So How Deadly is Lava Anway? (Forked From: If it's not real then . . . )

[ryryguy]

I suspect the people who died far from the lava might have been inhaling toxic gases. Or, they could have just died from general exertion/heat exposure due to strenuous hiking in hot conditions required to get to the lava.

But yeah, actual molten magma is going to kill pretty much instantly if you fall in and hazardous just to be close. I wanted to point out the existence of less lethal forms of lava mainly as an option for a DM who wants something less deadly for some reason.

Actually, my understanding is that in the real world, volcanic mud flows called lahars cause many more casualties than lava flows, mainly because they travel extremely fast. They would also make an interesting hazard for some situations!

 

[Raven Crowking]

What hafrogman said is very important. Lava cools off fast and builts a skin. While it is still molten beneath that skin, it seals off the radiant heat and most of the fumes. I think that you should be able to cool off a thick enough layer of lava with a decent cold spell to quickly traverse a river of it.

Please remember, though, that that skin breaks very easily. Even after lava has cooled for days, people have fallen through the skin and received horrible, horrible burns. And even if they do not break through, the surface stone can be very hot.

These links might be of some help:

Lava - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Why is lava different colors? « Volcano World