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[[Category:Epic Path]]
[[Category:Epic Path]]
* ''Go back to the [[Epic Path]] page.''
[[Image:Damage_Types_1.jpg|500px|right|Never doubt that light can kill.]]
<div style="clear:right; float:right; font-size:85%; padding-left:0.5em; padding-top:0.5em">__TOC__</div>
There are two broad categories of damage in Epic Path: physical damage and energy damage.  Within these categories, there are numerous specific types, each falling into either a common, uncommon, or rare abundance.


==Physical damage==
Physical damage is caused by physical things damaging the body.  The most common examples are weapon damage, falling damage, claws, or bites.  However, less common types of physical damage also exist, such as abrasion damage (such as getting caught in a sand storm), or rot damage.  Physical damage can be reduced with Damage Resistance (DR).
This broad term represents damage caused by weapons, claws, rocks, that sort of thing.  Physical damage is resisted by Damage Reduction (DR). .


===Weapon Damage===
Energy damage is most often caused by magic, but can also be caused by damage from the elements, rudiments, or fundaments of the universe. The classic energy damage types include fire, lightning, acid, and the like, but can also include bizarre and esoteric energies, such as necrotic, eldritch, or desiccation damage.  Energy damage can be reduced with Energy Resistance (ER).
Weapons always do physical damage.  Weapons are further subdivided into three primary category's of damage: bludgeoning, slashing, and piercing. 
:* '''Piercing Damage:''' Piercing damage is physical damage concentrated into a very small point on the target. Piercing weapons do less damage than bludgeoning or slashing weapons, but have a higher chance of doing critical damage. 
:* '''Bludgeoning Damage:''' Bludgeoning damage is impact damage that tends to spread over a large area upon the target. Bludgeoning weapons tend to do more damage but have a lower chance of doing critical damage.
:* '''Slashing Damage:''' Slashing damage is more focused than bludgeoning but less concentrated than piercing. As such, slashing weapons tend to do average damage and have average chances of doing critical damage.


===Epic Damage===
* For a complete listing of the currently defined damage types, see [[:Category:Damage Types|Damage Types]]
Epic damage has been removed from the game.  Epic damage served to make all lesser forms of DR useless, which hurt the Monk, Barbarian, Paladin, Fighter, etc quite a lot.  So, damage is damage, even when done by high level foes, and your DR/- always protects against it.  Although, see Primal Damage, next.


===Primal Damage===
== Physical Damage ==
Primal damage cannot be reduced by any type of DR or ER or any other damage-reducing ability. Any attack dealing primal damage that hits will always do its full damage to its target.  To balance this, Primal damage is rare and fraught with danger. Alchemists can inflict Primal damage at level 35, and there is a weapon property that inflicts primal damage both upon the target of your attacks and the wielder of the weapon, and that is IT.
=== Common Physical Damage Types ===
Nearly all weapons, as well as natural attacks, such as a creature's claws, inflict common physical damage.  The most frequently encountered "physical, common" damage types are:
{{#dpl:|category = Physical-Common}}
 
Other sources of "physical, common" damage exist.  In all cases, such damage is resisted with "DR x/common", or "DR x/-".
 
=== Uncommon Physical Damage Types ===
Quite a few natural attacks include some combination of common physical damage types.  When combined, they become a harder-to-resist version of physical damage. The most frequently encountered "physical, uncommon" damage types are:
{{#dpl:|category=Physical-Uncommon}}
 
Other sources of "physical, uncommon" damage exist.  In all cases, such damage is resisted with "DR x/uncommon", or "DR x/-".
 
=== Rare Physical Damage Types ===
Rare physical damage is caused by some truly horrific effects, where the very sanctity of the target's corporeal flesh is compromised, often at a molecular level.  The most frequently encountered "physical, rare" damage types are:
{{#dpl:|category=Physical-Rare}}
 
Other sources of "physical, rare" damage exist.  In all cases, such damage is resisted with "DR x/rare", or "DR x/-".
 
== Energy Damage ==
=== Common Energy Damage Types ===
Common sources of energy damage most frequently align with basic elemental forces.  As a result, common energy damage is sometimes referred to as "element" damage.  The most frequently encountered "energy, common" damage types are:
{{#dpl:|category=Energy-Common}}
 
Other sources of "energy, common" damage exist.  In all cases, such damage is resisted with "ER x/common", or "ER x/-".
 
=== Uncommon Energy Damage Types ===
Uncommon sources of energy damage often originate from forces of a higher order, or more complex than elemental damage.  Uncommon energy damage is sometimes referred to as "rudiment" damage. The most frequently encountered "energy, uncommon" damage types are:
{{#dpl:|category=Energy-Uncommon}}


===Critical Damage===
Other sources of "energy, uncommon" damage exist.  In all cases, such damage is resisted with "ER x/uncommon", or "ER x/-".
Critical damage is generally associated with weapon damage.  Critical damage is based upon chance.  Critical damage is used to represent the 'lucky shot' that hits a vulnerable spot.  As a result, critical damage is related to precision damage, but it is not the same, and uses completely different mechanisms.  As a general rule, critical damage doubles (or triples or quadruples) the number of base weapon dice you roll, and doubles (or triples or quadruples) the amount of damage you do based upon your Strength and the enhancement bonus of your weapon.  Note that several classes have variant, different, rules for how criticals are handled, primarily the Rogues and the Brawler.  In all cases, refer to the more specific class-based rules.  If your character is high enough level to have increased the base dice of your weapons, a Critical multiplies the CURRENT base damage dice of the weapon.  Thus a level ten fighter wielding a longsword does a base of 2d8 of damage.  A critical multiples that two dice by two, for 4d8 of base damage on a critical hit.


===Precision Damage===
=== Rare Energy Damage Types ===
Precision damage is a form of physical damage which depends upon the skill of the attacker to strike a point in the structure of the target which is far more susceptible to harm than the norm.  For example, a stab to the eye is more harmful than a stab to the meat of the arm.
Rare energy damage is usually caused by extra-dimensional beings of terrible power and uncertain form.  These energies rage against the very foundation of the universe, or are the foundational forces to create new universes.  Rare energy damage is sometimes referred to as "fundament" damage.  The most frequently encountered "energy, rare" damage types are:
: Precision damage always requires the attacker to have a clear and unobstructed 'shot' at the target.  In game terms this means that any level of concealment will stop the application of precision damage.
{{#dpl:|category=Energy-Rare}}
: In general, precision damage is limited to only a few classes., which have the specific skills to apply precision damage.  Each class description will detail how much precision damage each class gets, and what rules they must follow in order to apply that precision damage to a victim.
: Note that precision damage is different from and handled separately to critical damage.  Most physical attacks may strike for critical damage, but only a very limited set of classes have access to precision damage.  It is possible to apply precision damage without making a critical strike, and vice versa.  Precision damage is NOT multiplied when a critical hit is rolled.
: With a weapon that deals nonlethal damage (like a sap, whip, or an unarmed strike), a player character can make a precision damage attack that deals nonlethal damage instead of lethal damage. She cannot use a weapon that deals lethal damage to deal nonlethal damage in a precision damage attack, not even with the usual -4 penalty.
: Some creatures are immune or specially resistant to precision damage.  Despite the name, creatures "immune to precision damage" actually take half damage from precision damage.  Any creature which has little to no specialized internal structure will take half damage (be immune) to precision damage. 


:; Immunity to Precision Damage : Creatures (or subtypes) Immune to Precision-Based Attacks (half damage from precision damage):
Other sources of "energy, rare" damage exist.  In all cases, such damage is resisted with "ER x/rare", or "ER x/-".
::* Elemental (subtype)
::* Incorporeal (subtype)
::* Ooze (Type)
::* Protean (subtype) - 50% chance to ignore precision damage.


===Bonus Damage===
== Other Damage Considerations ==
Some classes (principally the Bard, Ranger, Prowler and Warlord) receive class abilities which apply bonus damage.  In all such cases, refer to the rules in the class for how that damage is applied.  Bonus damage from class abilities is not multiplied on a critical, as a rule.  In addition, some weapon properties add bonus dice to a weapon's attacks. Weapon property bonus damage is handled as described in the weapon bonus description in all cases. Such bonus dice are always handled in critical attacks as specified in the weapon property description.  Usually, the bonus weapon damage dice are increased by a fixed amount when a critical is confirmed. Different sources of Bonus damage stack.  A Ranger using a Flaming Sword with a Bard in the party would have three sources of bonus damage, and they all three apply based upon the rules for each type of bonus damage.
The following subjects can be considered 'damage types', but they aren't types of damage in the same way as the types listed above.  These are game mechanics which are relevant to ''how'' damage is inflicted, but are different from the ''kinds'' of damage that are inflicted.


===Non-Lethal damage===
{{:Base Weapon Damage}}
Non-lethal damage is a type of physical damage which is incapacitating to living creatures, but has no effect upon any other type of entity.  Further, non-lethal damage is accounted against the hit points of the target 'in reverse' from standard damage, IE, non-lethal damage is counted 'upwards' from zero.  Until the total non-lethal damage exceeds the current hitpoints of the target, there is no effect.  Once the current hit points are exceeded, the targeted receives the unconscious condition.  Note that non-lethal damage and regular physical damage 'stack'.  IE, when the total of the non-lethal and normal damage exceed the TOTAL hit points of the target, it is unconscious.  Unless otherwise specified, non-lethal damage is considered bludgeoning (physical) damage.


===Poison damage===
{{:Bonus Damage}}
Poisons deal non-lethal (bludgeoning) damage, which is resistible with DR, but they also deal ability damage (energy damage) or ability drain (energy drain).  Neither ER nor DR is effective against ability damage and ability drain.


===Disease damage===
===Critical Damage===
Diseases generally do ability drain (energy drain) and sometimes level drain.  Neither ER nor DR is effective against ability damage, ability drain or level drain.
Critical damage is generally associated with weapon damage.  Critical damage is based upon chance.  Critical damage is used to represent the 'lucky shot' that hits a vulnerable spot.  As a result, critical damage is related to precision damage, but it is not the same, and uses completely different mechanisms.  As a general rule, critical damage doubles (or triples or quadruples) the number of base weapon dice you roll (extra damage dice over and above a weapon's normal damage are never multiplied), and doubles (or triples or quadruples) the amount of damage you do based upon your Strength and the enhancement bonus of your weapon.  Note that several classes have variant, different, rules for how criticals are handled, primarily the [[Rogue]] and the [[Brawler]].  In all cases, refer to the more specific class-based rules.  If your character is high enough level to have increased the base dice of your weapons, a Critical multiplies the CURRENT base damage dice of the weapon.  Thus a level ten fighter wielding a longsword does a base of 2d8 of damage.  A critical multiples that two dice by two, for 4d8 of base damage on a critical hit.


===Illusory and shadow damage===
===Illusory Damage===
Illusions can cause damage, but usually of the damage type that would be caused by whatever the illusion is pretending to be.  That is, an illusion of an ogre swinging a giant club would deal bludgeoning damage, while an illusion of a fire-filled pit would deal fire damage (and falling (bludgeoning) damage, if someone fell into it).  As such, the illusion itself dictates what type of resistance is needed to reduce its effects.  Often, this damage is completely negated by someone who disbelieves the illusion, while other times the damage is reduced due to its illusory nature.
Illusions can cause damage, but the type of damage dealt is based on whatever the illusion is pretending to be.  That is, an illusion of an ogre swinging a giant club would deal {{dmg|bludgeoning}} damage, while an illusion of a fire-filled pit would deal {{dmg|falling}} damage for the fall, and {{dmg|fire}} damage for the fire (resisted separately), if someone fell into it.  As such, the illusion itself dictates what type of resistance is needed to reduce its effects.


==Energy Damage==
===Massive Damage===
Energy damage is a broad category of damage, usually caused by spells, spell-like abilities and some supernatural abilities, traditionally in the form of elemental damage, but sometimes taking the form of more exotic energy types.
There is an optional rule in Pathfinder that any monster or PC who deals 50 points of damage or more from a single blow causes 'massive damage' and the struck creature must make a saving throw or die.  This rule is not used in Epic Path.
:* '''Elemental Damage:''' Elemental damage is the traditional 'fire, cold, sonic, acid, and lightning" damage types.  These damage types are commonly applied via spells.  Elemental damage MAY be associated with physical weapons, via weapon properties or the application of poisons via class abilities, feats, etc.  In such cases, the elemental damage and the physical damage are resolved separately against their respective resistances.
:* '''Positive/Negative Damage:''' Positive and negative damage are energy damage types that are generally associated with evil/darkness for negative damage and good/light for positive damage.  Positive/negative damage are traditionally associated with divine magics, but are also accessible via arcane magics.  Positive/negative damage are always energy attacks, and are resisted, if at all, by ER.
::* '''Healing and Positive Energy ER:''' While healing does use positive energy, it is not considered a source of damage when used against living creatures.  Therefore, ER x/positive, and ER x/- do NOT block the beneficial effects of healing.  Similarly, an undead creature who is healed by negative energy, but also has ER x/-, would still receive healing from a negative energy effect cast upon him.  Energy Resistance only blocks energy damage.
:* '''Force Damage:''' Force damage is 'non-typed' energy damage.  Force damage always deals full damage to incorporeal creatures. It is a rare damage type, and is only resisted by ER/-.
:* '''Psychic Damage:''' Psychic damage is administered by mental attacks and certain types of spells. It is a rare damage type, and is only resisted by ER/-.
:* '''Other Energy Types:''' There are countless other types of energy damage.  For example, there is 'light' damage, 'dessication' damage, 'toxic' damage, 'sunlight' damage, and 'holy' damage.  All of these damage types are treated similarly to force damage, namely, if you have a special energy resistance to it, or have resistance to all forms of energy damage (ER x/-), then you have resistance.  Otherwise, not.


===Mixed Damage Types===
===Mixed Damage Types===
Sometimes an attack will deal two or more types of damage, which can complicate how resistances can or cannot be applied.  If the attack in question lists separates out how much damage each of the damage types deal, then each damage type is resisted individually, just as if it were multiple separate attacks.  If, however, the attack deals more than one kind of damage, but all of that damage is made up of all of the types of damage listed, then use the guidelines below:
In any case where an attack or effect inflicts more than one type of damage at the same time, the attack or effect should specify how much of each damage type is inflicted.  If it is not specified, the two damage types are split 50/50 across the damage being dealt.  Each damage type is resisted individually, as though the creature were hit two separate times.  That is, if an attack deals 50 points of damage as a combination of {{dmg|holy}} and {{dmg|fire}}, it really deals 25 points of holy damage, and 25 points of fire damage.  The target creature can apply any resistances they have to each damage type.  If they have a single resistance that applies to both types, it is applied twice.  Continuing our example, if the target creature had ER 10/-, which applies to both common and rare energy types, the creature would only take 15 points of holy and 15 points of fire from this attack, for a total of 30 points of damage.
:* '''Two or more physical damage types:''' Some attacks, such as bite attacks (which are considered bludgeoning, piercing and slashing all at the same time) deal their damage as multiple types of physical damage.  In these cases, if one of the listed damage types bypasses the target's DR, the entire attack goes through the DR. If none of the attack's damage types match the specified vulnerability of the DR, the attack is reduced by the DR.
 
:* '''Two or more energy types:''' An attack which deals more than one type of energy damage is only resisted by the worst resistance available to any of the listed energy types being inflicted by the attack. That is, if a character is struck by a 25 point demonic fireball, dealing both negative and fire energy, and the target creature has ER 10/fire but only ER 5/negative, he could only reduce the damage by 5 points, since his ER 5/negative is the worst resistance available against the incoming damage.  If our example target creature only had ER 10/fire and no resistance to negative energy, the entire 25 points of damage would get through.
It is very common for a weapon to be enchanted with a magic property that adds additional energy damage to the weapon's normal damage. A flaming longsword deals 1d8 points of {{dmg|slashing}} and 2d6 points of {{dmg|fire}}.  Just as above, each damage type is resisted individually.
:* '''Both physical and energy damage:''' In nearly every case, this sort of attack, such as from a flaming sword, causes damage as two different damage totals, and each component of the attack (the physical and the energy) is resolved separately against the target creature's defenses.  If the attack provides only a single damage number, then it is considered "untyped damage", and the type of ability being used, whether extraordinary (Ex), supernatural (Su) or spell-like (Sp), determines which resistance is used to resist it (e.g. DR or ER). See Untyped Damage for details.
 
Of course, if a creature has neither ER, nor DR, it's just damage, and they take it all.
 
===Precision Damage===
Precision damage is a form of physical damage which depends upon the skill of the attacker to strike a point in the structure of the target which is far more susceptible to harm than the norm.  For example, a stab to the eye is more harmful than a stab to the meat of the arm.
:* Precision damage always requires the attacker to have a clear and unobstructed 'shot' at the target.  In game terms this means that any level of concealment will stop the application of precision damage.
:* In general, precision damage is limited to only a few classes., which have the specific skills to apply precision damage.  Each class description will detail how much precision damage each class gets, and what rules they must follow in order to apply that precision damage to a victim.
:* Note that precision damage is different from and handled separately to critical damage.  Most physical attacks may strike for critical damage, but only a very limited set of classes have access to precision damage.  It is possible to apply precision damage without making a critical strike, and vice versa.  Precision damage is NOT multiplied when a critical hit is rolled.
:* With a weapon that deals nonlethal damage (like a sap, whip, or an unarmed strike), a player character can make a precision damage attack that deals nonlethal damage instead of lethal damage.
:* Some creatures are immune or specially resistant to precision damage.  Despite the name, creatures "immune to precision damage" actually take half damage from precision damage.  Any creature which has little to no specialized internal structure will take half damage (be immune) to precision damage.
 
'''Immunity to Precision Damage:'''


===Untyped Damage===
Creatures (or subtypes) Immune to Precision-Based Attacks (half damage from precision damage):
Sometimes no damage type is listed for an attack.  In these cases, the type of ability being used, whether extraordinary (Ex), supernatural (Su) or spell-like (Sp), determines which resistance is used to resist it (e.g. DR or ER):
:* Elemental (subtype)
:* '''Extraordinary Abilities (Ex):''' Untyped damage caused by an extraordinary ability (EX) is treated as physical damage unless the ability states otherwise, and is therefore subject to reduction by DR. However, in most cases, such damage is only blocked by DR x/-.
:* Incorporeal (subtype)
:* '''Supernatural (Su) and Spell-Like Abilities (Sp):''' Untyped damage dealt by a supernatural or spell-like ability is considered energy damage unless the ability states otherwise, and can be reduced by ER. However, in most cases, such damage is only blocked by ER/-.
:* Ooze (Type)
:* Protean (subtype) - 50% chance to ignore precision damage.


===Siege Damage===
===Primal Damage===
Siege damage is damage inflicted by siege weapons, and is only distinguished from normal weapon damage in that all siege weapons have the Sunder mundane weapon property, allowing them to deal damage to unattended objects, fortifications and structures, even when those objects contain metal or stone.  Rules for destroying objects, fortifications and structures are covered by the Sunder combat maneuver, and the Breaking Objects page.  Most siege weapons deal bludgeoning or piercing damage, as specified in their description, but some higher level siege weapons are capable of dealing energy damage instead of, or in addition to, their physical damage.
Primal damage cannot be reduced by any type of DR or ER or any other damage-reducing ability. Any attack dealing primal damage that hits will always do its full damage to its target.  To balance this, Primal damage is rare and fraught with danger.  Alchemists can inflict Primal damage at level 35, and there is a weapon property that inflicts primal damage both upon the target of your attacks and the wielder of the weapon, and that is IT.


===Massive Damage===
===Environmental Damage===
There is an optional rule in Pathfinder that any monster or PC who deals 50 points of damage or more from a single blow causes 'massive damage' and the struck creature must make a saving throw or die.  We think this rule sucks for a number of reasons, the biggest one being that 'save or die' is just no fun.  The GM will do 'massive damage' to the PC's far more often than the PC's do it to the GM, since he's got an infinite number of monsters to use.  Furthermore, since Epic Path goes all the way up to level 35, dealing 50 points of damage with a single blow just isn't that big a deal once you get a few levels under your belt.  This rule is not used in Epic Path.
Sometimes the world itself tries to kill you.  Whether caused by the sweltering heat of an endless desert, the biting cold of a frozen mountain pass, or the swirling debris of a tornado, players will sometimes take damage from the forces of nature itself.  Environmental damage is always natural, and never magical, though it can be quite exotic despite this, depending on where you are.  If you are in the outer edges of the Deep Dark, and chaos is chiseling away at your very existence, that isn't a magical effect for that locale... it's just how "nature" works in that place.  Another distinction between environmental damage and other types of damage is intent.  Environmental damage has no intent &mdash; it will affect all creatures equally, it wasn't put there by someone, and it doesn't care how effective it is.  It just is.


==Damage Resistance==
Note that [[Falling Down|falling]] and [[Collisions|collision damage]] are '''''not''''' considered environmental damage, even if they are caused by an environmental effect (e.g., you get pushed off a cliff by a flooding river). These types of damage are resolved using their own rules.
Damage Resistance (DR) is a special defense which is used to reduce the amount of physical damage taken, but is often overcome by one specified type of damage. One example might be a skeleton who has DR 5/bludgeoning, meaning that the skeleton subtracts 5 points of damage from each physical attack it is subject to, unless that physical attack is made with a bludgeoning weapon.  Skeletons can resist damage caused by piercing and slashing weapons because they have no 'meat' to be damaged by concentrated force. Bludgeoning weapons, on the other hand, overcome that damage resistance, since blunt force trauma is highly effective against the skeleton's bones.


DR is always penetrated by the damage type listed in its name, and blocks all other damage types.  If DR has no particular weakness, it is represented with a dash (i.e. DR 10/-), meaning that any physical attacks are reduced by the amount listed (in the example, 10 points). DR x/- is therefore quite powerful, but also rare.
Environmental damage is resolved exactly the same as any other damage in the game, and always has a damage type.  This is frequently one of the energy damage types, but not always.  A rockslide will deal either {{dmg|bludgeoning}} or {{dmg|crushing}} damage, for example. Environmental damage can be mitigated or reduced by Energy Resistance (ER) or Damage Resistance (DR) of a type appropriate to the damage being caused, just like normal damage.


{| border="1" cellpadding="5" style="text-align:left"
Some clothing and other mundane equipment can provide DR or ER as protection against damage caused by environmental effects.  Such protective gear is far more commonplace than the magical variety, but it is also highly limited in what it protects against.  It ONLY protects against environmental damage, and provides no defense against magical effects, or effects caused by something with intent (such as damage from a trap).  That thick fur coat will keep you warm in the coldest winter's night, but it won't help you at all against the breath weapon of a white dragon.
! Type of DR || Blocks || Bypassed By
|-
| DR x/bludgeoning || all physical attacks except those made with bludgeoning weapons || physical attacks with bludgeoning damage (including most non-lethal damage)
|-
| DR x/piercing || all physical attacks except those made with piercing weapons || physical attacks with piercing damage
|-
| DR x/slashing || all physical attacks except those made with slashing weapons || physical attacks with slashing damage
|-
| DR x/magic || all physical attacks from non-magical weapons || physical attacks from magical weapons, or creatures of CR 5 or higher
|-
| DR x/silver || all physical attacks except those made with silvered weapons || Silvered weapons, or those made from Bladesilver or Bloodsilver
|-
| DR x/cold iron || all physical attacks except those made with cold iron weapons || cold iron weapons
|-
| DR x/adamantine || all physical attacks except those made with adamantine weapons || adamantine weapons, or those made from dolemetal, truemetal or paramount alloy
|-
| DR x/lawful || all physical attacks except those made with lawfully aligned weapons || weapons with the Axiomatic magic weapon property, or aligned via a class ability
|-
| DR x/good || all physical attacks except those made with good aligned weapons || weapons with the Holy magic weapon property, or aligned via a class ability
|-
| DR x/chaotic || all physical attacks except those made with chaotic aligned weapons || weapons with the Anarchic magic weapon property, or aligned via a class ability
|-
| DR x/evil || all physical attacks except those made with evil aligned weapons || weapons with the Unholy magic weapon property, or aligned via a class ability
|-
| DR x/neutral || all physical attacks except those made with neutral aligned weapons || weapons with the Void magic weapon property, or aligned via a class ability
|-
| DR x/- || all physical attacks except primal damage || primal damage or non-physical (energy) attacks
|}


==Energy Resistance==
===Siege Damage===
Energy Resistance (ER) is used to reduce damage caused by energy attacks.  Unlike Damage Resistance (DR), Energy Resistance ONLY blocks the energy type listed.  For example, ER 10/fire would reduce any damage caused by fire by 10 points, but damage caused by other energy sources, such as lightning or sonic, would not be reduced.
Siege damage is damage inflicted by siege weapons, and is distinguished from normal weapon damage in that it is aimed at destroying objects, rather than creatures.  In a rare case where siege damage is used successfully against a creature, a single point of Siege Damage is treated as being equal to ten points of hit point damage.  Rules for destroying objects, fortifications and structures are covered by the [[Sunder]] combat maneuver, and the [[Breaking Objects]] page.  Most siege weapons deal bludgeoning or piercing damage, as specified in their description, but some higher level siege weapons are capable of dealing energy damage instead of, or in addition to, their physical damage.


Energy Resistance that blocks all energy types is written as ER x/- (where x represents the amount of damage to reduce energy attacks by; for example, ER 10/- reduces any energy damage by 10 points).  This type of ER is highly desirable, but difficult to come by.
===Untyped Damage===
Sometimes no damage type is listed for an attack.  In these cases, the type of ability being used, whether extraordinary (Ex), supernatural (Su) or spell-like (Sp), determines which resistance is used to resist it (e.g. DR or ER):
:* '''Extraordinary Abilities (Ex):''' An extraordinary ability (Ex) that inflicts an unspecified damage type is treated as "physical, common" and can be resisted with "DR x/common", or "DR x/-".  If it specifically calls out that the damage dealt is "untyped", it can only be resisted with "DR x/rare", or "DR x/-".
:* '''Supernatural Abilities (Su):''' A supernatural ability (Su) that inflicts an unspecified damage type is treated as "energy, common" and can be resisted with "ER x/common", or "ER x/-".  If it specifically calls out that the damage dealt is "untyped", it can only be resisted with "ER x/rare", or "ER x/-".
:* '''Spell-Like Abilities (Sp):''' A spell-like ability (Su), or any spell, that inflicts an unspecified damage type is treated as "energy, common" and can be resisted with "ER x/common", or "ER x/-".  If it specifically calls out that the damage dealt is "untyped", it can only be resisted with "ER x/rare", or "ER x/-".


Note that energy resistance does not block non-damaging effects, even if it is ER x/- and blocks all energy types.  This means that healing effects, which use positive energy, are not reduced or blocked by a character's ER 10/-, or even a character's ER 10/positive.  Only positive energy being used to cause damage would be blocked by ER x/positive (and traditionally, only undead or very evil creatures take damage from positive energy).
{{:Damage Resistance}}


{| border="1" cellpadding="5" style="text-align:left"
{{:Energy Resistance}}
! Type of ER || Blocks || Bypassed By
|-
| ER x/fire || fire damage || any other energy type
|-
| ER x/cold || cold damage || any other energy type
|-
| ER x/sonic || sonic damage || any other energy type
|-
| ER x/acid || acid damage || any other energy type
|-
| ER x/lightning || lightning damage || any other energy type
|-
| ER x/positive || positive damage (but not healing, if used on the living) || any other energy type
|-
| ER x/negative || negative damage (but not healing, if used on undead) || any other energy type
|-
| ER x/- || all energy types except primal || primal damage or physical (weapon) attacks
|}

Latest revision as of 20:41, 17 September 2022

Never doubt that light can kill.

There are two broad categories of damage in Epic Path: physical damage and energy damage. Within these categories, there are numerous specific types, each falling into either a common, uncommon, or rare abundance.

Physical damage is caused by physical things damaging the body. The most common examples are weapon damage, falling damage, claws, or bites. However, less common types of physical damage also exist, such as abrasion damage (such as getting caught in a sand storm), or rot damage. Physical damage can be reduced with Damage Resistance (DR).

Energy damage is most often caused by magic, but can also be caused by damage from the elements, rudiments, or fundaments of the universe. The classic energy damage types include fire, lightning, acid, and the like, but can also include bizarre and esoteric energies, such as necrotic, eldritch, or desiccation damage. Energy damage can be reduced with Energy Resistance (ER).

  • For a complete listing of the currently defined damage types, see Damage Types

Physical Damage

Common Physical Damage Types

Nearly all weapons, as well as natural attacks, such as a creature's claws, inflict common physical damage. The most frequently encountered "physical, common" damage types are:

Other sources of "physical, common" damage exist. In all cases, such damage is resisted with "DR x/common", or "DR x/-".

Uncommon Physical Damage Types

Quite a few natural attacks include some combination of common physical damage types. When combined, they become a harder-to-resist version of physical damage. The most frequently encountered "physical, uncommon" damage types are:

Other sources of "physical, uncommon" damage exist. In all cases, such damage is resisted with "DR x/uncommon", or "DR x/-".

Rare Physical Damage Types

Rare physical damage is caused by some truly horrific effects, where the very sanctity of the target's corporeal flesh is compromised, often at a molecular level. The most frequently encountered "physical, rare" damage types are:

Other sources of "physical, rare" damage exist. In all cases, such damage is resisted with "DR x/rare", or "DR x/-".

Energy Damage

Common Energy Damage Types

Common sources of energy damage most frequently align with basic elemental forces. As a result, common energy damage is sometimes referred to as "element" damage. The most frequently encountered "energy, common" damage types are:

Other sources of "energy, common" damage exist. In all cases, such damage is resisted with "ER x/common", or "ER x/-".

Uncommon Energy Damage Types

Uncommon sources of energy damage often originate from forces of a higher order, or more complex than elemental damage. Uncommon energy damage is sometimes referred to as "rudiment" damage. The most frequently encountered "energy, uncommon" damage types are:

Other sources of "energy, uncommon" damage exist. In all cases, such damage is resisted with "ER x/uncommon", or "ER x/-".

Rare Energy Damage Types

Rare energy damage is usually caused by extra-dimensional beings of terrible power and uncertain form. These energies rage against the very foundation of the universe, or are the foundational forces to create new universes. Rare energy damage is sometimes referred to as "fundament" damage. The most frequently encountered "energy, rare" damage types are:

Other sources of "energy, rare" damage exist. In all cases, such damage is resisted with "ER x/rare", or "ER x/-".

Other Damage Considerations

The following subjects can be considered 'damage types', but they aren't types of damage in the same way as the types listed above. These are game mechanics which are relevant to how damage is inflicted, but are different from the kinds of damage that are inflicted.

Example – Longsword
Character Level Base Weapon Damage
1 – 5 1d8
6 – 10 2d8
11 – 15 3d8
16 – 20 4d8
21 – 25 5d8
26 – 30 6d8
31 – 35 7d8

Base Weapon Damage

The damage listed for a weapon is considered its "original base weapon damage". This amount is increased at every experience tier beyond courageous (i.e. beginning at 6th level, and every 5 levels thereafter), by an amount equal to the original base weapon damage. This means, at 6th level through 10th levels (intrepid tier), the weapon's base damage is double what it was from levels 1 through 5 (courageous tier).

This does not double any ability score modifiers a character normally adds to their weapon damage, nor does it double feat, precision or other modifiers to the weapon's damage, just the base damage of the weapon. This applies to melee, ranged, and thrown weapons alike. This does not apply to classes with fixed damage, such as the monk or brawler unarmed damage, nor does it apply to spell damage. For example, a longsword deals 2d8 base weapon damage after 6th level. This bonus increases to triple (x3) weapon dice damage at 11th level, quadruple (x4) at 16th level, quintuple (x5) at 21st level, sextuple (x6) at 26th level, and septuple (x7) at 31st level and above.

Base weapon damage improvements are also applied to a weapon's critical hit damage. For example, an 1st level character wielding a longsword who critically hits (longswords deal double damage on a crit) would deal 2d8 + double their strength modifier. The same character at 6th level would deal 4d8 + double their strength modifier on a critical hit. (Notice that the "double their strength modifier" did not change, but the number of dice did change.)

High-level magic enchantments exist that can alter a weapon's base damage (such as the Lacerating weapon property), though they are rare. Since this damage is also base damage, it is multiplied as described above, along with the weapon's own base damage. For example, a lacerating longsword, at 6th level, would deal 2d8+2d6 base weapon damage. Unless an enchantment explicitly states it alters the weapon's "Base Weapon Damage", it does not increase with experience tier.

Base weapon damage always stacks with any other source of base weapon damage.

See also: Bonus Damage and Precision Damage.

Bonus Damage

Some classes (principally the Bard, Ranger, Prowler and Warlord) receive class abilities which apply bonus damage. In addition, some weapon properties add bonus dice to a weapon's attacks. Bonus damage has the following characteristics, except where the description of the item, feat or ability in question explicitly states otherwise:

  • Different sources of Bonus damage stack. A Ranger using a Flaming Sword with a Bard in the party would have three sources of bonus damage, all of which would contribute to his damage.
  • Bonus damage is never multiplied on a critical hit.
  • Bonus damage is not base weapon damage, so it does not improve at levels 6, 11, 16, 21, 26, and 31.
  • Bonus damage is not the same as precision damage, and therefore bypasses any resistance or immunity to precision damage.
  • If no damage type is specified, bonus damage deals the same damage type as the weapon or effect to which it is applied. That is, if a club has some property granting it +1d6 bonus damage of an unspecified type, the bonus damage is considered bludgeoning. If the same property were applied to a longsword, it would be considered slashing damage instead. Untyped bonus damage is never "unresistable" by DR or ER, unless it is specifically described as Primal bonus damage (see Primal Damage).
See also: Base Weapon Damage and Precision Damage.

Critical Damage

Critical damage is generally associated with weapon damage. Critical damage is based upon chance. Critical damage is used to represent the 'lucky shot' that hits a vulnerable spot. As a result, critical damage is related to precision damage, but it is not the same, and uses completely different mechanisms. As a general rule, critical damage doubles (or triples or quadruples) the number of base weapon dice you roll (extra damage dice over and above a weapon's normal damage are never multiplied), and doubles (or triples or quadruples) the amount of damage you do based upon your Strength and the enhancement bonus of your weapon. Note that several classes have variant, different, rules for how criticals are handled, primarily the Rogue and the Brawler. In all cases, refer to the more specific class-based rules. If your character is high enough level to have increased the base dice of your weapons, a Critical multiplies the CURRENT base damage dice of the weapon. Thus a level ten fighter wielding a longsword does a base of 2d8 of damage. A critical multiples that two dice by two, for 4d8 of base damage on a critical hit.

Illusory Damage

Illusions can cause damage, but the type of damage dealt is based on whatever the illusion is pretending to be. That is, an illusion of an ogre swinging a giant club would deal bludgeoning (physical, common) damage, while an illusion of a fire-filled pit would deal falling (physical, uncommon) damage for the fall, and fire (energy, common) damage for the fire (resisted separately), if someone fell into it. As such, the illusion itself dictates what type of resistance is needed to reduce its effects.

Massive Damage

There is an optional rule in Pathfinder that any monster or PC who deals 50 points of damage or more from a single blow causes 'massive damage' and the struck creature must make a saving throw or die. This rule is not used in Epic Path.

Mixed Damage Types

In any case where an attack or effect inflicts more than one type of damage at the same time, the attack or effect should specify how much of each damage type is inflicted. If it is not specified, the two damage types are split 50/50 across the damage being dealt. Each damage type is resisted individually, as though the creature were hit two separate times. That is, if an attack deals 50 points of damage as a combination of holy (energy, rare) and fire (energy, common), it really deals 25 points of holy damage, and 25 points of fire damage. The target creature can apply any resistances they have to each damage type. If they have a single resistance that applies to both types, it is applied twice. Continuing our example, if the target creature had ER 10/-, which applies to both common and rare energy types, the creature would only take 15 points of holy and 15 points of fire from this attack, for a total of 30 points of damage.

It is very common for a weapon to be enchanted with a magic property that adds additional energy damage to the weapon's normal damage. A flaming longsword deals 1d8 points of slashing (physical, common) and 2d6 points of fire (energy, common). Just as above, each damage type is resisted individually.

Of course, if a creature has neither ER, nor DR, it's just damage, and they take it all.

Precision Damage

Precision damage is a form of physical damage which depends upon the skill of the attacker to strike a point in the structure of the target which is far more susceptible to harm than the norm. For example, a stab to the eye is more harmful than a stab to the meat of the arm.

  • Precision damage always requires the attacker to have a clear and unobstructed 'shot' at the target. In game terms this means that any level of concealment will stop the application of precision damage.
  • In general, precision damage is limited to only a few classes., which have the specific skills to apply precision damage. Each class description will detail how much precision damage each class gets, and what rules they must follow in order to apply that precision damage to a victim.
  • Note that precision damage is different from and handled separately to critical damage. Most physical attacks may strike for critical damage, but only a very limited set of classes have access to precision damage. It is possible to apply precision damage without making a critical strike, and vice versa. Precision damage is NOT multiplied when a critical hit is rolled.
  • With a weapon that deals nonlethal damage (like a sap, whip, or an unarmed strike), a player character can make a precision damage attack that deals nonlethal damage instead of lethal damage.
  • Some creatures are immune or specially resistant to precision damage. Despite the name, creatures "immune to precision damage" actually take half damage from precision damage. Any creature which has little to no specialized internal structure will take half damage (be immune) to precision damage.

Immunity to Precision Damage:

Creatures (or subtypes) Immune to Precision-Based Attacks (half damage from precision damage):

  • Elemental (subtype)
  • Incorporeal (subtype)
  • Ooze (Type)
  • Protean (subtype) - 50% chance to ignore precision damage.

Primal Damage

Primal damage cannot be reduced by any type of DR or ER or any other damage-reducing ability. Any attack dealing primal damage that hits will always do its full damage to its target. To balance this, Primal damage is rare and fraught with danger. Alchemists can inflict Primal damage at level 35, and there is a weapon property that inflicts primal damage both upon the target of your attacks and the wielder of the weapon, and that is IT.

Environmental Damage

Sometimes the world itself tries to kill you. Whether caused by the sweltering heat of an endless desert, the biting cold of a frozen mountain pass, or the swirling debris of a tornado, players will sometimes take damage from the forces of nature itself. Environmental damage is always natural, and never magical, though it can be quite exotic despite this, depending on where you are. If you are in the outer edges of the Deep Dark, and chaos is chiseling away at your very existence, that isn't a magical effect for that locale... it's just how "nature" works in that place. Another distinction between environmental damage and other types of damage is intent. Environmental damage has no intent — it will affect all creatures equally, it wasn't put there by someone, and it doesn't care how effective it is. It just is.

Note that falling and collision damage are not considered environmental damage, even if they are caused by an environmental effect (e.g., you get pushed off a cliff by a flooding river). These types of damage are resolved using their own rules.

Environmental damage is resolved exactly the same as any other damage in the game, and always has a damage type. This is frequently one of the energy damage types, but not always. A rockslide will deal either bludgeoning (physical, common) or crushing (physical, common) damage, for example. Environmental damage can be mitigated or reduced by Energy Resistance (ER) or Damage Resistance (DR) of a type appropriate to the damage being caused, just like normal damage.

Some clothing and other mundane equipment can provide DR or ER as protection against damage caused by environmental effects. Such protective gear is far more commonplace than the magical variety, but it is also highly limited in what it protects against. It ONLY protects against environmental damage, and provides no defense against magical effects, or effects caused by something with intent (such as damage from a trap). That thick fur coat will keep you warm in the coldest winter's night, but it won't help you at all against the breath weapon of a white dragon.

Siege Damage

Siege damage is damage inflicted by siege weapons, and is distinguished from normal weapon damage in that it is aimed at destroying objects, rather than creatures. In a rare case where siege damage is used successfully against a creature, a single point of Siege Damage is treated as being equal to ten points of hit point damage. Rules for destroying objects, fortifications and structures are covered by the Sunder combat maneuver, and the Breaking Objects page. Most siege weapons deal bludgeoning or piercing damage, as specified in their description, but some higher level siege weapons are capable of dealing energy damage instead of, or in addition to, their physical damage.

Untyped Damage

Sometimes no damage type is listed for an attack. In these cases, the type of ability being used, whether extraordinary (Ex), supernatural (Su) or spell-like (Sp), determines which resistance is used to resist it (e.g. DR or ER):

  • Extraordinary Abilities (Ex): An extraordinary ability (Ex) that inflicts an unspecified damage type is treated as "physical, common" and can be resisted with "DR x/common", or "DR x/-". If it specifically calls out that the damage dealt is "untyped", it can only be resisted with "DR x/rare", or "DR x/-".
  • Supernatural Abilities (Su): A supernatural ability (Su) that inflicts an unspecified damage type is treated as "energy, common" and can be resisted with "ER x/common", or "ER x/-". If it specifically calls out that the damage dealt is "untyped", it can only be resisted with "ER x/rare", or "ER x/-".
  • Spell-Like Abilities (Sp): A spell-like ability (Su), or any spell, that inflicts an unspecified damage type is treated as "energy, common" and can be resisted with "ER x/common", or "ER x/-". If it specifically calls out that the damage dealt is "untyped", it can only be resisted with "ER x/rare", or "ER x/-".

Damage Resistance

Damage Resistance (DR) is a defensive trait that is used to reduce incoming physical damage. DR is most commonly acquired by wearing armor made from special Dweomermetals, such as Adamantine or Paramount Alloy. However, several character classes, such as the barbarian, can gain DR as a class feature without the need to wear armor.

DR is usually gained in one of six categories:

  • DR x/<single type> — provides protection only against attacks which inflict the specific type of physical damage listed.
  • DR x/common — provides protection against attacks which inflict damage of the type "physical, common"
  • DR x/uncommon — provides protection against attacks which inflict damage of the type "physical, uncommon"
  • DR x/rare — provides protection against attacks which inflict damage of the type "physical, rare"
  • DR x/<class>, bypassed by <type> — provides protection against attacks which inflict damage of a given class (common, uncommon or rare), but is bypassed by a specific type of damage within that class.
  • For example, most skeletons have "DR x/common, bypassed by bludgeoning"
  • DR x/- — provides protection against any attacks which inflict physical damage.

Damage resistance always has a numerical value (in place of the "x"), which is the amount of damage reduced from any single attack, if that attack is of a damage type the DR protects against. For example, A paladin with "DR 5/common" will reduce any "physical, common" damage by 5 points each time he would take damage of that type. If he is struck three different times by a dagger-wielding rogue, each of those three hits is reduced by 5 points (assuming the dagger is dealing "physical, common" damage).

It is possible for other variations of DR to exist. For example, some skeletons possess "DR x/common, penetrated by bludgeoning", which protects against all "physical, common" damage sources except for bludgeoning, even though bludgeoning is also a "physical, common" damage type.

It is also possible to gain a weak form of DR that only protects against a single damage type, such as "DR 10/slashing (physical, common)". Only slashing (physical, common) damage would be reduced by this DR. All other physical damage types would go through without reduction.

Finally, it is possible to possess more than one type of DR. If you are attacked with a damage type that could be resisted by more than one of your types of DR, you only apply the single best DR type you possess, not both. For example, if you have DR 10/common, and DR 5/-, and are struck by an attack which inflicts "physical, common", you would only use the "DR 10/common", since it provides more mitigation than the "DR 5/-". Of course, if you have DR x/- with a value higher than all your other DR types, it is the only one that matters.

Primal (undefined damage type) damage cannot be resisted with DR, even with DR x/-. Primal damage is irresistible, and can never be reduced by either DR or ER, unless an ability specifically states it can be used to mitigate or resist Primal damage.

Energy Resistance

Energy Resistance (ER) is a defensive trait used to reduce incoming energy damage. ER is most commonly acquired by equipping a shield that has been enchanted with the Energy Resistance property. However, several character classes can gain ER with class features, without the need to equip a shield.

ER is usually gained in one of six categories:

  • ER x/<single type> — provides protection only against attacks which inflict the specific type of energy damage listed.
  • ER x/common — provides protection against attacks which inflict damage of the type "energy, common"
  • ER x/uncommon — provides protection against attacks which inflict damage of the type "energy, uncommon"
  • ER x/rare — provides protection against attacks which inflict damage of the type "energy, rare"
  • ER x/<class>, bypassed by <type> — provides protection against attacks which inflict damage of a given class (common, uncommon or rare), but is bypassed by a specific type of damage within that class.
  • For example, a creature might have "ER x/common, bypassed by cold".
  • ER x/- — provides protection against any attacks which inflict energy damage.

Energy resistance always has a numerical value (in place of the "x"), which is the amount of damage reduced from any single attack, if that attack is of a damage type the ER protects against. For example, a sorcerer with "ER 5/common" will reduce any "energy, common" damage by 5 points each time they would take damage of that type. If they are struck three different times by fire darts, each of those three hits is reduced by 5 points (assuming the fire darts are merely dealing "fire (energy, common)" damage).

It is possible for other variations of ER to exist. For example, some drakes possess "ER x/common, penetrated by cold", which protects against all "energy, common" damage sources except for cold, even though cold is also an "energy, common" damage type.

It is also possible to gain a weak form of ER that only protects against a single energy type, such as "ER 10/acid (energy, common)". Only acid (energy, common) damage would be reduced by this ER. All other energy damage types would go through without reduction.

Finally, it is possible to possess more than one type of ER. If you are attacked with an energy type that could be resisted by more than one of your types of ER, you only apply the single best ER type you possess, not both. For example, if you have ER 10/common, and ER 5/-, and are struck by an attack which inflicts "energy, common", you would only use the "ER 10/common", since it provides more mitigation than the "ER 5/-". Of course, if you have ER x/- with a value higher than all your other ER types, it is the only one that matters.

Primal (undefined damage type) damage cannot be resisted with DR, even with DR x/-. Primal damage is irresistible, and can never be reduced by either DR or ER, unless an ability specifically states it can be used to mitigate or resist Primal damage.

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