My warlock recently got ahold of the spell "Shadow Blade" which deals psychic damage on a successful hit. I'm just wondering what the Forums' thoughts are on how they've used this damage type in their games, and if there was any difference in how it was handled. My PC has killed monsters and NPCs with psychic damage and the DM has allowed me to add my own flavor to describe the scene, but I'm curious to hear others chime in on this peculiar form of damage.
Does it manifest itself physically, does it leave a mark?
What does it look like when something dies due to psychic damage? And how does this happen?
Is there any difference in the way someone needs to recover from this damage type? Are there any side effects to being damaged repeatedly by psychic damage? Or being rendered unconscious by psychic damage?
For some spells that deal psychic damage, like Phantasmal Killer, the text makes it clear what is happening to the target's psyche, ie "their worst fears are made manifest". I don't think Shadow Blade has any such parameters. Does anyone have any specific thoughts on what exactly might be happening within the target's mind when this spell causes psychic damage?
Those are just a few questions but I welcome any and all thoughts about this topic!
Oh there's all sorts of ways this could manifest, from simple to grotesque, as to healing from it, again it could take on many forms. The caveat here is that damage, as you are talking, is RP flavor since on paper it's purely a mechanical thing.
The most common thing I do is have the creature just stop moving, turning glassy eyed, and then collapse as their synapses stopped firing and the brain no longer sent messages to the body. I've also had a creature bleed from their eyes, ears, and nose as the psychic damage was so profound it caused a hemorrhage leading to immediate death. There was one creature which died from a heart attack as it was laughing so much and so strongly the heart simply gave out.
Recovering from it is usually a healing spell and they're on their way. However, as you brought this up I had an interesting thought of taking major trauma, like the kind that made you dead, and turning it into a psychotic episode that could even be permanent. From needing to have time to recover from PTSD to one of many phobias or even so far as to create a permanent psychosis in the form of schizophrenia to sociopathy.
Its really up to you. As mentioned, all of this is flavour, mechanically, psychic damage is just another damage type with the same impact on a creature and the same interaction with resistance, immunities and vulnerabilities as any other type.
In terms of flavour, the psychic damage could presumably be either physical or spiritual.
Physically, psychic damage might manifest as direct damage to neurons in the body and brain. Perhaps causing pain or interfering with the transmission of neural signals impeding function and eventually causing some sort of failure especially if the system is already weakened by other physical damage.
However, you could also imagine psychic damage as spiritual, draining energy from the "soul" or "spirit" or "mind" of the character. Weakening them and combining with any physical damage to eventually overcome the character.
Thanks for the replies. I'm on the same page as far as describing it - I've described it as the victim losing the color in their eyes and collapsing in a heap, as if the psychic damage snuffed the life out of them, fatally traumatizing them on a neurological level.
I understand how the damage works mechanically but I'm curious if anyone has gone a step further when dealing with psychic damage, like DMThac0 mentioned:
However, as you brought this up I had an interesting thought of taking major trauma, like the kind that made you dead, and turning it into a psychotic episode that could even be permanent. From needing to have time to recover from PTSD to one of many phobias or even so far as to create a permanent psychosis in the form of schizophrenia to sociopathy.
I've gotta a pretty grim backstory for my Warlock (ugh - I will spare you) but it involved being brainwashed by a cult. Psychic damage never occurred to me when I wrote his past, but now that I've gained this ability its made me wonder if perhaps being exposed to psychic damage/trauma makes a lot of sense for his early days.
As a DM, would you ever allow exposure to psychic damage to make you more susceptible to mind effecting/altering spells? I know we are far outside RAW, I'm just curious to hear thoughts for and against this idea.
It depends on the players and setting, something like this can really twist the effectiveness of a character if done carelessly.
Creating a flaw in a character where they are susceptible to psychic attacks sounds like a rather interesting RP challenge. When a person charms you, rather than being more responsive to persuasion it would be based on intimidation instead. Have Friends wear off and you go into a violent rage that is only matched by that of a frenzied barbarian (with the point of exhaustion to boot). Command, Suggestion and Dominate would trigger stronger responses, up to potentially a catatonic state based on the level of the spell after it wears off.
I'd avoid any strong mechanical effects based on this, a dis/advantage type mechanic is cool once in a while, but it could cause some strange repercussions in the long run. Giving them an extra d4 damage from psychic attacks would be neat, but detrimental at early levels. Messing with saving throws and DCs would require book work, and potentially give away what you're doing as a DM if you have to announce psychic attacks/effects because of their flaw.
In the end, I think it would be fun to play around with at my table, but it's something you, your player/DM, and possibly the rest of the table (depending on severity), should all be on board with before implementing something like this.
My warlock recently got ahold of the spell "Shadow Blade" which deals psychic damage on a successful hit. I'm just wondering what the Forums' thoughts are on how they've used this damage type in their games, and if there was any difference in how it was handled. My PC has killed monsters and NPCs with psychic damage and the DM has allowed me to add my own flavor to describe the scene, but I'm curious to hear others chime in on this peculiar form of damage.
Does it manifest itself physically, does it leave a mark?
What does it look like when something dies due to psychic damage? And how does this happen?
Is there any difference in the way someone needs to recover from this damage type? Are there any side effects to being damaged repeatedly by psychic damage? Or being rendered unconscious by psychic damage?
For some spells that deal psychic damage, like Phantasmal Killer, the text makes it clear what is happening to the target's psyche, ie "their worst fears are made manifest". I don't think Shadow Blade has any such parameters. Does anyone have any specific thoughts on what exactly might be happening within the target's mind when this spell causes psychic damage?
Those are just a few questions but I welcome any and all thoughts about this topic!
Oh there's all sorts of ways this could manifest, from simple to grotesque, as to healing from it, again it could take on many forms. The caveat here is that damage, as you are talking, is RP flavor since on paper it's purely a mechanical thing.
The most common thing I do is have the creature just stop moving, turning glassy eyed, and then collapse as their synapses stopped firing and the brain no longer sent messages to the body. I've also had a creature bleed from their eyes, ears, and nose as the psychic damage was so profound it caused a hemorrhage leading to immediate death. There was one creature which died from a heart attack as it was laughing so much and so strongly the heart simply gave out.
Recovering from it is usually a healing spell and they're on their way. However, as you brought this up I had an interesting thought of taking major trauma, like the kind that made you dead, and turning it into a psychotic episode that could even be permanent. From needing to have time to recover from PTSD to one of many phobias or even so far as to create a permanent psychosis in the form of schizophrenia to sociopathy.
Its really up to you. As mentioned, all of this is flavour, mechanically, psychic damage is just another damage type with the same impact on a creature and the same interaction with resistance, immunities and vulnerabilities as any other type.
In terms of flavour, the psychic damage could presumably be either physical or spiritual.
Physically, psychic damage might manifest as direct damage to neurons in the body and brain. Perhaps causing pain or interfering with the transmission of neural signals impeding function and eventually causing some sort of failure especially if the system is already weakened by other physical damage.
However, you could also imagine psychic damage as spiritual, draining energy from the "soul" or "spirit" or "mind" of the character. Weakening them and combining with any physical damage to eventually overcome the character.
Up to you how you spin it :)
Thanks for the replies. I'm on the same page as far as describing it - I've described it as the victim losing the color in their eyes and collapsing in a heap, as if the psychic damage snuffed the life out of them, fatally traumatizing them on a neurological level.
I understand how the damage works mechanically but I'm curious if anyone has gone a step further when dealing with psychic damage, like DMThac0 mentioned:
I've gotta a pretty grim backstory for my Warlock (ugh - I will spare you) but it involved being brainwashed by a cult. Psychic damage never occurred to me when I wrote his past, but now that I've gained this ability its made me wonder if perhaps being exposed to psychic damage/trauma makes a lot of sense for his early days.
As a DM, would you ever allow exposure to psychic damage to make you more susceptible to mind effecting/altering spells? I know we are far outside RAW, I'm just curious to hear thoughts for and against this idea.
It depends on the players and setting, something like this can really twist the effectiveness of a character if done carelessly.
Creating a flaw in a character where they are susceptible to psychic attacks sounds like a rather interesting RP challenge. When a person charms you, rather than being more responsive to persuasion it would be based on intimidation instead. Have Friends wear off and you go into a violent rage that is only matched by that of a frenzied barbarian (with the point of exhaustion to boot). Command, Suggestion and Dominate would trigger stronger responses, up to potentially a catatonic state based on the level of the spell after it wears off.
I'd avoid any strong mechanical effects based on this, a dis/advantage type mechanic is cool once in a while, but it could cause some strange repercussions in the long run. Giving them an extra d4 damage from psychic attacks would be neat, but detrimental at early levels. Messing with saving throws and DCs would require book work, and potentially give away what you're doing as a DM if you have to announce psychic attacks/effects because of their flaw.
In the end, I think it would be fun to play around with at my table, but it's something you, your player/DM, and possibly the rest of the table (depending on severity), should all be on board with before implementing something like this.