Lava question

[Fieari]

I don't like the "lava kills you, period" rules for one reason and one reason only: fire resistance/fire immunity. I want it to be possible to protect yourself against lava so that you can conceivably get across with enough magic.

I may house rule it to "Lava deals 1.5x your max hp in fire damage per round standing in it." That way, unprotected, lava kills you, no save. With most levels of protection, lava STILL kills you, but gives your friends a 1-round chance to get you out and you're pretty messed up. But pile on enough fire resistance, and you might be able to run across lava, if you do it quick enough. And of course, immunity means you can bath in the stuff.

Don't forget that we have an EPIC tier! I agree that for Heroic, and even Paragon, lava should kill you outright. But at Epic levels, there should be a little mitigation...

 

[Saeviomagy]

You know, I was talking to a friend about this.

With 4th Ed's shifting, how are locations like Volcanoes, swinging bridges, narrow ledges on a cliff side, ect, ect, going to be?

Besides deadly. "I shift the uber bad guy 3 spaces that way right into the river of lava".

And if bad guys get to shift the heroes!? No save, instant kill.

Will this be better or worse? More drama and tension or too deadly to use except in very, very rare cases?

rv

The simple answer is:

Don't use encounters near pit traps of certain death unless the PCs are high enough level to handle it, or high enough level that they could use another effect to do the same thing to the BBEG.

 

[GnomeWorks]

This is 4E.

Rule #1. If you fall into lava, you die. Save ends.

But wait. I thought that instant death effects were badwrongfun?

Man, I've really been having difficulty keeping these conflicting design decisions straight.

 

[Traken]

But wait. I thought that instant death effects were badwrongfun?

Man, I've really been having difficulty keeping these conflicting design decisions straight.

Lava isn't mentioned anywhere as being insta-kill in the core books.

That said, I'm thinking something along the lines of 5d10/round, and it counts as difficult terrain.

 

[Surgoshan]

I'm thinking the "fall in lava == die" was part of the early design process that got scrapped in favor of complete elimination of save or die elements.

The fire titan hurls lava to do 4d6+6 damage. Another creature uses lava to cause 5 ongoing fire damage.

I'd say that immersion in lava causes 8d6 damage per round, +1d6 per round after the first. After you're removed from lava, it causes ongoing 5 damage, save ends. Thus it'll average 28 damage on the first round, enough to kill most first level characters. Then it'll do 30.5, then 34, then 37.5... It'll kill most characters without damage reduction in just a few rounds. Damage reduction will extend characters' lives considerably.

 

[keterys]

I'd suggest something more static, make it easier for resistance - like 30 ongoing fire damage. But, there must be a rule for it somewhere, since a playtest had someone in the lava that got removed right before he died... which fits with the ongoing damage thing: you get to swing by and get them out if you can do it before the start of his turn.

 

[Xanaqui]

I'd say that immersion in lava causes 8d6 damage per round, +1d6 per round after the first. After you're removed from lava, it causes ongoing 5 damage, save ends. Thus it'll average 28 damage on the first round, enough to kill most first level characters. Then it'll do 30.5, then 34, then 37.5... It'll kill most characters without damage reduction in just a few rounds. Damage reduction will extend characters' lives considerably.

Note that most creatures would only make an impression on the surface prior to floating (assuming that the creature falls on the lava, and not vice-versa). A creature on top of the surface would only displace its mass of the liquid (which for a human would be less than 2 cubic feet - which is around 340 lb of lava). That's also ignoring its viscosity, which would mean that any deformation from a creature on top would be very slow. In short, a creature immune to lava damage should easily be able to walk on lava, and only slowly move down into lava. In the long term, a creature immersed in lava may have to worry about pressure damage.

 

[Tzepish]

To answer the other question, super-hot geysers are indeed considered traps, and are covered in the DMG.

 

[DarkJester]

I say take bloodied hp damage each round, counts as difficult terrain. Creatures with fire resistance are granted a save with a bonus equal to their fire resistance value to avoid damage.

 

[Olgar Shiverstone]

But wait. I thought that instant death effects were badwrongfun?

That's why a save ends the effect.