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<blockquote data-quote="Greenfield" data-source="post: 6680375" data-attributes="member: 6669384">Okay, it has some heat.&nbsp; Enough to, after cutting in half (as fire spells are for inanimate object damage) overcome the hardness of the soft metal, and then have enough left over to do any actual damage to the metal?That argument is an admixture of physics and metagame mechanics, of course.&nbsp; In physics we'd talk about thermal mass and heat distribution rates.&nbsp; Silver, by the way, is an excellent conductor of heat.&nbsp; Gold?&nbsp; Not so much.&nbsp; With Silver you end up needing to bring the entire mass to melting point before you can melt any at all.&nbsp; That takes a lot of energy, and the only way to avoid this is to apply truly intense heat to a localized area, to take it through the change of state from solid to liquid so fast the metal hasn't time to conduct the heat away.In short, physics is a lot more complicated than game rules.&nbsp; Like we didn't already know that.Game rules say you can't damage inanimate objects with non-lethal damage.&nbsp; In play, I stick with that.&nbsp; Your mileage may vary, of course.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Greenfield, post: 6680375, member: 6669384"] Okay, it has some heat. Enough to, after cutting in half (as fire spells are for inanimate object damage) overcome the hardness of the soft metal, and then have enough left over to do any actual damage to the metal? That argument is an admixture of physics and metagame mechanics, of course. In physics we'd talk about thermal mass and heat distribution rates. Silver, by the way, is an excellent conductor of heat. Gold? Not so much. With Silver you end up needing to bring the entire mass to melting point before you can melt any at all. That takes a lot of energy, and the only way to avoid this is to apply truly intense heat to a localized area, to take it through the change of state from solid to liquid so fast the metal hasn't time to conduct the heat away. In short, physics is a lot more complicated than game rules. Like we didn't already know that. Game rules say you can't damage inanimate objects with non-lethal damage. In play, I stick with that. Your mileage may vary, of course. [/QUOTE]

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