Sword of Wounding and Sneak Damage

Question

The Sword of Wounding states that all damage dealt with the sword can only be healed by a short or long rest. If a rogue uses sneak attack with this weapon would the sneak damage be included under the sword properties or is this considered a different source of damage?

Answer 1

While not explicitly spelled out, it's generally accepted that Sneak Attack Damage is part of your Weapon Damage, the same way your Stat bonus to damage is part of your weapon damage.

It is treated as being the same Type of damage as the weapon you are using deals, and it benefits from all of the other things that impact damage.

Based on that, yes...a Sneak Attack done with a Sword of Wounding (assuming said sword was a Finesse weapon) would apply the Sword of Wounding's effects to the entire damage stack.

This is further supported by developer commentary. This is from Mike Mearls, so it is not authoritative, as if it came from the Sage Advice Compendium, but it does still represent designer intent.

Q: If sneak attack is used, are sneak damage dice part of the weapon damage dice? are sneak dice maximzd with sharpness sword?

A: i'd say yes

Source

Answer 2

Extra damage can be healed by normal means, only weapon damage cannot

The Sword of Wounding states (emphasis mine):

Hit points lost to this weapon's damage can be regained only through a short or long rest, rather than by regeneration, magic, or any other means. [...]

This is similar to the Savage Attacker feat:

[...] Once per turn when you roll damage for a melee weapon attack, you can reroll the weapon’s damage dice and use either total. [...]

And we know the Savage Attacker feat does not apply to extra damage such as from Sneak Attack, as shown in the following:

• Does the Savage Attacker feat let you reroll Sneak Attack damage dice?

This is because it only impacts weapon damage dice, and thus does not effect extra damage like Sneak Attack. Since the Sword of Wounding only affects weapon damage we can conclude that it also does not apply to extra damage such as from Sneak Attack.

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We can also see that Sneak Attack is different because its wording is different from other features such as the Cavalier Fighter's Unwavering Mask:

[...] Once per turn, you can deal an extra 1d6 damage to one creature you hit with an attack if you have advantage on the attack roll. [...]

[...] the attack's weapon deals extra damage to the target equal to half your fighter level. [...]

The first, Sneak Attack, simply deals extra damage where the latter, Unwavering Mask, adds weapon damage. Only the latter is actually impacted by a Sword of Wounding.

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There is also the following question:

• Are extra effects considered weapon damage on a sword of sharpness?

And in my own answer I argue a point similar to this one that a weapon's damage, or a weapon's damage dice are separate from most sources of extra damage. I'm not sure how strictly related that answer is, but it may be worth reading through.

Answer 3

According to Mike Mearls' unofficial statement on twitter, sneak attack damage dice are considered part of the weapon's damage dice:

Svargth @Svargth @mikemearls If sneak attack is used, are sneak damage dice part of the weapon damage dice? are sneak dice maximzd with sharpness sword?

Mike Mearls @mikemearls

@Svargth i'd say yes

So yes, it probably would be included, and would require a rest to recover!