Being that this trait (
Heated Body: A creature that touches the remorhaz or hits it with a melee Attack while within 5 feet of it takes 10 (3d6) fire damage.) in the 5e version did 10d10 damage in earlier version, I'd say the 5e version is nerfed. but as you as YEMV
How many times did the remorhaz in earlier editions roll over on PCs though? (FWIW it specifies any creature touched by these surfaces on its
back... didn't happen in any games I recall--but it was a very long time ago...
shrug)
Now, any time someone hits it with a melee attack they take damage. So, a fighter making 2-3 melee attacks takes 2d10-3d10 damage per round, and that is for each attacker. So, a lot less damage (especially when you take the HP bloat factor into account in 5E) but now much more common to take the damage. How much of a trade-off? Who knows.
Actually, what a lot of people fail to realize were the
real nerfs to the Remorhaz from AD&D:
1. It had 75%
magic resistance! That is
HUGE! In 5E, they didn't give it a darn thing in that respect. Not even a single save proficiency. Pitiful...
2. Any creature swallowed in AD&D was killed instantly due to the heat inside. No save, no damage roll, just plain dead.
Now, 5E has comparable AC and HP are better (even taking into account the bloat factor), and the actual bite damage is also close (again, adjusting for HP bloat).
Anyway, so I am not saying the creature didn't get nerfed (in fact, I
never said that...), but it still can be quite an effective foe in 5E.
