Lava is an integral part of any great adventure setting. What's a great adventure climax without a simmering pool of lava ready to swallow unwary adventurers whole—and having every player leaping for the Bull Rush rules? In any campaign, sooner or later, somebody's going to fall into some lava.
For too long, lava has been the red-headed stepchild of environmental dangers. People focused on cooler and easier to manage threats: water, falling rocks, big pointy sticks, ancient dragons. Fire and Brimstone will change all of that. You will no longer think of lava as just red, glowing, viscous, and really really hot. Lava will no longer be just something that flows under a rock bridge or at the bottom of a chasm. Explore the possibilities. Open up your games to lava!
"This is a breakthrough in determining a long-burning question of great magmatude. I plan to institute this comprehensive rules coverage in the Lejendary Adventure game!"
—Gary Gygax (yes, THAT Gary Gygax)
Did Gary Gygax REALLY say that? Yes. Yes, he did. Just like Wil Wheaton really said this: "Thanks to Fire and Brimstone: Guide to Lava, Magma, and Superheated Rock players and DMs will never have to argue when resolving encounters with lava. Or magma. Or superheated rock."
And Ed Greenwood REALLY said this: "In every roleplaying game, situations arise that cry out for detailed, definitive rules. Fire and Brimstone fills that need, and is a must for every roleplaying completist, regardless of edition or game system being used. If I'd had Fire and Brimstone, things might have been very different for Elminster of Shadowdale. I would have known exactly how to handle the situation of his stepping into flowing lava, in the heat of play, rather than just simply de-feeting him. If you are a serious gamer, building a campaign you hope will last for years and become famous and spawn hundreds of products earning you (or more likely a game company) millions of dollars, you simply cannot afford to be without Fire and Brimstone. Fire and Brimstone is burningly essential to any roleplaying experience. It gilds the celestial throne of Roleplaying Heaven!"
And Peter Adkison REALLY said this: "Back in the early '90s, at Wizards of the Coast we published "Capsystems," like The Primal Order, for using a set of rules with a variety of game systems. Then in the late '90s came d20, another attempt at unifying RPG rules. But these rules on lava are the most elegant cross-platform rules yet, taking the philosophy of cross-system play to a whole new level!"
And Sue Cook REALLY said this: "This marvel of brevity is a credit to its editor." And Paul Campion (texture painter for the Balrog) REALLY said this: "Falling into lava is like trying to kiss a Balrog; it's a very stupid thing to do and you're going to die a very hot painful death." And he should know, right?
And Steve Kenson REALLY said this: "The most realistic and elegant magma mechanic ever conceived for True20... or any RPG!"
And Scott Rouse (Senior Brand Manager for Wizards of the Coast) REALLY said this: "The risk of dying in a pyroclastic flow is ever present when you live and work in the shadow of Mt. Rainier, one of the world's most dangerous volcanoes, but you tend to bury those thoughts deep in your subconscious. Fire and Brimstone: A Comprehensive Guide to Lava, Magma, and Superheated Rock provides a frightening and concise reminder of what can happen if you fall into lava. It presents rules that are relevant in real life or for use in any roleplaying game."
And Robin D. Laws REALLY said this: "Not so much a game as a fully operational philosophy of life itself."
You know why they said those things? Because our lava rules are LAVATASTIC.
Fire and Brimstone is brought to you by Scratch Factory and Sammichcon Creations and is a product of Gen Con 2007's Sammich Con!
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Certainly this product is realistic. Any real person who comes into contact with lava will be severely burned and unless removed from the lava immediately will almost certainly die. However consider this. No one on this planet, if represented in a d20 system game, would exceed 5th level. Pathfinder has levels going up to 20th. By the time you're 20th level you are basically a demigod.
Let's say John Smith has "rolled" an 18 for Con and then puts his racial ability bonus into Con, resulting in a 20 Con in total. When turns 18 he enlists in the military and becomes a warrior (or maybe an enforcer, for the purposes of this exercise it doesn't matter). Let us assume that he "rolls" a 10 for hit points. Remember that hit points don't just represent physical resilience but other factors as well. He has a long and successful career attaining four more levels, rolling 10 for hit points each time and using his favored class bonus to attain more hit points. He even takes toughness. He has gone up an age category, but also put his ability point from leveling into Con so he still has 20. At this point John Smith has 85 hit points. He is not only extremely tough, but lucky, and skilled in avoiding damage to a legendary degree, probably the best in history. However one day he has a spot of bad luck and falls into a volcano.
He'll be dead in no more than thirty-five seconds.
So how are the Pathfinder rules for lava not realistic again? High level characters who might, might, survive immersion in lava aren't realistic anyways. The kind of mythic characters they represent are like Hercules and Cu Cuchulain who do incredibly unrealistic stuff in the first place. Could Hercules survive a bath in lava, if only a momentary one? There is really no way to say because he is a figure of myth, which tends to change depending on who tells it. Guess it depends on the story. So if you want people who are immersed in lava to die instantly in your campaigns to die instantly that's you're choice and that's OK. I on the other hand see no problem with a 20th level fighter being able to fall into lava and survive, albeit likely very heavily wounded.
Any lava/magma/superheated rock situation you might envision are covered by the Lava Rules! There is almost no situation involving the thermally enhanced version of stone that isn't touched upon by this unusually thorough supplement!
Rarely in my gaming career have i found a rules set as complete as the Fire and Brimstone Comprehensive Guide. Sheer genius!
Pathfinder Lost Omens, Rulebook, Starfinder Adventure Path, Starfinder Roleplaying Game Subscriber
I'm unable to download from My Downloads section. I get the follow ing errors when I try:
Forbidden
You don't have permission to access /download/44637/v5748aid7oz70/v5748a8i2ik94/fireAndBrimstoneAComprehensiveG uideToLavaMagmaAndSuperheatedRockD20PDF.zip on this server.
I frequently have that problem with some of the files.
What I've found is that the PDF is included in the ZIP folder, but it is not actually been zipped. Thus, I just copy the PDF file and put it in a normal folder.
I frequently have that problem with some of the files.
What I've found is that the PDF is included in the ZIP folder, but it is not actually been zipped. Thus, I just copy the PDF file and put it in a normal folder.
That has been working without problem.
It's actually a bug that Gary hasn't managed to fix yet. It turns out that most unzippers are smart enough to realize the difference, but the one built into Windows is very particular.
This is great stuff. A buddy of mine is a geologist and when he read these rules he was floored. He's never seen a set of game rules that talked about the effects of phenocrysts within mafic lavas. Blew his mind... Simply awesome.
primemover003
RPG Superstar 2013 Top 4, RPG Superstar 2011 Top 16
I love the incredible amount of detail. They actually devote equal space to the effects of lava on fire-immune creatures as they do to those not quite as fortunate.
How does this even cover fantastic creatures that would call lava their home? Those whales from Atlantis: The Lost Empire spring to mind.
I really dislike comedy products. I wish I could remove this from my download list now.
Sir, there's nothing comedic about it.
This is the first universally acepted rules addendum to EVER hit the gaming community.
This, sir, is an ACHIEVEMENT.
So you are saying that in a fantasy campaign it shouldn't be possible to survive falling in lava or that there should be creatures that are native to it? Lets agree to disagree.
How does this even cover fantastic creatures that would call lava their home? Those whales from Atlantis: The Lost Empire spring to mind.
I really dislike comedy products. I wish I could remove this from my download list now.
Sir, there's nothing comedic about it.
This is the first universally acepted rules addendum to EVER hit the gaming community.
This, sir, is an ACHIEVEMENT.
So you are saying that in a fantasy campaign it shouldn't be possible to survive falling in lava or that there should be creatures that are native to it? Lets agree to disagree.
Actually, there is an entire sidebar devoted to creatures that are immune to the effects of lava. So, it DOES deal with creatures who would be native to lava.
And the same sidebar deals with characters who would be immune to the effects of lava.
I don't see the problem here and I look forward to more products like this.
Pathfinder Battles Case Subscriber; Pathfinder Maps, Pathfinder Accessories, Starfinder Society Subscriber; Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Charter Superscriber
Mosaic wrote:
DeafGamer wrote:
... I wasn't impressed - there's only two simple rules ...
I'd prefer to call it ... concise.
I agree completely. I am going through my downloads and verifying I have saved everything. I made sure to save this again also on my external hard drive simply because of it's usefulness.
Where else in RPGdom would you see such a coverage of Bowen's reaction series?
Chief Technical Officer
RPG Superstar 2009 Top 32, 2010 Top 8
