I know my players are going to try to set the vine horrors and/or the Mother of All on fire. How should I handle this? I expect the monsters are all pretty wet, so I don't think it's just a matter of touching them with a lit torch...
The way I'm leaning now is that if they simply swing the torch like a club, I'll handle it as described on PHB pg 127, with no chance of setting the monster on fire. Alternatively, they can spend a full round action to try to set the monster on fire by holding the torch to it. This provokes an attack of opportunity, and the player rolls a touch attack. On a successful hit, the torch deals 1d6 fire damage, but only ignites the monster on a confirmed critical (the confirming roll has to be rolled against the monster's full AC). Even then, the creature would get a DC 15 reflex save to avoid catching fire. The idea being that the critical hit represents finding a spot on the monster dry enough to catch fire.
Hmmm.. on further thought... even if a dry part caught fire, shouldn't it spread more slowly if the rest of the monster is wet? Maybe I should also treat the monsters as having resistance 10 against fire.
Or I could rule that the monster is too wet to catch fire until it suffers half it's total hit points worth of fire damage (drying it out, in essence).
Thanks in advance,
jamie
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If the PC's do something a little more guaranteed, like throw lighted lamp oil, that might burn them for a little while. But honestly I don't think it's going to be a practical solution unless they have a lot of it. Let them try what they like, but fire that isn't substantially large, fueled by a flammable source, or magical probably won't do much. They should find this out quickly.
Forcing the creatures to be constantly exposed to a torch flame would work as well, but I wouldn't think they would catch fire unless they are exposed for a few rounds.
My players tried to make a bomb of sorts with kegs of oil, etc. to try and make a path to sail the Sea Wyvern out of the sargasso to the open sea.
It made for a great explosion but unfortunately for the party it did not work.
Burning water-logged kelp ? Good luck....
Treat the torches etc. as 1D4 clubs with extra fire damage. Reflex DC 15 to catch fire with a very high modifier for the target being virtually soaked in sea water.... and a fair chance for the torch being extinguished if rammed into the wet spongy mass...
If the players want to set fire to the sargasso, perhaps have the wind-drid toplayer burn off - like a brushfire on grassland, but the lower, soaked strata will survivie without much loss of strength
Hello All,
I am an old time D&D DM who has just recently started a 3.5 ed game. Having read part of the Savage Tide AP, I was very interested as my players were interested in a seafaring campaign. Since we play in GH, this seemed perfect.
Anyway, our next adventure in the path is the SWW and I am forseeing an issue similar to Jamie's. Our party liked the Alchemist's Fire and wanted to purchase a keg of the same. I ruled that for 400gp they could buy a small keg of 20 single applications. Their intentions were to use it in sinking a ship or at least damaging a threatening vessel.
I guess my question is (to you more experienced 3rd ed DMs/Players): How would you rule on this item? What kind of damage and spash radius would such a keg have? And how would it effect the creatures mentioned above?
Thanks,
Ciallach
Hello All,
I am an old time D&D DM who has just recently started a 3.5 ed game. Having read part of the Savage Tide AP, I was very interested as my players were interested in a seafaring campaign. Since we play in GH, this seemed perfect.
Anyway, our next adventure in the path is the SWW and I am forseeing an issue similar to Jamie's. Our party liked the Alchemist's Fire and wanted to purchase a keg of the same. I ruled that for 400gp they could buy a small keg of 20 single applications. Their intentions were to use it in sinking a ship or at least damaging a threatening vessel.
I guess my question is (to you more experienced 3rd ed DMs/Players): How would you rule on this item? What kind of damage and spash radius would such a keg have? And how would it effect the creatures mentioned above?
Thanks,
Ciallach
Apparently there are rules for burning boats in Stormwrack. Thats the answer I got when I asked a very similar question a month or so ago. Otherwise there really are no clear rules for burning things. Seems like quite the oversight really.
There are rules for how many hps objects have so that gives one some place to start. You can just keep rolling damage for every 5' section and when its out of hps its all burned up.
Maybe you can fine tune something like the following:
I think something like a barrel of alchemists fire would not much more damage to a specific location. Instead it would do alchemists fire damage to a whole mess of adjacent squares. You might allow the fire to do two or three times normal damage for a number of rounds until the fuel is used up. So say you rule that 9 squares are effected by the alchemists fire. Well maybe each square takes 3 times normal damage on round one and that uses up 27 applications. Then they all take 2 times normal damage on round two 35 applications. Now there are 15 applications left - figure that 6 squares take two times normal damage.
If the material is combustible I'd rule that it just keeps burning for a d6 worth of damage a round after the initial application of fire unless the square is completely surrounded by fire. Then maybe it takes say 3d6 fire damage a round (its hot in the middle). I'm tempted to make more complex rules for 'hotter' fires but I'm not really sure its worth it considering the complications. The only other rule I might add is some kind of 50% chance of going out if the material is not really combustible and a 50% chance that the fire spreads to adjacent spaces.
Dungeonscape includes a combat style of fighting weapon and torch, but it just does 1d6 fire damage and dazzles the opponent when you Hit with your main weapon.
Honestly, I wouldn't stress the rules too much on this. If you think its cool that they set them on fire, then 1d6 initial and secondary damage seems okay, though smoldering out after a turn on fire makes sense with the damp seaweed they are made of.
If you don't like the flaming idea, have it occupy the horrors for a round as they sink into the sargasso, then reappear a few yards away having left the flaming bits of them behind. No damage done, but a round without horror attacks should be a nice reward for good tactics.
Of course, all the more horrific if they set the vine horrors alight and then get flaming slams applied to them for their forethough
There are rules for characters in the DMG p303, which we basically extended to objects - why not, nothing in the rules bars that application and actually rules it out. To my mind, setting people aflame is much harder than setting stationary stuff on fire... The MG states/asks for a Reflex DC 15 save/round in contact with something likely to set things ablaze, or catch fire.
We extended this rule to ignitible/inflammable objects - something ready to go up in flames (like straw, canvas, barrels of tar or oil etc.) has to save at DC 15 each round in contact (adjacent) to fire, things like soaked wood, get a massive modifier, the DC of the save increasing by +1 for every round in contact.
Judging from personal experience(s), my brother (who deals in fire-fighting/-suppression gear and equipment ) did not estimate that as too harsh. Or rather as "right, it's a heroic fantasy game..."
"Stromwrack" has a list of spelsl officially deemed to be able to set things afire. far from complete, but it should give an idea what factors are relevant.
Also, take care to remember that on a ship, flammable material is to be found in all three dimensions - from the rigging above, to the tar-and-fibres (oakum) caulked seams of the deck, to the planks themselves, paint, lacquer, canvas (sails and tarpaulins), ropes ( usually soaked in tarry compounds for preservation ).... Don't forget the rum ! Fire should spread accordingly, especially upwards. At sea, there is a very high chance of a sizable breeze to fan the flames some, and no lack of Oxygen or ventilation to stymie a fire's growth.
hence, on a ship any burning square should reasonably ignite 2+ adjacent squares /round... and since ship's timber and deck planking (except for the main hull) are about 2-6" in thickness, after only a few rounds of fire either 2D6 damage/round, decks will crumble, bulkheads will have been burned through and (flaming) rigging will topple from above in a rain of sparks, embers and debris.
Also take care that the "firefighting" rules in Stormwrack seem pretty optimistic, especially with regard to what may actually be burning. They also do not take into account an availability of firefighting materials like sand, water or wet canvas/blankets. By the rules, a naked man could extinguising 2 5' squares of alchemical fire (or even white phosporous) with nothing but his feet and hands if he just rolled well enough.... right....
Good Luck
Thanks everyone for the suggestions and help so far! I will definately use them.
Ciallach