[RPG] The unbodied in an anti-magic field

This will be based mainly on Pathfinder, as this is the system I play in. Adjust for your own rules. Note that for a lot of your questions, there is no very specific RAW answer (this is often the case with Antimagic Fields). I indicated all the RAW points and the most probable/logical result, but in the end there is still a lot of room for DM interpretation.

First, let's mention that technically, DMZ are AMF for all purposes. There is one big exception that I will mention below, though. Now, on to your questions.

Do potions work at all? In an DMZ, there is no conduit for magical Energy. It's clear to me that a potion is used up, but what about the (clearly magical) effect?

This is a tricky one. You can find a discussion about it here. Remember that potions are "a magic liquid" that "duplicates the effect of a spell". There seems to be 4 possible situations, based on the effect duration (instant, not instant) and where you drank it (outside or inside the zone).

• Drunk outside: no issue for an instant effect, as the effect has been applied already.
• Non-instant effect, drunk outside: the effect is suppressed, but not dispelled. Time spent inside the zone count against the duration.
• Non-instant effect, drunk inside: logic would seem to dictate that as for a spell, the effect is suppressed, but not dispelled, and time spent in the zone counts against the duration. So a character using a fly potion would not start flying, unless he got outside the zone before the duration expires.
• Instant effect, drunk inside: if we follow the same logic as the previous point, the potion wouldn't work when drunk, and since the duration ends immediately, would have no effect when outside the zone either.

It is clear to me that if the weave is not existent, wands/dorjes won't work. Do they still lose charges?

Grab a pencil next to you, and yell "Fireball!". Chances are, nothing happened (if it did, I am really sorry).

Normal items don't recognize triggers, this is a function of magic items only. Since a wand in an AMF is just a piece of wood, it has no ability to recognize the triggers. The magic triggers and even the magic charges don't exist while in the field.

Again, this is subject to DM interpretation, as you can cast spells inside AMF.

In an AMF, incorporeal undead cannot exist (winking out). Does that work the same way in DMZ?

That's very interesting and I never realized it before. I mainly use the SRDs (d20pfsrd and Paizo's), which both say:

Summoned creatures of any type wink out if they enter an antimagic field.

No mention about Incorporeal. Searching around, I finally went to get my Pathfinder Core book, which reads:

Summoned creatures of any type and incorporeal undead wink out if they enter an antimagic field.

As you said in a comment below, this seems to result from an errata, and the correct version does not include Incorporeal undead winking out.

However. Incorporeal undead live in the Ethereal Plane. Affecting the Material Plane is done through (Su) abilities, and seem to be definitely magic by nature. So we can assume than in a DMZ as in an AMF, Incorporeal Undead are stuck in the Ethereal Plane with no way to affect the Material Plane.

What about corporeal undead, animated by magic? These "work" (read: continue to be animated) inside AMF; what about DMZ?

As you said, it works in an AMF, and a DMZ works similarly to an AMF, with a non-negligeable exception that I will mention soon. However, instead of just saying "Undeads work in an AMF, DMZ are AMF, undeads work in DMZ", let's check the logic behind.

Animating dead is an instant effect, not a long duration one. Therefore, once animated, the Undead are not magical. They cannot be dispelled, the same way that you can't dispel a Cure Light Wounds spell after it has been applied. So since their being animated is not a magical effect, it does not need the presence of magic.

The other reason is a balance one. AMF is not intended to destroy creatures. It can hinder them, but not kill them. That's why it has no effect on golems or outsiders either.

Finally, note that controlling undead is in some cases a sustained magical effect. So while being animated is not affected by an AMF or a DMZ, being controlled can be. This can lead to... interesting situations.

The one difference between Antimagic Fields and Dead Magic Zones: Shadow-weaving

In the Faerun setting, Dead Magic Zones represent a dead part of the Weave, the fundamental part of magic (arcane and divine).

However, the Shadow Weave is distinct (and even opposite it seems) from the Weave, and thus is not affected by DMZ. This means a Shadow Weaver can cast spells in a DMZ without any issue. You could argue he would be restricted to Enchantment, Illusion and Necromancy though, as they are the most 'Shadow Weavey' schools.

Note that this also mean that magic items crafted by a Shadow Weaver could theoretically work in a DMZ. This would affect the potions and wands points above. No effect on incorporeal/corporeal undead points, except a Shadow Weaver would be able to control Undeads in a DMZ.

A magic weapon has an enhancement bonus; the size of the bonus is listed in the name of the weapon (a +1 short sword has a +1 enhancement bonus, a +2 short sword has a +2 enhancement bonus, and so on). Specifically, this is an enhancement bonus to the attack rolls and damage rolls made with that weapon.

A bonus is just a number that you add onto another roll. The “enhancement” term indicates the type of the bonus; the only significance of the type is that bonuses of the same type don’t stack. For example, a +2 short sword must also be a masterwork short sword (since all magic weapons must be masterwork). Masterwork gives a +1 enhancement bonus to attack rolls (not to damage rolls), but since this is also an enhancement bonus, attack rolls with the weapon only get the higher of the +2 enhancement bonus from its magic and the +1 enhancement bonus from its being masterwork, that is, you only add +2 to your attack rolls when you swing it.

The enhancement bonus to damage rolls works the same way: it adds on to the existing roll. A +2 short sword adds +2 to the damage roll. This is added on to the weapon’s damage die (1d6, assuming a Medium short sword), as well as any other appropriate bonuses (e.g. the wielder’s Strength bonus). Again, it would not stack with any other enhancement bonuses to the damage roll, for example from a magic weapon spell cast upon the sword.

It doesn’t actually change the damage type at all; it is just adding a certain amount to the piercing damage that the short sword deals. “Magic damage” as such is not really a thing.

What you are thinking of is the ability to penetrate damage reduction listed as “DR X/magic,” or perhaps “DR X/magic-and-piercing,” as well as the ability to attack incorporeal creatures. The entire 1d6+2 (or more, from Strength or other bonuses) penetrates these sorts of damage reduction and can attack incoporeal foes, because the rules for damage reduction (D&D 3.5, Pathfinder) say:

Some monsters are vulnerable to magic weapons. Any weapon with at least a +1 magical enhancement bonus on attack and damage rolls overcomes the damage reduction of these monsters.

And the rules for incorporeal (D&D 3.5, Pathfinder) state:

Incorporeal creatures can be harmed only [...] by magic weapons [...] Even when struck by magic or magic weapons, an incorporeal creature has a 50% chance to ignore any damage from a corporeal source—except for a force effect or damage dealt by a ghost touch weapon.

Here you can see that it isn’t that the magic weapon changes the type of damage dealt, it’s that the damage reduction and incorporeal properties themselves specify that if the weapon is magic (has at least a +1 enhancement bonus), the entire damage roll ignores the DR or incorporeality.

So when people, or even the rules, talk about “magic damage” or “magic piercing damage,” they’re really using a shorthand: the damage is “damage, that is being dealt by a magic weapon” or “piercing damage, that is being dealt by a magic weapon.”

The types of damage are bludgeoning, piercing, or slashing (collectively, “physical” damage, affected by damage reduction), acid, cold, electricity, fire, or sonic (collectively, “energy” damage, affected by energy resistance), and then more exotic things like force damage (magic missile, automatically hits incorporeal targets and generally exempt from resistance or immunity), untyped damage (the Complete Arcane warlock’s eldritch blast, also generally irresistible), vile damage (various effects in Book of Vile Darkness, cannot be healed), dessication damage (some effects in Sandstorm, can cause fatigue), and so on. The City Magic feat from Cityscape wins for the bizarrest entry here: it converts half a spell’s damage to “city” damage.