A dragon’s claws are not magical. Neither are a werewolf’s fangs, a giant’s fists, or any other natural weapon, no matter how high the creature’s CR climbs. In 5e, a monster’s attack counts as magical in exactly three cases: it attacks with a magic weapon, its stat block has a trait saying its attacks are magical, or the attack comes from a spell. Fail all three checks and the attack bounces off anything immune to nonmagical attacks, which produces some genuinely strange monster-versus-monster standoffs.
The three-condition test
| Condition | Example | Counts as magical? |
|---|---|---|
| Attacking with a magic weapon | A fire giant swinging a +1 greatsword | Yes, with that weapon. The giant’s fists remain nonmagical |
| A stat block trait says so | A creature with a “its weapon attacks are magical” trait (common on celestials, fiends, and high-CR monsters that earned it explicitly) | Yes, for the attacks the trait covers |
| The attack is a spell | Any spell attack or spell damage, including innate spellcasting | Yes, always |
| None of the above | A young red dragon’s bite, an owlbear’s claws, a giant ape’s fists | No, regardless of CR, age category, or how scary it is |
That last row is the one tables get wrong constantly. Power is not magic. The stat block either says the attacks are magical or it doesn’t, and most monsters’ natural weapons, including legendary ones, don’t carry the trait. Always read the block; never infer from the CR.
“Nonmagical weapons” vs “nonmagical attacks”: read the exact wording
Immunity lines aren’t all written identically, and the difference matters. Official errata reworded most of these immunities to cover nonmagical attacks, which includes natural weapons like claws and bites, not just manufactured swords and arrows. Lycanthropes are the textbook case: a werewolf’s immunity covers attacks that aren’t magical or silvered, so a dragon’s mundane claws do nothing to it. When you crack open a stat block, check whether the immunity names weapons, attacks, or attacks-not-silvered, because that single word defines what gets through.
Monster-vs-monster: the weird standoffs
| Matchup | Result |
|---|---|
| Young red dragon vs werewolf | The dragon’s bite and claws are nonmagical, so they deal no damage. The dragon’s fire breath isn’t a weapon attack at all, so the immunity doesn’t apply and the breath cooks the werewolf normally |
| Giant (no magic weapon) vs specter | The giant cannot hurt it. Time to throw rocks at something else |
| Werewolf vs specter | Mutual futility: the werewolf’s claws are also nonmagical, and the specter’s Life Drain is a spectral touch most DMs rule as magical in nature; check the block and rule consistently |
| Anything casting a spell vs anything immune to nonmagical attacks | The spell works. Immunity to nonmagical attacks has never stopped a Fireball |
Note the breath weapon row, because it’s the second most-missed ruling in this whole topic: immunity to nonmagical (weapon) attacks restricts attacks of that kind, not every source of nonmagical damage. Breath weapons, swallowed acid, falling rocks, and similar effects resolve on their own terms.
How I handle it at my table
At my table, I try to make this obvious after the first hit, not after the player has wasted half the fight. If the attack does nothing, I’ll say something like, “Your blade cuts across it, but there’s no wound — it’s like the force of the strike just never lands.” That gives the player the information without turning it into a rules lecture. I’m fine with the first miss being painful, but once the table has seen the effect, they should know they need magic, silver, a spell, or a different plan.
What changed in the 2024 rules
The 2024 Monster Manual moved away from this mechanic in a big way: many creatures that previously carried nonmagical attack immunities or resistances, lycanthropes included, were rebuilt without them, with durability shifted into hit points and other defenses instead. If your table runs 2024 monsters, check each new stat block before assuming the old immunity exists, because in many cases it simply doesn’t anymore. Mixed-edition tables should pick one version of each monster and stay consistent. (Verify against your 2024 books for the specific creature, since the rework wasn’t uniform.)
Encounter design implications
For parties, this immunity is a gear check in monster’s clothing: a martial-heavy group without magic weapons faces an effective difficulty far above the listed CR, while a caster-heavy group barely notices it. Audit your party’s magic weapon access before deploying these creatures, and if the party lacks it, either seed a magic weapon beforehand, pair immune creatures with vulnerable ones so everyone has a target, or lean into it deliberately as a horror beat, where the sword bouncing off is the point. That last move is a core technique in our horror one-shot guide, and the broader question of when 5e’s difficulty math misleads you is covered in where 5e’s combat math breaks down. When an immune creature does shut a player out, say so plainly at the table (“your arrows pass through without harm”) so they redirect after one wasted attack instead of four.