A Polar Bear in an arctic environment...

[Len]

The damage you take from cold is a little too extreme. -20° F isn't all that cold.

3e was written in Seattle.

 

[ken-ichi]

-20 F is pretty deadly when you don't have shelter.
I rule that if a creature is a native of a cold climate then you shift the temp ratings by one and if they natively life in very cold arctic climates you can shift the temp table by two. Same thing for hot climates.
If you have a source of shelter and presumably a fire or other source of warmth then you are no longer subject to the same degree of the harsh environment. I am pretty sure that the polar bears don't just lay down in the middle of the field of ice and snow and snooze. They most likely burrow a hole into a snow bank or find a cave in which to sleep.

Fun fact: -30 F with 30 mph winds will freeze your flesh in 30 seconds.

 

[LostSoul]

-20 (or -40) is cold, but not 1d6 damage/minute cold (no save). That'll drop normal people in two minutes at most (ooh, that snowbank looks so comfortable, I'll just have a little nap).

edit: Maybe Canadians aren't normal.

 

[Felnar]

even if your standard bear couldnt survive by RAW, the summoned bear in your example survives just fine for two reasons:

Sorcerers summon a Celestial polar bear (with summon monster 6)
Polar bears hit dice = 8d8+32
Celestial animals with 8 or more hit dice have Resistance to Cold/10

and

Creatures cannot be summoned into an environment that cannot support them.

he did summon the bear, so the environment must support them

 

[Dark Dragon]

You're right (and I forgot that celestial polar bears have cold resistance, thanks to remind me).

But the sorcerer is also an alienist and so he summoned a pseudonatural polar bear. Hm, not sure if these pseudo-bears still have cold resistance...IIRC, one of the attacking winter wolfs did some damage with his frost breath to the bear, so, no cold resistance 10.

 

[Mustrum_Ridcully]

You're right (and I forgot that celestial polar bears have cold resistance, thanks to remind me).

But the sorcerer is also an alienist and so he summoned a pseudonatural polar bear. Hm, not sure if these pseudo-bears still have cold resistance...IIRC, one of the attacking winter wolfs did some damage with his frost breath to the bear, so, no cold resistance 10.

Some damage could mean it just was more then 10 points of cold damage... And there is also the question wether someone didn't forget the cold resistance

 

[ken-ichi]

Yeah a big problem is that the Coldest temp allows for no save. Cold Weather gear and a good survival skill do nothing to help. I think a possibly better method is to have cold weather gear treat the temperature conditions as 1 step warmer instead of the +5 save bonus. You could keep this step as no save if you want as it is not likely that one would fare well without cold weather gear at -20 degrees.
Then you could include a colder condition that deals damage with no save something like -60 or something that would pretty much only occur in Antarctica or on a different Plane. Where it is conceivable that a person would die in a matter of minutes even with good cold gear.

 

[Scion]

Yeah a big problem is that the Coldest temp allows for no save. Cold Weather gear and a good survival skill do nothing to help. I think a possibly better method is to have cold weather gear treat the temperature conditions as 1 step warmer instead of the +5 save bonus. You could keep this step as no save if you want as it is not likely that one would fare well without cold weather gear at -20 degrees.
Then you could include a colder condition that deals damage with no save something like -60 or something that would pretty much only occur in Antarctica or on a different Plane. Where it is conceivable that a person would die in a matter of minutes even with good cold gear.

This sounds pretty good. It would also work on the high end making it bad to wear heavy winter gear while you are walking around at the equator or in a volcano type setting.

 

[Dark Dragon]

Sounds good. But I'd prefer protective clothing when walking close to a fresh lava flow
Not a fur, but something thick that does not ignite quickly, like leather....

 

[Scion]

Sounds good. But I'd prefer protective clothing when walking close to a fresh lava flow
Not a fur, but something thick that does not ignite quickly, like leather....

personally, I would go for something light and reflective to infrared.. but then, if it is a suit designed to be protective against lava it wont have the tag of 'treat the environment you are in as one stage warmer than it is'.. unless 'protective' means 'kill occupant'