn’t one right way to do it.
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The flexibility and non-specificity of D&D which aggravates people also makes things like psychic damage flexible. The nature of hit points being a mishmash of things allows certain types of damage to be defined loosely.
"Sooner or later, your Players are going to smash your railroad into a sandbox."
-Vedexent
"real life is a super high CR."
-OboeLauren
"............anybody got any potatoes? We could drop a potato in each hole an' see which ones get viciously mauled by horrible monsters?"
-Ilyara Thundertale
It's damage to your soul, usually.
Find your own truth, choose your enemies carefully, and never deal with a dragon.
"Canon" is what's factual to D&D lore. "Cannon" is what you're going to be shot with if you keep getting the word wrong.
Psychic damage can be a variety of things. It could be like an intense headache. It can also be other things. For example, Shadow Blade is an illusory blade that does psychic damage but the target might perceive it like physical stabs/cuts. Similarly the psychic damage from other illusion spells like Phantasmal Force or Phantasmal Killer will be perceived to be relevant to the illusion they are made to see. A target might 'feel' like they are being burned, electrocuted, slashed, punched, etc depending on the illusion but since it's not real and all in the mind only, it's actually psychic damage.
It's therefore important to consider the source of the psychic damage. It's also important to note that some illusions do "real" damage rather than psychic damage - such as a weapon made by the Creation spell or the elemental breath of the Illusory Dragon. Some sources might be generic, like Mind Sliver cantrip which is just "a blast of psychic energy" and for that it's really more up to you/the DM to decide what is meant by that.
Click ✨ HERE ✨ For My Youtube Videos featuring Guides, Tips & Tricks for using D&D Beyond.
Need help with Homebrew? Check out ✨ this FAQ/Guide thread ✨ by IamSposta.
Two words : Black Canary
Yeah, Black Canary's Canary Cry damages objects in the area in addition to hurting people. Psychic damage can't do that- objects are pretty much universally immune to psychic damage. In addition to it being explicitly noise.
Find your own truth, choose your enemies carefully, and never deal with a dragon.
"Canon" is what's factual to D&D lore. "Cannon" is what you're going to be shot with if you keep getting the word wrong.
It helps to realize that damage types are just a set of imperfect groups that struggle to categorize literally any kind of damage you can think of into fewer than 15 types. The spells come first, and then their damage type is determined by the best fit.
The best descriptor for morale damage is psychic.
The best descriptor for when the telepath overloads their abilities and gets a nosebleed is psychic.
The best descriptor for mind-shattering fear that erodes your very sanity is psychic.
They're all very different things, but what they have in common is that they are definitely not fire, piercing, acid, bludgeoning, etc.
Several damage types are like this. For example, the radiant damage of Sickening Radiance is very different than that of Sacred Flame. The poison of Infestation is different than that of Ray of Sickness, and so on.
My homebrew subclasses (full list here)
(Artificer) Swordmage | Glasswright | (Barbarian) Path of the Savage Embrace
(Bard) College of Dance | (Fighter) Warlord | Cannoneer
(Monk) Way of the Elements | (Ranger) Blade Dancer
(Rogue) DaggerMaster | Inquisitor | (Sorcerer) Riftwalker | Spellfist
(Warlock) The Swarm
I think it causes mental stress and insanity, kinda like brain damage, but also headaches. This is basically insanity. A house rule I have is that too much psychic damage, makes rolls at a disadvantage, or do the opposite of what was intended.
So is Black Canary's cry Thunder Damage? even though it is thematically high pitched sound?
"Sooner or later, your Players are going to smash your railroad into a sandbox."
-Vedexent
"real life is a super high CR."
-OboeLauren
"............anybody got any potatoes? We could drop a potato in each hole an' see which ones get viciously mauled by horrible monsters?"
-Ilyara Thundertale
Yes, because what's "Thunder" in this edition was "Sonic" in 3.5.
I usually describe it as energy that attacks the nervous system directly (nerves, spinal chord, brain - or their equivalents in abberations, etc.).
Playing D&D since 1982
Have played every version of the game since Basic (Red Box Set), except that abomination sometimes called 4e.
Then what does it attack in plants, oozes, elementals, or undead?
Find your own truth, choose your enemies carefully, and never deal with a dragon.
"Canon" is what's factual to D&D lore. "Cannon" is what you're going to be shot with if you keep getting the word wrong.
I think anything with an Intelligence can be affected by psychic. Unless it has specific immunity to psychic damage. Monsters have an INT of at least one.
TO DEFEND: THIS IS THE PACT.
BUT WHEN LIFE LOSES ITS VALUE,
AND IS TAKEN FOR NAUGHT-
THEN THE PACT IS, TO AVENGE.
Yes, I was replying to the post above mine who was describing it as an attack on the target's nervous system and pointing out there were a large amount of monsters that don't have nervous systems but are not immune to psychic damage.
Find your own truth, choose your enemies carefully, and never deal with a dragon.
"Canon" is what's factual to D&D lore. "Cannon" is what you're going to be shot with if you keep getting the word wrong.
Creatures that can move and attack with intent should have some semblance of a psyche. That should give you a target for psychic damage. I would agree with you on that if you were talking about Green Slime or Yellow Mold since they are in the system as hazards and not monsters.
TO DEFEND: THIS IS THE PACT.
BUT WHEN LIFE LOSES ITS VALUE,
AND IS TAKEN FOR NAUGHT-
THEN THE PACT IS, TO AVENGE.
hit points are an abstraction to bodily integrity, but also morale and the will to go on. Psychic damage falls into different categories depending on the source. Vicious Mockery is an attack against the morale, thus the damage implies the mental fortitude of the opponent to fight on. High psychic damage from a spell, could be akin to a mental breakdown, ptsd or other psychological trauma that just renders its victim unable to continue to fight or even live on. For a creature with lesser intelligence, this could be just emotional damage, like extreme fear causing a heart attack, or in the case of a slime, failing to hold its body together due to being stressed out to no end.
No, I'm pointing out that psychic damage can't be an attack on the target's nervous system because creatures that lack nervous systems aren't automatically immune to it.
Find your own truth, choose your enemies carefully, and never deal with a dragon.
"Canon" is what's factual to D&D lore. "Cannon" is what you're going to be shot with if you keep getting the word wrong.
Apparently you missed the part where I said, "or their equivalents in abberations, etc." Plants would be in the "etc." Any creature that can sense pain or physical damage has a sensory system whether you want to call them nerves or something else. I explain psychic damage as attacking that sensory system.
You can explain it any way you wish in your games.
Playing D&D since 1982
Have played every version of the game since Basic (Red Box Set), except that abomination sometimes called 4e.