View source for Damage and Resistance

[[Category:Epic Path]]
[[Image:Damage_Types_1.jpg|500px|right|Never doubt that light can kill.]]
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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 [[:Category:Damage Types|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:
{{#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}}

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:
{{#dpl:|category=Energy-Rare}}

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.

{{:Base Weapon Damage}}

{{:Bonus 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 {{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.

===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 {{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.

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.

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 &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.

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.

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.

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}}

{{:Energy Resistance}}