Damage Type

Damage Type is a way of categorizing damage based on how it would interact with armor, the body, the mind, and even the soul.

All damage is categorized using a Major Damage Type and a Minor Damage Type.

The Major Damage Types are: Solid, Fluid, Ethereal, True, and Vital.
The Minor Damage Types are: Blunt, Sharp, Shock, Fire, Ice, Caustic and Planar.

Generally speaking, the Major Damage Types are as follows:

• Solid Damage gets down by armor or physical defenses before it hits you.
• Fluid Damage can seep through or around most physical defenses.
• Ethereal Damage comes to you through non-physical means, bypassing physical defenses altogether.
• True Damage bypasses your Shield, getting applied first to your Health, then your Vitality. You cannot gain a Resistance to True Damage and True Damage does not pair with Minor Damage Types.
• Vital Damage bypasses your Shield and Health, getting applied directly to your Vitality. You cannot gain a Resistance to Vital Damage and Vital Damage does not pair with Minor Damage Types.

Below is a chart that provides basic examples of descriptions of what each Major/Minor combination might represent in your travels. (The table does not cover all combo descriptions. Your GM may also create a new Minor Damage Types.)