It makes sense that it's cold damage, that would be the way I'd rule it anyway.
On a side note I've always had a problem with the line, "Extreme cold (below –20° F) deals 1d6 points of lethal damage per minute (no save)." I've been on military training exercises for days at a time in conditions like that and as far as I know, I'm not dead. The previous paragraphs include the phrase "an unprotected character" but this one doesn't, and should.
On a side note I've always had a problem with the line, "Extreme cold (below –20° F) deals 1d6 points of lethal damage per minute (no save)." I've been on military training exercises for days at a time in conditions like that and as far as I know, I'm not dead.
You were assisted, most likely, with modern materials and sufficient technology, a.k.a.: magic. :) Modern cold weather gear is likely equivalent to a permanent endure elements coat.
The previous paragraphs include the phrase "an unprotected character" but this one doesn't, and should.
Agreed. A reasonable house rule would be to have protected characters only have to make saves once every 10 minutes similar to how you only have to make checks every hour (instead of 10 minutes) for severe cold conditions. Don't forget to add Survival checks--a DC 15 check gives you a +2 to your save vs. cold weather while moving. Every point above 15 grants that bonus to one additional person. Having a team of survivalists Aiding Another on those checks can be highly beneficial.
All of that along with stacking furs on top of cold weather gear would allow hardy individuals to rely on their hit points to weather extreme cold environments for hours at a time with only mundane equipment.
| 3 people marked this as a favorite. |
[grumble] nobody tell the Inuit they've all been extinct for several centuries [/grumble]
That part is broke or perhaps someone could come up with extreme cold weather outfit that would provide an exception to the above. That would be in line with the real world, where what a person wears out to keep warm in subzero temps would leave you roasting if it's merely below freezing.
[grumble] nobody tell the Inuit they've all been extinct for several centuries [/grumble]
Please re-read my last paragraph.
Also, Inuit likely have cold resist 5 in addition to whatever other bonuses they have to their Fortitude saves vs. cold weather.
That part is broke or perhaps someone could come up with extreme cold weather outfit that would provide an exception to the above. That would be in line with the real world, where what a person wears out to keep warm in subzero temps would leave you roasting if it's merely below freezing.
Reign of Winter has
For hilarity's sake, note that fire resistance 1 grants immunity to lava.
Also, white dragons freeze to death.
Now would a character with cold resistance be immune? i mean if even 1 point per round can be ignored this damage that takes 10 minutes should be nothing
Cold resist does mitigate the non-lethal cold damage from weather. Cold resist 5 is sufficient to be nearly immune (you'd only take 1 point of non-lethal damage if the GM rolls max damage on a d6). Anything more than that is effectively immune to cold weather.
Edit: Actually, that's only sufficient for cold and severe cold conditions. Cold resist 10 is sufficient to be effectively immune in even extreme cold conditions (1d6 NL cold automatic damage plus 1d4 NL if you fail the Fort save).
For hilarity's sake, note that fire resistance 1 grants immunity to lava.
I don't see how that's possible.
Lava or magma deals 2d6 points of fire damage per round of exposure, except in the case of total immersion (such as when a character falls into the crater of an active volcano), which deals 20d6 points of fire damage per round.
If you ever drop your keys into a pit of lava don't go after them because man, they're gone.
Also, white dragons freeze to death.
That's impossible. Since they have the cold subtype they gain immunity to cold and vulnerability to fire.
By RAW, the damage from cold weather is not cold damage. Its untyped damage. Cold resistance does absolutely nothing to prevent the damage.
Note that under the Heat Dangers section (just a little ways past the Cold Dangers section), the same thing applies to the damage that deals. There is only says "damage", while a bit later, under Extreme Heat, specifically says "fire damage". If it all was supposed to do fire damage, why leave that out in one part, but include it in the next?
A damage effect always tells you what kind of damage it does. If it doesn't say, then its untyped damage. Cold weather does untyped damage, by RAW. You can interpret it any way you want, but by RAW cold weather does not do cold damage.
For hilarity's sake, note that fire resistance 1 grants immunity to lava.
Actually, not anymore. Thats finally been changed in the 6th printing of the core rulebook (check the errata) and on the PRD. (Prior to the errata, any amount of fire resistance actually did serve as immunity to lava. The rules specifically said so. The errata changed "serves as immunity to lava" to "serves as immunity or resistance to lava".)
Also, white dragons freeze to death.That's impossible. Since they have the cold subtype they gain immunity to cold and vulnerability to fire.
By RAW, they do. Cold resistance offers no help against the untyped damage that exposure to cold weather deals. The same way red dragons can die from the heat in a desert. (As long as its below 140 degrees. At that point, the heat starts to do actual fire damage.) Red dragons can survive just fin in normal conditions, and inside a volcano. But in that band of temperatures between 90 and 140 degrees, its in danger of heat exposure.
Its wrong, but thats RAW. But as this is the Rules Questions forum, RAW is all that matters.
IF it actually does cold damage (which it should), then cold resistance applies every round, not every 10 minutes. So 5 points of cold resistance would ignore up to 500 points of cold damage over a 10 minute span.
Swarms should be a bunch of 1hp attacks but the game bundles them up into one attack anyway and only lets DR work once. I wouldn't mind letting it slide in my game, but I think by RAW it's one block of damage.
By RAW, the damage from cold weather is not cold damage. Its untyped damage. Cold resistance does absolutely nothing to prevent the damage.
Note that under the Heat Dangers section (just a little ways past the Cold Dangers section), the same thing applies to the damage that deals. There is only says "damage", while a bit later, under Extreme Heat, specifically says "fire damage". If it all was supposed to do fire damage, why leave that out in one part, but include it in the next?
The rules as written aren't 100% complete and requires the GM to infer intent where huge gaping holes have been left. Sometimes it's an assumption you must make. Sometimes, you can refer to other published material to help solidify that assumption of intent. For example, on page 6 of The Witchwar Legacy:
The extreme cold further requires a Fortitude save (DC 15, +1 per previous check) each minute, or it deals another 1d4 points of nonlethal damage and exposes the individual to frostbite and hypothermia (treat as fatigued). See page 442 of the Pathfinder RPG Core Rulebook for further details. A simple endure elements spell will negate these dangers, as will any amount of cold resistance.
(Emphasis mine.)
A damage effect always tells you what kind of damage it does. If it doesn't say, then its untyped damage. Cold weather does untyped damage, by RAW. You can interpret it any way you want, but by RAW cold weather does not do cold damage.
And thus, by RAW, ice elementals would die of exposure in minutes being unprotected in extreme cold weather. But, in Reign of Winter...
By RAW, they do. Cold resistance offers no help against the untyped damage that exposure to cold weather deals. The same way red dragons can die from the heat in a desert. (As long as its below 140 degrees. At that point, the heat starts to do actual fire damage.) Red dragons can survive just fin in normal conditions, and inside a volcano. But in that band of temperatures between 90 and 140 degrees, its in danger of heat exposure.
Its wrong, but thats RAW. But as this is the Rules Questions forum, RAW is all that matters.
RAW says ice elementals and white dragons die of frostbite and hypothermia in their native environments and red dragons suffer from heat exposure in a desert unless they're standing inside a bonfire in the desert.
Common sense and RAI, however, would disagree and that energy resistance and immunities are clearly meant to protect against environmental damage to the point that even Paizo published material makes this inference.
The extreme cold further requires a Fortitude save (DC 15, +1 per previous check) each minute, or it deals another 1d4 points of nonlethal damage and exposes the individual to frostbite and hypothermia (treat as fatigued). See page 442 of the Pathfinder RPG Core Rulebook for further details. A simple endure elements spell will negate these dangers, as will any amount of cold resistance.
Awesome! That'll work. I've been looking for anything saying that cold resistance would work. Thanks!