Better Burning

[heirodule]

It bothers me that someone who is on fire only takes 1d6 damage per round until they put themselves out.

This lets high HP characters stand there burning without any negative effects. D&D has gotten better at divding out combat damage which maps to HP and hurts high level PCs less, and other effects that are more immediate and binarily successful (bull rush, trip, etc)

I propose making those who are caught on fire take 1d6 points of damage per round CUMULATIVELY until the fire is put out.

r 1: 1d6
r 2: 3d6
r 3: 6d6
etc.

Acid really should have a similar effect, but there isn't a continuous burning with acid. So we can still assume that the high level PC just is so effective are reducing damage that the acid only hits him a little bit, and his damage is a small percenatage of his total HP compared to a first level charcater.

 

[Michael Morris]

Like the cold descriptor, fire gets a new treatment as well, and yes it can deal more than 1d6 per round, a lot more. But that's the kind of stuff that won't be revealed until the book is released.

 

[AeroDm]

People have ruled similarly with falling damage in various threads. I like the idea but find that it grows too rapidly and becomes too lethal for low level people. If you make something dangerous at level 15, it is beyond deadly at level 1. The problem comes in with HP scaling, which is why systems like Vita/Wound have better results when you start applying Wound damage. In core D&D, perhaps you could try something with Con damage (1d3/round?). This would make the average person die within 30 seconds, although an 18 con could last as many as 18 rounds with some lucky roles.

 

[heirodule]

Yah

Geometric progrssion might be better:

r1: 1d6
r2: 2d6
r3: 3d6
r4: 4d6

I'm not SO worried about it getting too tough for low levels. Many of them would be half dead with 1d6 + 1d6 in round 2, and they can always drop and roll for a fairly effective extinguishing