Hammers, swinging log traps, and falling damage all cause bludgeoning damage. Instead, bludgeoning damage causes bruises, or shatters bones. Bludgeoningīludgeoning damage occurs whenever you take damage from an object that doesn’t necessarily break skin. Piercing damage occurs if an object enters your body, typically creating a relatively small hole.Īrrows, spears, or dart traps deal piercing damage. Longswords or swinging blade traps deal slashing damage, for instance. If it gives you a cut, then it was Slashing. Slashing damage occurs whenever a bladed weapon is swung through the air, or a sharp object rubs against you. If you’re confused about any of the 13 different occurrences of damage (and don’t worry – some are weird ), you’ve come to the right place! These will be categorized, just a bit. And many monsters have different ways to resist damage, or become straight-up immune to a specific type! So, it’s important to have your options open, and know a bit about what it means to take a type of damage. We are living in a magical world, so when magic happens, it can create a whole bunch of different effects.

The 5E damage types are designed to give players and DMs alike a wide suite of options.

So, what are the 13 damage types, and how should you describe them? Check out our 5e Damage Types guide for a few examples! 5E Damage Types That’s a lot to handle! And if it’s your first time DMing, the concept of Resistance, Vulnerability, and Immunity can be a bit much. Chromatic Orb, for example, can deal 6 different damage types. When opening up a spell list in Dungeons & Dragons 5E, you may find that there’s a ton of different damages.

Dnd 5e creature types