I am playing through the Serpent's Skull adventure path.
I have a gnome druid and have selected the gnome favored class option for druids from the Advanced Player's Guide that allows me to gain a point of energy resistance each time I take a level in druid.
I started the game with fire resistance 1.
I expected that having the ability to set my hair on fire and be fine would also have proteced me from the effects of heat up to 140 degrees F. as well. As it turns out, no ruling covers this. Endure Elements does, but that is an independent effect. So, (rules as written) I pass out and slowly die from heat exposure in the hot jungle unless it gets REALLY hot. If it just does 1 pt. of fire damage/rnd I am still good. My GM may require this to stand (I am waiting on his ruling) and besides not making much sense, that also sux for me. :D
If anyone could point me to a discussion on this, I would very much appreciate it. Thank you!
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hmmh. some asumption on the GMs part will hopefully help you out. as written energy resistance doesn't confer any adaptation to a hot or cold extreme environment short of preventing actual damage from the element (fire/ice/cold).
immunity seems to, as it says it negates secondary effects of the element.
even the spell resist energy says it doesn't protect from harmful side effects.
however i'd imagine resistance to energy would help protect you somewhat from environmental damage from the elements. the 1d4 nonlethal that you start taking in excess of 90 degrees isn't typed as fire/heat damage, but it is, your body is overheating. the damage from catching fire isn't typed as fire damage either, though thats just an obvious oversight. I'd rule that it is heat damage, and resistance would apply. so if you have resist fire 5, you're fine in environments below 140 degrees, since the damage will never exceed your resistance and you'll never become exhausted for failing a save.
A character who takes any nonlethal damage from heat exposure now suffers from heatstroke and is fatigued. These penalties end when the character recovers from the nonlethal damage she took from the heat.
since you never take damage with resist fire 5, you're fine, you never suffer heat stroke.
The real oversight is that this heatstroke damage isn't typed as "fire" damage, just like the nonlethal listed in cold section and frostbite isn't typed as "cold" damage.
with 1 point of fire resistance, you wouldn't have too much protection. but get that up to 5 and you should be okay.
I am playing through the Serpent's Skull adventure path.
I have a gnome druid and have selected the gnome favored class option for druids from the Advanced Player's Guide that allows me to gain a point of energy resistance each time I take a level in druid.
I started the game with fire resistance 1.
I expected that having the ability to set my hair on fire and be fine would also have proteced me from the effects of heat up to 140 degrees F. as well. As it turns out, no ruling covers this. Endure Elements does, but that is an independent effect. So, (rules as written) I pass out and slowly die from heat exposure in the hot jungle unless it gets REALLY hot. If it just does 1 pt. of fire damage/rnd I am still good. My GM may require this to stand (I am waiting on his ruling) and besides not making much sense, that also sux for me. :D
If anyone could point me to a discussion on this, I would very much appreciate it. Thank you!
When you are in extreme elements you don't take fire damage so it would not help. You may take heat based damage. The difference is that constant exposure to extreme temperatures does bad things to the body. It does not affect you in the same way that being lit on fire would. Heat exposure is physiological to a large extent.
When you are in extreme elements...
You certainly have a valid opinion. It would support a description of the rules as they are.
I don't believe that this was Paizo's intention though, as they did not specifically state such a difference. Linked game mechanics in Pathfinder books are rarely in the same place, but they are usually very thorough. Under the heat effects rules one does eventually begin taking fire damage in environments that are hot enough. That is why I was asking moreso if anyone had a link to a rules eratta or message boards ruling by developers that would support my interpretation of their intentions. I appreciate your attempt to help though. :)
Heat (Ex)
The creature generates so much heat that its mere touch deals additional fire damage. The creature’s metallic melee weapons also conduct this heat.
Format: heat (1d6 fire); Location: Special Attacks.
Heat is fire damage.
Please note that otherwise nothing would be immune to heat and we would have things like red dragons, devils, and fire giants dying of their environment being to hot since nothing gives them mechanical immunity to their environment.
Heat (Ex)
The creature generates so much heat that its mere touch deals additional fire damage. The creature’s metallic melee weapons also conduct this heat.
Format: heat (1d6 fire); Location: Special Attacks.
Heat is fire damage.
Please note that otherwise nothing would be immune to heat and we would have things like red dragons, devils, and fire giants dying of their environment being to hot since nothing gives them mechanical immunity to their environment.
IIRC, in 3.5 there was a ruling somewhere that protection from fire basically treated heat conditions as 2 lower, while protection from cold did the same for cold exposure.
In that case, I'd personally rule that your FR 1 would reduce the heat exposure by 1 level.
Heat (Ex)
The creature generates so much heat that its mere touch deals additional fire damage. The creature’s metallic melee weapons also conduct this heat.
Format: heat (1d6 fire); Location: Special Attacks.
Heat is fire damage.
Please note that otherwise nothing would be immune to heat and we would have things like red dragons, devils, and fire giants dying of their environment being to hot since nothing gives them mechanical immunity to their environment.
The fire giant is immune to fire damage, and so is he dragon. Not all layers of hell(fantasy land version) are lakes of fire if any are at all, but I do see your point. I think the one Belial ruled in 3.5 very hot, but I think he was immune to fire also.
After looking at the environment section your fire resistance should apply.
Heat Dangers
Heat deals nonlethal damage that cannot be recovered from until the character gets cooled off (reaches shade, survives until nightfall, gets doused in water, is targeted by endure elements, and so forth). Once a character has taken an amount of nonlethal damage equal to her total hit points, any further damage from a hot environment is lethal damage.A character in very hot conditions (above 90° F) must make a Fortitude saving throw each hour (DC 15, +1 for each previous check) or take 1d4 points of nonlethal damage. Characters wearing heavy clothing or armor of any sort take a –4 penalty on their saves. A character with the Survival skill may receive a bonus on this saving throw and might be able to apply this bonus to other characters as well (see the skill description). Characters reduced to unconsciousness begin taking lethal damage (1d4 points per hour).
In severe heat (above 110° F), a character must make a Fortitude save once every 10 minutes (DC 15, +1 for each previous check) or take 1d4 points of nonlethal damage. Characters wearing heavy clothing or armor of any sort take a –4 penalty on their saves. A character with the Survival skill may receive a bonus on this saving throw and might be able to apply this bonus to other characters as well (see the Survival skill in Using Skills). Characters reduced to unconsciousness begin taking lethal damage (1d4 points per each 10-minute period).
A character who takes any nonlethal damage from heat exposure now suffers from heatstroke and is fatigued. These penalties end when the character recovers from the nonlethal damage she took from the heat.
Extreme heat (air temperature over 140° F, fire, boiling water, lava) deals lethal damage. Breathing air in these temperatures deals 1d6 points of fire damage per minute (no save). In addition, a character must make a Fortitude save every 5 minutes (DC 15, +1 per previous check) or take 1d4 points of nonlethal damage. Those wearing heavy clothing or any sort of armor take a –4 penalty on their saves.
Boiling water deals 1d6 points of scalding damage, unless the character is fully immersed, in which case it deals 10d6 points of damage per round of exposure.
He should be rolling 1d4, and subtracting your fire resistance.
PS:The forest fire section describes the intense heat as being able to cause fire damage.
My GM has ruled that my character can ignore the standard effects of heat up to the point wherein they deal more than 1 point of fire damage/rnd. He thoroughly scrubbed the web for more information/opinions and found that the vast majority of veteran players were using 3.5's heat bands (from Sandstorm) to solve the issue until Pathfinder publishes an errata that solves it.
Thanks for your help guys and gals.
Play on!