Today we’re going to be talking about resistances and how they apply to us. Both with the problems we face and ourselves.
We’re not going to cover immunity at all. You’re immune, it doesn’t effect you. That’s pretty simple conceptually. But what is more complex and nuanced is the idea of Resistances.
Resistances appear in a lot of games and in various forms. They all have to do with the damage that a player or opponent can take.
In Dungeons & Dragons resistance applies differently in the edition you play. In D&D 3.5 resistance applies to physical or mental damage in a specific numerical reduction. This is found in the barbarian class and a number of enemies where a particular type of damage has a fraction taken off the total damage done. Then there are additional reductions if there is a specific resistance. For example a barbarian will have a damage reduction of 2 but might also have a damage reduction for fire of 3. So if the barbarian takes 6 total damage 3 of which is fire, the barbarian will take 1 point of damage.
It get’s a little complicated at times. Continuing with 3.5 we also find spell resistance. Spell resistance is an additional layer of protection against magic. So attack spells first have to go through the spell resistance and then defeat your armor class or require a saving throw in order to damage you.
This is made a lot easier in 5th edition D&D because they just halve the damage and give advantage on saving throws. this just means you have either half as much damage taken out of you and twice the chance to save on a save. Ultimately it doubles the likelihood of your survival each time.
However this can make people think they are invincible, especially if they keep exposing themselves to what they are resistant to.
In SAS4: Zombie Assault I have gotten a pistol that does acid damage and there are a number of zombies that are resistant to acid damage. Like everything in that game weapons do a certain amount of hit points per residual damage and this pistol is no different. It’s so powerful at this stage I can shoot a zombie with one shot from the pistol and count to about 2 before they just drop dead.
The amazing thing is that even the resistant zombies will die within seconds of being shot by this gun or if they’re hit with a second shot.
Sometimes we think we’re immune to things when we only really have a high resistance to them. If we keep exposing ourselves to negative scenarios day after day after day we’ll wear down our resistance to them. And when we do that we’ll risk dying metaphorically and literally to our negative surroundings.
We all need to take care that we don’t overload our resistance to things. Because we can easily confuse ourselves into thinking we’re immune while ignoring the signs that we’re beginning to crack under the pressure.
So be careful. Recognize what things you’re resistant to and take the time to refresh your resistances with rest. If you don’t you’ll grind yourself down with stress, eventually experiencing a catastrophic failure.
Think about it.
Sincerely,
The Irreverent Gentleman
gentlemansuniversityofmanliness 