So.. assume you have a level 1 monk -level 10 moon druid who wild shapes into a fire elemental...
Could you use Martial Arts (1d4 +str/dex) to do physical bludgeoning damage as opposed to fire damage??? I know martial arts are viable.. but the PHYSICAL Bludgeoning is what i am questioning
The reason I would argue otherwise, is that Fire Elemetnal can be damaged by physical attacks, the same way that a Wind Elemental could be damaged, meaning there is some physical mass there. If I can be damaged by a physical attack, I would argue I could also do a physical attack as well (unarmed strike). But again, I can see your point about being a moving bonfire... albeit one with a semi-physical body that can move in through small cracks and holes.
I believe the RAW is that the martial arts attacks would be bludgeoning damage. There is nothing in the stat card of the fire elemental that says it turns attacks into fire damage. Only that it's natural attack deals fire damage.
That being said I'd imagine many DMs would rule that your martial arts attacks deal fire damage as it's the logical damage type.
I personally would want fire damage just from a flavor/realism perspective but sticking to the RAW bludgeoning seems stronger mechanically since its resisted so infrequently when its magical. Either way you're leaning it should be a simple, harmless discussion since nothing about it is overpowered
My train of thought for it is that we tend to fight a lot Fire-based opponents (fiends, fire cultist, etc). and the resistance to fire for them (and immunity to fire myself) would be an ideal scenario. But yes, it doesn't seem like a difficult conversation to bring up.
If it does end up going down the road of fire damage, the next conversation I would be looking to have is homebrewing a version of Elemental Adept to work on your unarmed strikes instead of your spells. More likely to get shot down, but honestly harmless. The key is to have it only effect your unarmed strikes and not effect your spell fire damage. If I was your DM in a campaign with a bunch of fire resistant enemies I would happily let you pick that up at level 12 once you've been transforming into a fire elemental for multiple levels and dedicating time to learning the form. You'll still get shut down by immunities, but you'll have a much better time at those levels just feeling effective.
So.. assume you have a level 1 monk -level 10 moon druid who wild shapes into a fire elemental...
Could you use Martial Arts (1d4 +str/dex) to do physical bludgeoning damage as opposed to fire damage??? I know martial arts are viable.. but the PHYSICAL Bludgeoning is what i am questioning
I would say no since you’re basically a walking bonfire. Nothing bludgeoning about that. But that’s up to your DM.
EZD6 by DM Scotty
https://www.drivethrurpg.com/en/product/397599/EZD6-Core-Rulebook?
Sorry, Didn't see your response for some reason.
The reason I would argue otherwise, is that Fire Elemetnal can be damaged by physical attacks, the same way that a Wind Elemental could be damaged, meaning there is some physical mass there. If I can be damaged by a physical attack, I would argue I could also do a physical attack as well (unarmed strike). But again, I can see your point about being a moving bonfire... albeit one with a semi-physical body that can move in through small cracks and holes.
I believe the RAW is that the martial arts attacks would be bludgeoning damage. There is nothing in the stat card of the fire elemental that says it turns attacks into fire damage. Only that it's natural attack deals fire damage.
That being said I'd imagine many DMs would rule that your martial arts attacks deal fire damage as it's the logical damage type.
Yeah, I think it will be a DM ruling.. just wanted to gauge how other people thought of it before going into discussion with him.
I personally would want fire damage just from a flavor/realism perspective but sticking to the RAW bludgeoning seems stronger mechanically since its resisted so infrequently when its magical. Either way you're leaning it should be a simple, harmless discussion since nothing about it is overpowered
My train of thought for it is that we tend to fight a lot Fire-based opponents (fiends, fire cultist, etc). and the resistance to fire for them (and immunity to fire myself) would be an ideal scenario. But yes, it doesn't seem like a difficult conversation to bring up.
If it does end up going down the road of fire damage, the next conversation I would be looking to have is homebrewing a version of Elemental Adept to work on your unarmed strikes instead of your spells. More likely to get shot down, but honestly harmless. The key is to have it only effect your unarmed strikes and not effect your spell fire damage. If I was your DM in a campaign with a bunch of fire resistant enemies I would happily let you pick that up at level 12 once you've been transforming into a fire elemental for multiple levels and dedicating time to learning the form. You'll still get shut down by immunities, but you'll have a much better time at those levels just feeling effective.
hmm.. that's an interesting approach.. I may actually approach that with my DM. thanks!