My search-fu must be suffering, but for the life of me I cannot seem to find the rules for a burning house. Anybody know offhand?
Thanks!
My search-fu must be suffering, but for the life of me I cannot seem to find the rules for a burning house. Anybody know offhand?
Thanks!
There are no rules for it. You would have to make up your own. I would just assign the house a certain amount of hp or give each side of the house a certain amount as if each side was a wall depending on what type of material it was made of. Another option is to be abstract about it.
Don't forget to give the PCs zero-XP for finding the most boring way to end a bunch of encounters and toss aside hours of GM prep.
A wise man once said, any dm who thinks his players WONT out think him isn't thinking at all.
As has been pointed out, there are rules for things being on fire and rules for the hit points of materials. So if you wanted to you could make adjacent squares to those already on fire make reflex saves against catching fire as well (which they will usually fail, being inanimate) can keep track of HP section-by-section. That would be the most RAW way to do it, IMO.
In practice, what I've done is script the event. Sections of the building will be on fire or collapse on various rounds. There's a reflex save to avoid fire damage if you're in the building, and a much harder reflex save if part of the building collapses while you're there.
NPCs trapped in the building fall unconscious or die at set times barring PC intervention.
You know, the OP never actually said that the players were the ones burning down the house...they might be the ones in it!
Edit: after looking at the Core rule book I'd suggest using rules presented in the forest fire section for how people inside react (heat damage and smoke inhalation) and possibly using the rules for cave ins for when the building starts collapsing, hope this is helpful
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Don't forget to give the PCs zero-XP for finding the most boring way to end a bunch of encounters and toss aside hours of GM prep.A wise man once said, any dm who thinks his players WONT out think him isn't thinking at all.
Yeah, I was being unnecessarily snarky, sorry about that.
If my players did set fire to a building I would insert a screaming, bedraggled old man who runs from the house shouting about his babies who are trapped inside. Cue awesome dash through burning building type shenanigans.
Or I would go the misgivings route: spoiler for RotRL
I'd go for a scripted event as AvalonQX suggests but be flexible, hold onto a few key events so that they can happen at key moments such as; when the PCs first enter, when they go up the stairs, and as they leave the last room with terrified children in their arms.
Also, if they set fire to a house in a town... burning towns are fun.
Ah the joys of being inside of a burning building... This is why you always plan a safe escape route when you party consists of a bunch of pyros who recklessly swing about their flaming weapons. Depending on whether you want the players to be inside or outside you might use different rules.
How I would rule it:
I would have the fire spread about 5 ft every round, if the fire lasts for a minute(10 rounds) that particular area would be burnt away. Of course this would only work on wood. You also want thinner walls to burn faster.
heh, you're lucky Ion. My party's pyro just set herself on fire then proceeded to bear hug everything in site....most disturbed elf ever....
Thanks for the ideas everyone!
We once tried to burn down some building in a game once.
It was not our first choice.
It was pretty much our last. The thing is that the house was protected by an antimagic field that was clinging perfectly to the house's shape (it extended exactly to the outer walls and stuff like shutters) and extended to the cellars.
The party was comprised almost completely of characters that depended a lot on magic for combat and infiltration, and the guys inside were quite powerful (they were challenging even with our magic on. Without, they were unbeatable).
When we found out about their awesome defences, we decided to run away, buy gallons of oil, and smoke them out. They found out about that and sent a pack of dire wereboars that could walk into our very midst while we were camping somewhere in the forest and ambush us.
When we didn't die in that attack, the GM threw a fit and ended the campaign.
I still chalk that one up as a victory for the players vs. GMs ;-) (Not usually my mentality, but if the GM adopts it, I find it funny every time the GM does not win, even when doing stuff like this)
In my first campaign, every session, our party would set at least one fire... First session, one of the bandits was set on fire; Second session, the whole bandit camp was up in flames; Third session, we were on a ship and there was a pirate ship that attacked, we set the pirate ship on fire (and then proceeded to put it out because the pally wanted a ship); Fourth session, In the bandit's hideout, the building was set on fire. We had a patient GM who was willing to deal with the pyros.