gas attacks and holding breath

[Kershek]

If you're holding your breath before a gas attack (dragon's gas breath, gorgon's breath (turn to stone), etc.) do you still take damage? How about an iron golem's poisonous gas?

If you are an air genasi who doesn't breathe, do you still take damage?

 

[Crothian]

I do beleive that the gas will effect you even if you are holding your breath by seeping into your skin.

 

[Mahali]

Yes and Yes. Not all gasses have to be inhaled to harm you but the main reason is there aren't any rules for holding your breath against those to prevent them from affecting you.

 

[Kershek]

So only against gases that 'stink', such as the ghoul and troglodite effects, would he be immune?

 

[Crothian]

So only against gases that 'stink', such as the ghoul and troglodite effects, would he be immune?

Unless it says under his holding of breath ability, I don't think so. Bad smells still can make your eyes water, and nose run even when holding one's breathe.

 

[Kershek]

Actually, I'm thinking more along the lines of an air genasi who doesn't breathe.

 

[Crothian]

Even still, the gases will have other adverse effects on the character.

 

[Jeph]

A dragon's cone of corrosive gas deals damage because it basically burns your skin off, not because you breathe it. I'd rule that things like that still have their adverse effects, and smell-based things don't.

 

[christm]

Chlorine gas (green dragon's breath weapon) is HIGHlY corrosive. The main way that it kills somebody is liquifying their lungs causing asphixiation, but it will still cause quite a bit of damage as it disolves soft mucus membranes like the inside of your nasal passage, the lining of the throat, and eye lining and retinal tissue on contact, and seriously burning skin tissue. To quote a haz-mat info sheet "Chlorine reacts with water and tissues to form corrosive hypochlorous acid and hydrochloric acid."

I would think that a creature holding his breath would still take the full damage from the gas, since you only really stop the gas from entering the lungs and it still will easily burn the soft tissue and skin, and holding your breath for any great length of time while undertaking physical exertion is going to be VERY hard. Your average fighter wearing his 30 lb breast plate and wielding an 8 lb longsword that just charged 120 feet to take a swing at a dragon is in no shape to just stop breathing, and might very well pass out if he tried.

A creature that does not need to breathe might automatically only take half damage from such at attack, at the DM's disrection. He would still get skin and retinal burns if he were caught in the blast.

What not breathing really helps out against are things like being trapped in quicksand, trapped in the mine shaft without air, stench attacks of undead that paralyze, being underwater, and so forth. But it stands to reason that a creature that is not breathing could not talk while being immune to these kinds of effects, since talking does require breathing. Also your typical air gensai would not be to keen on hanging out underwater, since it is his opposed element.

 

[Kershek]

I would think earth would be his opposite elemental. Water is a complement of air - after all, look at rainy/snowy weather and clouds which hold moisture. Fire would be water's opposite.

Yes, I agree that corrosive (acid) gas is independent of breathing. I never mentioned corrosive gas in my question (though I admit I didn't specify). There are other dragon breath weapons that I was thinking about:

Brass: cone of sleep
Bronze: cone of repulsion gas
Copper: cone of slow gas
Gold: cone of weakening gas
Silver: cone of paralyzing gas


Yes, I realize those are all good dragons