DFRPG: Monsters Question(s)

[WhiteLily]

P. 18 of Monsters gives us "Ciuacla". It has DR 12 versus cutting. I know this because the description of the monster tells me, "Be aware that they have DR 12 vs. cutting attacks."

I would not have figured that out on my own. Their DR says 4. In their traits is reads, "DR 8 vs. cutting damage".

I would have read that strait and thought it to mean that they have DR 8 versus cutting damage, not 12, because, well, that's what it says.

Apparently, this is the wrong interpretation. Consulting "Damage Resistance" on Page 10 merely adds, "Additional DR against specific attacks forms is noted with other traits."

Again, I would not have read that as a literal addition to the number as opposed to an addition of numbers to use under special circumstances.

[DouglasCole]

Originally Posted by WhiteLily

P. 18 of Monsters gives us "Ciuacla". It has DR 12 versus cutting. I know this because the description of the monster tells me, "Be aware that they have DR 12 vs. cutting attacks."

I would not have figured that out on my own. Their DR says 4. In their traits is reads, "DR 8 vs. cutting damage".

I would have read that strait and thought it to mean that they have DR 8 versus cutting damage, not 12, because, well, that's what it says.

Apparently, this is the wrong interpretation. Consulting "Damage Resistance" on Page 10 merely adds, "Additional DR against specific attacks forms is noted with other traits."

Again, I would not have read that as a literal addition to the number as opposed to an addition of numbers to use under special circumstances.

Yah. If you look at Bronze Spider, it says DR 6, but there's no DR trait listed. I'm not sure if I did it that way in my own books or not; I think we broke it down more than DF Monsters did.

So the practice seems to be that whole-monster DR is just "what it says in the DR column," but special cases are what's listed.

This basically comes down to a decision that "monsters aren't built stepwise; they are what they are and special effects are noted."

[Kromm]

I've been doing this game-design thing for 25 years. I can promise you that in games in general, for each person who will read the two traits "DR: 4" and "DR 8 vs. cutting damage only" as "DR 4, becoming 8 vs. cutting," there is a person who will interpret them as "DR 4, becoming 12 vs. cutting."

As hack 'n' slash gaming tends to attract seekers of the most plusses, I'd say that in the specific context of the Dungeon Fantasy Roleplaying Game, the latter, more generous reading (DR 12 vs. cutting) is significantly more likely.

Rather than fight against that tendency, I decided to embrace it. I made sure to support my decision by saying, "Damage Resistance: [...] Additional DR against specific attack forms is noted with other traits." Because "additional" is entirely unambiguous.

Of course, I did make the sometimes-unwise assumption that people will read everything, including all the traits on Monsters, pp. 9-14, and all the specific stats in monster descriptions, including things on the Traits line that refer to said section. People who just jump in without reading are going to get lost, but that's not on me.

[DouglasCole]

Originally Posted by Kromm

I made sure to support my decision by saying, "Damage Resistance: [...] Additional DR against specific attack forms is noted with other traits." Because "additional" is entirely unambiguous.

Blink blink. Look at that. So it is. :-)

[adm]

Originally Posted by Kromm

...Of course, I did make the sometimes-unwise assumption that people will read everything, ...

In fairness, everyone does not always remember all of the details, all of the time.

[WhiteLily]

All I can speak to is myself, and I found the wording to be ambiguous.

I am now clear.