Does anyone know offhand, the rarity of damage types? I'm assuming that bludgeoning, piercing, and slashing are the most common. With fire, lightning, and cold coming in second. I'm betting psychic and force are the rarest.
But it would be great for a breakdown, from most commom to least common if anyone knows.
These are the spells that do a particular damage type, it's probably not all inclusive but should give you an idea of rarity. If you add weaponspecific damage it will probably alter the list.
As far as damage/resistance/immunity goes for monsters, there is a great forum post here from Giant in the Playground. It's older, so it doesn't include newer monsters, but still a great reference, nonetheless.
I was playing in a campaign where we were starting to get into the mid-level range (which means much tougher monsters), and I wanted to find some armor that gave me some elemental resistance. Having a kind DM, I found some pretty quickly after talking to him about it which was very nice. On the other hand, he was a bit of a wise guy so he made it have thunder resistance. It was that day that I found out how many (or how FEW in this case) monsters do thunder damage. I was a little upset.
I'm going to discuss this topic from the perspective of what kinds of damage the enemies use. PCs can cover pretty much every damage type in the game, depending on character concept.
Fire, poison and necrotic damage are the most common type of damage after the standard slashing/piercing/bashing coming from antagonists. I checked but couldn't find any bias between bashing/slashing/piercing among all monsters. Cold is probably the next major damage type you'll experience after those six, but that's already a bit on the uncommon side. Acid and lightning are a bit less common than cold, but not by much.
Psionic damage is rare to an extent - you tend to find it coming from abominations like mind flayers or aboliths, so if your campaign has them, expect it. If the campaign doesn't have it, then its very unlikely you'll encounter the damage type. Considering that mind flayers are a major antagonist of D&D, it kind of skews the perception of psionic damage towards being more common than it is.
Force might show up if you have mage antagonists - magic missiles and eldritch blasts are standard spells even for enemies. But don't expect much, since enemy casters are just as likely to fling around fireballs. Thunder is likewise an unlikely energy type to suffer - there's the occasional spell used by certain types of enemies, but they'll likely default to other options.
Radiant damage is probably the least likely to make a showing from monsters in your game, in my experience. While quite common for PCs to use, especially the cleric, most enemies will use necrotic. You're more likely to suffer radiant damage from friendly fire than you are from actual enemies.
I'm going to discuss this topic from the perspective of what kinds of damage the enemies use. PCs can cover pretty much every damage type in the game, depending on character concept.
Fire, poison and necrotic damage are the most common type of damage after the standard slashing/piercing/bashing coming from antagonists. I checked but couldn't find any bias between bashing/slashing/piercing among all monsters. Cold is probably the next major damage type you'll experience after those six, but that's already a bit on the uncommon side. Acid and lightning are a bit less common than cold, but not by much.
Psionic damage is rare to an extent - you tend to find it coming from abominations like mind flayers or aboliths, so if your campaign has them, expect it. If the campaign doesn't have it, then its very unlikely you'll encounter the damage type. Considering that mind flayers are a major antagonist of D&D, it kind of skews the perception of psionic damage towards being more common than it is.
Force might show up if you have mage antagonists - magic missiles and eldritch blasts are standard spells even for enemies. But don't expect much, since enemy casters are just as likely to fling around fireballs. Thunder is likewise an unlikely energy type to suffer - there's the occasional spell used by certain types of enemies, but they'll likely default to other options.
Radiant damage is probably the least likely to make a showing from monsters in your game, in my experience. While quite common for PCs to use, especially the cleric, most enemies will use necrotic. You're more likely to suffer radiant damage from friendly fire than you are from actual enemies.
Thanks a million. This is the kind of breakdown I was looking for. Thanks again.
I checked but couldn't find any bias between bashing/slashing/piercing among all monsters.
Only differences I know of are that Skeletons have vulnerability to bludgeoning damage, and both Black Pudding and Ochre Jelly are immune to slashing. In fact, when they do take slashing damage, not only are they immune to it, but it causes them to split(lightning damage does too). Looks like there's also some tree-based creatures that resist bludgeoning and piercing, but not slashing. If you've got the content purchased here, you can use the advanced filters on the monster search and filter by resistance/immunity, to see what comes up.
I don't have any content purchased here. I have all the books though, in dead tree version. I prefer the physical to the digital. Guess I'm just old. Or old fashioned. LOL!
I checked but couldn't find any bias between bashing/slashing/piercing among all monsters.
Only differences I know of are that Skeletons have vulnerability to bludgeoning damage, and both Black Pudding and Ochre Jelly are immune to slashing. In fact, when they do take slashing damage, not only are they immune to it, but it causes them to split(lightning damage does too). Looks like there's also some tree-based creatures that resist bludgeoning and piercing, but not slashing. If you've got the content purchased here, you can use the advanced filters on the monster search and filter by resistance/immunity, to see what comes up.
Well, my entire post is based on the type of damage enemies deal, not what the party should use. You can't quite search for that on the data base.
I checked but couldn't find any bias between bashing/slashing/piercing among all monsters.
Only differences I know of are that Skeletons have vulnerability to bludgeoning damage, and both Black Pudding and Ochre Jelly are immune to slashing. In fact, when they do take slashing damage, not only are they immune to it, but it causes them to split(lightning damage does too). Looks like there's also some tree-based creatures that resist bludgeoning and piercing, but not slashing. If you've got the content purchased here, you can use the advanced filters on the monster search and filter by resistance/immunity, to see what comes up.
Well, my entire post is based on the type of damage enemies deal, not what the party should use. You can't quite search for that on the data base.
Exactly. That's what I was needing anyway. I had created an artifact that was going to give vulnerability to a damage type to whoever wields it. But I was wanting it to be rare.
Ultimately, though, picking an elemental resistance based on rarity is a non-starter because the GM essentially decides how rare any particular damage type is for you to encounter. Yeah, more monsters might pack Fire than any other (dunno if they do, just picking one), but if all you run into are cold blasters, that Fire Resistant armor isn't gonna pay for itself.
Ultimately, though, picking an elemental resistance based on rarity is a non-starter because the GM essentially decides how rare any particular damage type is for you to encounter. Yeah, more monsters might pack Fire than any other (dunno if they do, just picking one), but if all you run into are cold blasters, that Fire Resistant armor isn't gonna pay for itself.
I agree, but I've rarely met a monster that doesn't do slashing damage. To be honest, though, I agree with Foxfire: it really depends on what your DM has in mind.
I don't know this for sure, but I would guess the most common type of damage is slashing.
If that helps you.
Sonic damage is very rare. My DM for a current campaign said, word for word, "Sonic damage is underrated."
The rarest might be sonic.
You're actually right; sonic damage is very rare, because it doesn't exist :p The damage type was renamed to thunder in (I think) 4e, and 5e maintained the naming.
Rakhashas are vulnerable to "piercing damage dealt by good creatures" which seems strange to me. Idk if this is out of place on this thread, but is it based on alignment alone or would a CN Fighter that does mostly good things apply too?
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“Basically, if you tell anyone, we’ll kill you. We’re pretty good at that sort of stuff”-Salros Viper, Whispers Bard, paid assassin
Rakhashas are vulnerable to "piercing damage dealt by good creatures" which seems strange to me. Idk if this is out of place on this thread, but is it based on alignment alone or would a CN Fighter that does mostly good things apply too?
Officially it's meant to be creatures with a Good alignment. It's not just about someone who does good things, but is actually Good. :) Think of it kinda like fairy tales where only someone who is "pure of heart" can slay the evil monster.
I don't have any content purchased here. I have all the books though, in dead tree version. I prefer the physical to the digital. Guess I'm just old. Or old fashioned. LOL!
I don't have any content purchased here. I have all the books though, in dead tree version. I prefer the physical to the digital. Guess I'm just old. Or old fashioned. LOL!
Finally someone who gets me.
I forgot to buy everything from here, so now I'm stuck with the physical version.
Rakhashas are vulnerable to "piercing damage dealt by good creatures" which seems strange to me. Idk if this is out of place on this thread, but is it based on alignment alone or would a CN Fighter that does mostly good things apply too?
Officially it's meant to be creatures with a Good alignment. It's not just about someone who does good things, but is actually Good. :) Think of it kinda like fairy tales where only someone who is "pure of heart" can slay the evil monster.
In 1e, rakashas could only be killed by a crossbow bolt blessed by a cleric, iirc (Maybe that just 1-shot them or something, the memory is a bit hazy) Seems like this is a way to update that an still keep the flavor.
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Does anyone know offhand, the rarity of damage types? I'm assuming that bludgeoning, piercing, and slashing are the most common. With fire, lightning, and cold coming in second. I'm betting psychic and force are the rarest.
But it would be great for a breakdown, from most commom to least common if anyone knows.
Dungeonmastering since 1992!
These are the spells that do a particular damage type, it's probably not all inclusive but should give you an idea of rarity. If you add weapon specific damage it will probably alter the list.
Fire - 31
Bludgeoning - 20
Cold - 20
Lightning - 15
Radiant - 12
Acid - 11
Piercing - 11
Thunder - 11
Necrotic - 10
Force - 8
Psychic - 7
Poison - 6
Slashing - 2
As far as damage/resistance/immunity goes for monsters, there is a great forum post here from Giant in the Playground. It's older, so it doesn't include newer monsters, but still a great reference, nonetheless.
I was playing in a campaign where we were starting to get into the mid-level range (which means much tougher monsters), and I wanted to find some armor that gave me some elemental resistance. Having a kind DM, I found some pretty quickly after talking to him about it which was very nice. On the other hand, he was a bit of a wise guy so he made it have thunder resistance. It was that day that I found out how many (or how FEW in this case) monsters do thunder damage. I was a little upset.
I'm going to discuss this topic from the perspective of what kinds of damage the enemies use. PCs can cover pretty much every damage type in the game, depending on character concept.
Fire, poison and necrotic damage are the most common type of damage after the standard slashing/piercing/bashing coming from antagonists. I checked but couldn't find any bias between bashing/slashing/piercing among all monsters. Cold is probably the next major damage type you'll experience after those six, but that's already a bit on the uncommon side. Acid and lightning are a bit less common than cold, but not by much.
Psionic damage is rare to an extent - you tend to find it coming from abominations like mind flayers or aboliths, so if your campaign has them, expect it. If the campaign doesn't have it, then its very unlikely you'll encounter the damage type. Considering that mind flayers are a major antagonist of D&D, it kind of skews the perception of psionic damage towards being more common than it is.
Force might show up if you have mage antagonists - magic missiles and eldritch blasts are standard spells even for enemies. But don't expect much, since enemy casters are just as likely to fling around fireballs. Thunder is likewise an unlikely energy type to suffer - there's the occasional spell used by certain types of enemies, but they'll likely default to other options.
Radiant damage is probably the least likely to make a showing from monsters in your game, in my experience. While quite common for PCs to use, especially the cleric, most enemies will use necrotic. You're more likely to suffer radiant damage from friendly fire than you are from actual enemies.
Thanks a million. This is the kind of breakdown I was looking for. Thanks again.
Dungeonmastering since 1992!
Only differences I know of are that Skeletons have vulnerability to bludgeoning damage, and both Black Pudding and Ochre Jelly are immune to slashing. In fact, when they do take slashing damage, not only are they immune to it, but it causes them to split(lightning damage does too). Looks like there's also some tree-based creatures that resist bludgeoning and piercing, but not slashing. If you've got the content purchased here, you can use the advanced filters on the monster search and filter by resistance/immunity, to see what comes up.
I don't have any content purchased here. I have all the books though, in dead tree version. I prefer the physical to the digital. Guess I'm just old. Or old fashioned. LOL!
Dungeonmastering since 1992!
Well, my entire post is based on the type of damage enemies deal, not what the party should use. You can't quite search for that on the data base.
Exactly. That's what I was needing anyway. I had created an artifact that was going to give vulnerability to a damage type to whoever wields it. But I was wanting it to be rare.
Dungeonmastering since 1992!
I don't know this for sure, but I would guess the most common type of damage is slashing.
If that helps you.
Sonic damage is very rare. My DM for a current campaign said, word for word, "Sonic damage is underrated."
The rarest might be sonic.
Silver Mist
Ultimately, though, picking an elemental resistance based on rarity is a non-starter because the GM essentially decides how rare any particular damage type is for you to encounter. Yeah, more monsters might pack Fire than any other (dunno if they do, just picking one), but if all you run into are cold blasters, that Fire Resistant armor isn't gonna pay for itself.
I agree, but I've rarely met a monster that doesn't do slashing damage. To be honest, though, I agree with Foxfire: it really depends on what your DM has in mind.
Silver Mist
You're actually right; sonic damage is very rare, because it doesn't exist :p The damage type was renamed to thunder in (I think) 4e, and 5e maintained the naming.
Rakhashas are vulnerable to "piercing damage dealt by good creatures" which seems strange to me. Idk if this is out of place on this thread, but is it based on alignment alone or would a CN Fighter that does mostly good things apply too?
“Basically, if you tell anyone, we’ll kill you. We’re pretty good at that sort of stuff”-Salros Viper, Whispers Bard, paid assassin
Officially it's meant to be creatures with a Good alignment. It's not just about someone who does good things, but is actually Good. :) Think of it kinda like fairy tales where only someone who is "pure of heart" can slay the evil monster.
Finally someone who gets me.
I forgot to buy everything from here, so now I'm stuck with the physical version.
In 1e, rakashas could only be killed by a crossbow bolt blessed by a cleric, iirc (Maybe that just 1-shot them or something, the memory is a bit hazy) Seems like this is a way to update that an still keep the flavor.