Damage Reduction

Damage Reduction is special form of Damage Resistance that allows a creature to ignore damage from an entire category of Damage Types. A creature with damage reduction ignores an amount of Physical damage (bludgeoning, slashing, or piercing) from a single hit. There are two forms of damage reduction: "Natural" DR (sometimes called "slash-dash") and "Magical" DR. Both types of damage reduction stack with any other type of damage resistance.

• Like damage resistance, natural DR is characterized by a numerical value followed by a slash and a dash. For example, 5/- or 22/-.
  • The numerical value represents the amount of damage ignored, or reduced, by the ability. A 14th level Barbarian, for instance, has a natural damage reduction of 2/-. This means that the Barbarian will ignore two points of damage from any and all Physical attacks.
  • Natural DR is typically a permanent effect provided by a class or racial ability. All permanent forms of natural damage reduction stack. Non-permanent natural DR, such as from an exceptional item, does not stack with permanent natural damage reduction.
  • Natural DR does not stack with magical DR. If you receive DR from two sources, you use the higher of the two. So, if we take our 14th level Barbarian and give him adamantium full plate with a magical DR of 5/+1 and a damage resistance of 5/- vs. slashing, then she will ignore the first ten points of Physical damage from a slashing weapon that doesn't have at least a base enchantment of +1. The 5/+1 DR is greater than her natural DR of 2/-, so it is used instead. If the attacker used an iron (+1) slashing weapon, then the Barbarian would soak seven points of damage.
• Magical DR is characterized by a numerical value followed by a slash, plus sign, and another numerical value. For example, 5/+1 or 20/+5.
  • The first numerical value represents the amount of ignored damage. The second numerical value represents the power of the weapon needed to penetrate the effect. Thus, a creature with 20/+3 damage reduction ignores the first twenty points of Physical damage from any weapon that does not have an enhancement bonus of +3 or greater.
  • Magical DR, whether a permanent effect or not, never stacks with itself. If our example Barbarian in her spiffy adamantium full plate asks her buddy, Mr. 15th level Wizard, to cast Stoneskin on her, giving her 5/+3 magical DR, then she will still only soak ten points of damage from a slashing weapon. The only difference now is that instead of needing only a +1 weapon to break the magical DR the full plate provides, the weapon now needs to be of a +3 enchantment.