I believe it would based on the wording. I would argue it on the basis of the wording: "Your unarmed strikes count as magical for the purpose of overcoming resistance and immunity." There is no limit that it is only to non-magical resistances.
So if a magical attack would overcome the resistance it counts as magical. Rage = resistance to bludgeoning. Therefore the attack would count as magic to overcome the resistance offered by Rage.
The Bear totem would not be negated: "While raging, you have resistance to all damage except psychic damage. " If you count the damage as Bludgeoning or Magic it doesn't matter as neither would overcome the resistance. So it would fail and be reduced.
I believe it would based on the wording. I would argue it on the basis of the wording: "Your unarmed strikes count as magical for the purpose of overcoming resistance and immunity." There is no limit that it is only to non-magical resistances.
So if a magical attack would overcome the resistance it counts as magical. Rage = resistance to bludgeoning. Therefore the attack would count as magic to overcome the resistance offered by Rage.
The Bear totem would not be negated: "While raging, you have resistance to all damage except psychic damage. " If you count the damage as Bludgeoning or Magic it doesn't matter as neither would overcome the resistance. So it would fail and be reduced.
How are you concluding that magical bludgeoning damage (or rather, bludgeoning damage from a magical source) overcomes Barbarian rage resistance? Rage says the Barbarian has resistance to bludgeoning, piercing, and slashing damage. Period. Not "from non-magical weapons". Yes, the monk's attack counts as magic. No, it does not overcome the resistance, any more than a magical longsword would.
I believe it would based on the wording. I would argue it on the basis of the wording: "Your unarmed strikes count as magical for the purpose of overcoming resistance and immunity." There is no limit that it is only to non-magical resistances.
So if a magical attack would overcome the resistance it counts as magical. Rage = resistance to bludgeoning. Therefore the attack would count as magic to overcome the resistance offered by Rage.
The Bear totem would not be negated: "While raging, you have resistance to all damage except psychic damage. " If you count the damage as Bludgeoning or Magic it doesn't matter as neither would overcome the resistance. So it would fail and be reduced.
When a damage resistance can be negated by magical weapons or attacks, the resistance description specifically says so. See any creature with such resistances (air elemental for example). The barbarian rage feature does not say the resistance is to non-magical attacks only, so magical weapons don't override.
Normal Rage: Resistance to Bludgeoning, Piercing, and Slashing (no exception for magical attacks)
Bear Totem: Resistance to all damage except Psychic (no exception for magical attacks)
The Bear totem builds on the normal Rage resistances, but neither provide an exception for magical attacks, so it doesn't matter if the attack is magical or not, the resistance applies.
I believe it would based on the wording. I would argue it on the basis of the wording: "Your unarmed strikes count as magical for the purpose of overcoming resistance and immunity." There is no limit that it is only to non-magical resistances.
So if a magical attack would overcome the resistance it counts as magical. Rage = resistance to bludgeoning. Therefore the attack would count as magic to overcome the resistance offered by Rage.
The Bear totem would not be negated: "While raging, you have resistance to all damage except psychic damage. " If you count the damage as Bludgeoning or Magic it doesn't matter as neither would overcome the resistance. So it would fail and be reduced.
The default Rage resistance is to bludgeoning, piercing and slashing damage, with no qualifiers or limiters. Therefore, whether the damage is magical makes no difference, the Barbarian still takes half damage when Raging. When resistance is not meant to include magical attacks, it says so. For example, look at the Heavy Armor Master Feat. It says:
While you are wearing heavy armor, bludgeoning, piercing, and slashing damage that you take from nonmagical weapons is reduced by 3.
I believe it would based on the wording. I would argue it on the basis of the wording: "Your unarmed strikes count as magical for the purpose of overcoming resistance and immunity." There is no limit that it is only to non-magical resistances.
So if a magical attack would overcome the resistance it counts as magical. Rage = resistance to bludgeoning. Therefore the attack would count as magic to overcome the resistance offered by Rage.
Everything you said is valid right up until this sentence. Magical attacks don't overcome the barbarian resistance to bludgeoning damage. So yes, the monk's unarmed attacks count as magical for overcoming resistances, but that doesn't matter to the barbarian because they don't resist all bludgeoning damage, except for magical bludgeoning, they resist all bludgeoning damage full stop.
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Canto alla vita alla sua bellezza ad ogni sua ferita ogni sua carezza!
I sing to life and to its tragic beauty To pain and to strife, but all that dances through me The rise and the fall, I've lived through it all!
Ok, but what about an ascendant dragon monk who at third level gets draconic strike. This ability allows monks to change the damage type of unarmed strikes to their choice of acid, cold, fire, lightning, or poison. Note, this isn’t adding an effect to the damage of the unarmed strike. It specifically says it changes the damage type. Just thought I would bring this up since I just watched the third critical role battle royale and saw how Grog just resisted everything thrown at him, allowing him to survive so long in the battle.
Ok, but what about an ascendant dragon monk who at third level gets draconic strike. This ability allows monks to change the damage type of unarmed strikes to their choice of acid, cold, fire, lightning, or poison. Note, this isn’t adding an effect to the damage of the unarmed strike. It specifically says it changes the damage type. Just thought I would bring this up since I just watched the third critical role battle royale and saw how Grog just resisted everything thrown at him, allowing him to survive so long in the battle.
Well, an ascended dragon monk can't change its damage to psychic, so it can't change its damage to type not resisted by raging bear totem barbarians. Which you seem to already know because if the Grog example...
What part of this 2 year old dead thread are you even replying to that you decided to necro for a (seemingly) rhetorical question?
Ok, but what about an ascendant dragon monk who at third level gets draconic strike. This ability allows monks to change the damage type of unarmed strikes to their choice of acid, cold, fire, lightning, or poison. Note, this isn’t adding an effect to the damage of the unarmed strike. It specifically says it changes the damage type. Just thought I would bring this up since I just watched the third critical role battle royale and saw how Grog just resisted everything thrown at him, allowing him to survive so long in the battle.
In that case, changing the unarmed strike to use one of the dragon damage types would get past normal rage resistance, which is only to bludgeoning/piercing/slashing. But it would not get you past a Bear Totem barbarian's resistance to all damage types (except Psychic) when raging.
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Helpful rewriter of Japanese->English translation and delver into software codebases (she/e/they)
I can see the argument going either way, to be honest. The Monk's ability specifically states to overcome resistances, not any specific resistances, but resistances and immunities, blanket statement. The Barbarian has resistance. The feature is specifically stated to overcome that.
A similar argument could be made for a Cleric ability:
Inescapable Destruction
Starting at 6th level, the cleric’s ability to channel negative energy becomes more potent. Necrotic damage dealt by the character’s cleric spells and Channel Divinity options ignores resistance to necrotic damage.
So if the Monk can't overcome the resistance, neither could the Cleric, by definition (Bear Totem here) While this example does need to be Bear Totem for the Necrotic to apply, the mechanic is the same for the others. I'd have it overcome the resistance, based on the wording. Also it's a niche enough situation to not be unbalanced.
.
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What are you talking about? The Monk has no "blanket statement" to overcome resistances whatsoever. As mentioned above, the wording for the Monk looks like this:
"Starting at 6th level, your unarmed strikes count as magical for the purpose of overcoming resistance and immunity to nonmagical attacks and damage"
The Bear Totem has resistance to magical and non-magical damage of all types except for psychic. So, it clearly resists a Monk's unarmed strike.
The Death Cleric's ability that you quoted is worded totally differently. In that case the Cleric does Necrotic damage that ignores resistance to necrotic damage.
I can see the argument going either way, to be honest. The Monk's ability specifically states to overcome resistances, not any specific resistances, but resistances and immunities, blanket statement. The Barbarian has resistance. The feature is specifically stated to overcome that.
A similar argument could be made for a Cleric ability:
Inescapable Destruction
Starting at 6th level, the cleric’s ability to channel negative energy becomes more potent. Necrotic damage dealt by the character’s cleric spells and Channel Divinity options ignores resistance to necrotic damage.
So if the Monk can't overcome the resistance, neither could the Cleric, by definition (Bear Totem here) While this example does need to be Bear Totem for the Necrotic to apply, the mechanic is the same for the others. I'd have it overcome the resistance, based on the wording. Also it's a niche enough situation to not be unbalanced.
.
This is utterly wrong. The Monk's Level 6 ability is very specific. Unarmed strikes by default do non-magical damage, no matter who's doing the striking. Usually it's bludgeoning damage, unless you're something like a Tabaxi that can do slashing damage with unarmed strikes. The Monk's ability simply says that the Monk's unarmed strikes count as magical "for the purpose of overcoming resistance and immunity to nonmagical attacks and damage. What it does NOT say is that a Monk's unarmed strikes ignore all damage resistance and immunity. So let's say the Monk punches a Wight. The Wight's damage resistances include "Bludgeoning, Piercing, and Slashing from Nonmagical Attacks that aren't Silvered". So assuming the Monk's hands aren't made of silver(somewhere, an Artificer is getting an idea...), those punches would do half damage until the Monk reaches Level 6, at which point they do full damage. NOW let's say the Monk tries to punch a raging Barbarian. The relevant text for Rage says "You have resistance to bludgeoning, piercing, and slashing damage." There is no qualifier about whether the damage is coming from a non-magical attack, like the Wight. Whatever level the Monk is, if the unarmed strike is dealing bludgeoning, piercing or slashing damage, the Barbarian resists it if they are raging(regardless of subclass).
Now let's take your Cleric example. A Death Cleric casts Toll The Dead at a raging Bear Totem Barbarian, dealing necrotic damage. If the Death Cleric is below Level 6, the raging Bearbarian's resistance to necrotic damage means they take half. If the Death Cleric is Level 6 or higher, their casting of Toll The Dead ignores resistance to necrotic damage, and the Bearbarian takes the full amount.
There's no "going either way" in these rules as written, that's how the abilities work. Period. Your statement "The Monk's ability specifically states to overcome resistances, not any specific resistances, but resistances and immunities, blanket statement." is just plain incorrect. The Monk text is VERY specific about what kind of resistance & immunity it's meant to overcome. If you want to house-rule them to work differently at your table, knock yourself out. But you WILL be house-ruling, not playing as written.
Ok, but what about an ascendant dragon monk who at third level gets draconic strike. This ability allows monks to change the damage type of unarmed strikes to their choice of acid, cold, fire, lightning, or poison. Note, this isn’t adding an effect to the damage of the unarmed strike. It specifically says it changes the damage type. Just thought I would bring this up since I just watched the third critical role battle royale and saw how Grog just resisted everything thrown at him, allowing him to survive so long in the battle.
Well, an ascended dragon monk can't change its damage to psychic, so it can't change its damage to type not resisted by raging bear totem barbarians. Which you seem to already know because if the Grog example...
What part of this 2 year old dead thread are you even replying to that you decided to necro for a (seemingly) rhetorical question?
considering grog is a berserker barbarian and not a bearbarian...
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Can a monk strikes overcome rage?
Your unarmed strikes count as magical for the purpose of overcoming resistance and immunity.
So can it damage a Barbarian that's Raging and is a Totem of the Bear?
You have adopted a totem spirit.
While raging, you have resistance to all damage except psychic damage.
No. Only resistances that explicitly say against non-magical are overcome by Ki-Empowered Strikes.
For example - the Shadow has:
Mega Yahtzee Thread:
Highest 41: brocker2001 (#11,285).
Yahtzee of 2's: Emmber (#36,161).
Lowest 9: JoeltheWalrus (#312), Emmber (#12,505) and Dertinus (#20,953).
Does it overcome the normal resistances of a Barbarian Rage feature: Yes.
Does it overcome the specific resistance of the Bear Totem: No.
Not true.
There's no mention of non-magical therefore raging Barbarians are still resistant to it even if it is magical.
Mega Yahtzee Thread:
Highest 41: brocker2001 (#11,285).
Yahtzee of 2's: Emmber (#36,161).
Lowest 9: JoeltheWalrus (#312), Emmber (#12,505) and Dertinus (#20,953).
This is true. The barbarian rage feature is not overcome by magical attacks.
She/Her Player and Dungeon Master
I believe it would based on the wording. I would argue it on the basis of the wording: "Your unarmed strikes count as magical for the purpose of overcoming resistance and immunity." There is no limit that it is only to non-magical resistances.
So if a magical attack would overcome the resistance it counts as magical. Rage = resistance to bludgeoning. Therefore the attack would count as magic to overcome the resistance offered by Rage.
The Bear totem would not be negated: "While raging, you have resistance to all damage except psychic damage. " If you count the damage as Bludgeoning or Magic it doesn't matter as neither would overcome the resistance. So it would fail and be reduced.
How are you concluding that magical bludgeoning damage (or rather, bludgeoning damage from a magical source) overcomes Barbarian rage resistance? Rage says the Barbarian has resistance to bludgeoning, piercing, and slashing damage. Period. Not "from non-magical weapons". Yes, the monk's attack counts as magic. No, it does not overcome the resistance, any more than a magical longsword would.
When a damage resistance can be negated by magical weapons or attacks, the resistance description specifically says so. See any creature with such resistances (air elemental for example). The barbarian rage feature does not say the resistance is to non-magical attacks only, so magical weapons don't override.
Normal Rage: Resistance to Bludgeoning, Piercing, and Slashing (no exception for magical attacks)
Bear Totem: Resistance to all damage except Psychic (no exception for magical attacks)
The Bear totem builds on the normal Rage resistances, but neither provide an exception for magical attacks, so it doesn't matter if the attack is magical or not, the resistance applies.
The default Rage resistance is to bludgeoning, piercing and slashing damage, with no qualifiers or limiters. Therefore, whether the damage is magical makes no difference, the Barbarian still takes half damage when Raging. When resistance is not meant to include magical attacks, it says so. For example, look at the Heavy Armor Master Feat. It says:
Everything you said is valid right up until this sentence. Magical attacks don't overcome the barbarian resistance to bludgeoning damage. So yes, the monk's unarmed attacks count as magical for overcoming resistances, but that doesn't matter to the barbarian because they don't resist all bludgeoning damage, except for magical bludgeoning, they resist all bludgeoning damage full stop.
Canto alla vita
alla sua bellezza
ad ogni sua ferita
ogni sua carezza!
I sing to life and to its tragic beauty
To pain and to strife, but all that dances through me
The rise and the fall, I've lived through it all!
Ok, but what about an ascendant dragon monk who at third level gets draconic strike. This ability allows monks to change the damage type of unarmed strikes to their choice of acid, cold, fire, lightning, or poison. Note, this isn’t adding an effect to the damage of the unarmed strike. It specifically says it changes the damage type. Just thought I would bring this up since I just watched the third critical role battle royale and saw how Grog just resisted everything thrown at him, allowing him to survive so long in the battle.
Well, an ascended dragon monk can't change its damage to psychic, so it can't change its damage to type not resisted by raging bear totem barbarians. Which you seem to already know because if the Grog example...
What part of this 2 year old dead thread are you even replying to that you decided to necro for a (seemingly) rhetorical question?
In that case, changing the unarmed strike to use one of the dragon damage types would get past normal rage resistance, which is only to bludgeoning/piercing/slashing. But it would not get you past a Bear Totem barbarian's resistance to all damage types (except Psychic) when raging.
Helpful rewriter of Japanese->English translation and delver into software codebases (she/e/they)
A astral self monk can overcome the resistance with it using force damage
Nope. Bear totem still wins. Force damage does not equal psychic damage.
I can see the argument going either way, to be honest. The Monk's ability specifically states to overcome resistances, not any specific resistances, but resistances and immunities, blanket statement. The Barbarian has resistance. The feature is specifically stated to overcome that.
A similar argument could be made for a Cleric ability:
Inescapable Destruction
Starting at 6th level, the cleric’s ability to channel negative energy becomes more potent. Necrotic damage dealt by the character’s cleric spells and Channel Divinity options ignores resistance to necrotic damage.
So if the Monk can't overcome the resistance, neither could the Cleric, by definition (Bear Totem here) While this example does need to be Bear Totem for the Necrotic to apply, the mechanic is the same for the others. I'd have it overcome the resistance, based on the wording. Also it's a niche enough situation to not be unbalanced.
.
Talk to your Players. Talk to your DM. If more people used this advice, there would be 24.74% fewer threads on Tactics, Rules and DM discussions.
What are you talking about? The Monk has no "blanket statement" to overcome resistances whatsoever. As mentioned above, the wording for the Monk looks like this:
"Starting at 6th level, your unarmed strikes count as magical for the purpose of overcoming resistance and immunity to nonmagical attacks and damage"
The Bear Totem has resistance to magical and non-magical damage of all types except for psychic. So, it clearly resists a Monk's unarmed strike.
The Death Cleric's ability that you quoted is worded totally differently. In that case the Cleric does Necrotic damage that ignores resistance to necrotic damage.
This is utterly wrong. The Monk's Level 6 ability is very specific. Unarmed strikes by default do non-magical damage, no matter who's doing the striking. Usually it's bludgeoning damage, unless you're something like a Tabaxi that can do slashing damage with unarmed strikes. The Monk's ability simply says that the Monk's unarmed strikes count as magical "for the purpose of overcoming resistance and immunity to nonmagical attacks and damage. What it does NOT say is that a Monk's unarmed strikes ignore all damage resistance and immunity. So let's say the Monk punches a Wight. The Wight's damage resistances include "Bludgeoning, Piercing, and Slashing from Nonmagical Attacks that aren't Silvered". So assuming the Monk's hands aren't made of silver(somewhere, an Artificer is getting an idea...), those punches would do half damage until the Monk reaches Level 6, at which point they do full damage. NOW let's say the Monk tries to punch a raging Barbarian. The relevant text for Rage says "You have resistance to bludgeoning, piercing, and slashing damage." There is no qualifier about whether the damage is coming from a non-magical attack, like the Wight. Whatever level the Monk is, if the unarmed strike is dealing bludgeoning, piercing or slashing damage, the Barbarian resists it if they are raging(regardless of subclass).
Now let's take your Cleric example. A Death Cleric casts Toll The Dead at a raging Bear Totem Barbarian, dealing necrotic damage. If the Death Cleric is below Level 6, the raging Bearbarian's resistance to necrotic damage means they take half. If the Death Cleric is Level 6 or higher, their casting of Toll The Dead ignores resistance to necrotic damage, and the Bearbarian takes the full amount.
There's no "going either way" in these rules as written, that's how the abilities work. Period. Your statement "The Monk's ability specifically states to overcome resistances, not any specific resistances, but resistances and immunities, blanket statement." is just plain incorrect. The Monk text is VERY specific about what kind of resistance & immunity it's meant to overcome. If you want to house-rule them to work differently at your table, knock yourself out. But you WILL be house-ruling, not playing as written.
considering grog is a berserker barbarian and not a bearbarian...