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I'm trying to track down exactly what would happen to a character standing in a fire (think a typical campfire or household fireplace), and what protections would be appropriate for that character to avoid damage.
"Extreme Heat" is defined to include fire, in the Heat Dangers section of the book. Breathing in this environment causes 1d6 points of damage "per minute". In addition, a Fort save every 5 minutes or they take 1d4 points of non-lethal damage.
Is that it? 1d6 per minute, plus 1d4 per 5 minutes (maybe)? That seems low. Well, if the fire is currently burning, and not just coals, we can assume Smoke Effects.(Or can we? Smoke effects are listed for "Heavy Smoke", which I wouldn't expect from a simple campfire or standard fireplace.) Fort save each round or spend the round coughing and choking. 2 consecutive rounds of choking means another 1d6 non-lethal damaage.
Still seems low. What about catching on fire? "Exposed to burning oil, bonfires, and non-instaneous magic fires", doesn't really include a standard fireplace, but I'll stretch it. DC 15 to avoid catching fire, d6 damage every round if you fail the save (and another save every round).
That's more like it. I think I'd rule that if you're standing there, you forfeit your save, since the save is to attempt to put out the fire.
So how about avoiding the effects?
The lowest form of the Energy Resistance spell gives DR 10 against fire, so even if you've caught on fire, you can't take enough damge to overcome the DR. A minor ring of the same is 12,000gp. You still have to deal with the smoke, those a Necklace of Adaptation(9000g) will prevent that. What spell will help against the smoke? The necklace only requires Alter Self, which doesn't look like it would work from the description. Water Breathing should work according to the description, if not from the name of the spell.
Is that what the character needs? A 2nd and (maybe) a 3rd level spell, or 21Kgp (maybe only 12K) worth of magic items? Comments and/or criticisms welcome. Particularly if you have a solution that allows the character to do this cheaper/easier.
There is no reason why a few thousand gp worth of magic items or single 2nd level spell would protect from a campfire or household fire. All those ways would be good.
Note that in case of such types of fire smoke would be probably a non-issue as either is often provided with decent ventilation (campfire smoke might go up for some time but wind often blows it in various directions, household fire would cause smoke hazard only if one would stand with head in the chimney.
Ok, real life experience for this...
Heavy boots on, young and reckless kids around a campfire, I stood in the fire for a good 10 seconds before really even feeling any burning sensations.
I guess it would depend on how big a "typical" campfire or household fireplace fire would be in your scenario. Are they wearing some thick leather boots and leggings? Heavy clothing and armors take a -4 to the fortitude checks but some leathers are pretty fire resistant for a time.
I think the Extreme Heat definition is going to assume you are in a big enough fire to heat the air around you...not likely a typical campfire.
Douse the character in water every other round!!
Ok, real life experience for this...
Heavy boots on, young and reckless kids around a campfire, I stood in the fire for a good 10 seconds before really even feeling any burning sensations.
In hard leather boots one can try to kick and stamp the fire out without suffering any damage so it should be easy to avoid damage by entering the fire for one round, leaving to let the gear cool dawn for another round or two, rinse, repeat.
Ok, real life experience for this...
Heavy boots on, young and reckless kids around a campfire, I stood in the fire for a good 10 seconds before really even feeling any burning sensations.
Ah, the daring exuberance of Youth....
There's a fine line between daring exuberance and sheer idiocy. I think I generally erred on the side of sheer idiocy in my youth.
Theheadkase, it seems like you're saying the 1d6 per minute (10 rounds), would be the only effect. That seems so little to me. On top of that, I have no idea how to adjudicate fewer than 10 rounds in a combat situation... Make the roll up front and then wait 10 rounds to do it again? Or wait a few rounds before you make it in the first place? Or roll and then apply 10% of that damage each round until they leave the fire... Decisions, decisions.
Leland,
Can I ask what the circumstances were around this? Depending on if a player was making this choice for a good/funny/creative reason then I'd be more lenient.
Again though, these are supposed to be hardened warriors and tougher than your average citizen. Stepping on a campfire with some heavy boots probably wouldn't faze them in the heat of battle (pun intended). A little damage makes sense to me in the idea that standing in the fire for 1 minute gives you some damage, it only seems like a long time to us as the real world players because it's 10 rounds.
Since firewalkers routinely walk over a bed of hot coals, not taking significant damage for only one round of walking through a non-inferno doesn't seem out of line to me.
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When in doubt check the rules...
Characters exposed to burning oil, bonfires, and non-instantaneous magic fires might find their clothes, hair, or equipment on fire. Spells with an instantaneous duration don't normally set a character on fire, since the heat and flame from these come and go in a flash.
Characters at risk of catching fire are allowed a DC 15 Reflex save to avoid this fate. If a character's clothes or hair catch fire, he takes 1d6 points of damage immediately. In each subsequent round, the burning character must make another Reflex saving throw. Failure means he takes another 1d6 points of damage that round. Success means that the fire has gone out—that is, once he succeeds on his saving throw, he's no longer on fire.
A character on fire may automatically extinguish the flames by jumping into enough water to douse himself. If no body of water is at hand, rolling on the ground or smothering the fire with cloaks or the like permits the character another save with a +4 bonus.
Those whose clothes or equipment catch fire must make DC 15 Reflex saves for each item. Flammable items that fail take the same amount of damage as the character.
--School of Vrock
When in doubt check the rules...
Characters exposed to burning oil, bonfires, and non-instantaneous magic fires might find their clothes, hair, or equipment on fire. Spells with an instantaneous duration don't normally set a character on fire, since the heat and flame from these come and go in a flash.
Characters at risk of catching fire are allowed a DC 15 Reflex save to avoid this fate. If a character's clothes or hair catch fire, he takes 1d6 points of damage immediately. In each subsequent round, the burning character must make another Reflex saving throw. Failure means he takes another 1d6 points of damage that round. Success means that the fire has gone out—that is, once he succeeds on his saving throw, he's no longer on fire.
A character on fire may automatically extinguish the flames by jumping into enough water to douse himself. If no body of water is at hand, rolling on the ground or smothering the fire with cloaks or the like permits the character another save with a +4 bonus.
Those whose clothes or equipment catch fire must make DC 15 Reflex saves for each item. Flammable items that fail take the same amount of damage as the character.
--School of Vrock
He is asking about a regular sized campfire though and not a bonfire. Campfire's aren't very big and bonfires are relatively huge.
This is somewhat of a theoretical discussion, but is based on the idea of a tiny humanoid attempting to hide within a fireplace and/or campfire. Possibly also including climbing through chimneys.
The firewalker example tends to convince me, but I wonder if there should be a difference between standing still in the fire vs. traveling through it...
Definitely a difference! But again, that's going to be based on how long they are standing there. If a person stands in a fire for 1 minute or longer I could see their clothes catching on fire.
A Tiny humanoid, I would imagine, likely takes less time for them be damaged in a fire. In relative terms, a tiny humanoid standing next to a regular fire would probably get burned quickly and be subject to all the conditions of Extreme Heat. Probably also smoke inhalation (again if they are Tiny) damage. Their constitution (and fortitude) is not likely to be very high so I could also see them getting affected quicker. The rules were written assuming a Medium sized creature so 2 sizes down from that would be a quarter of the Medium sized creatures' time until damage, but that's your call.
He is asking about a regular sized campfire though and not a bonfire. Campfire's aren't very big and bonfires are relatively huge.
The listing isn't an exclusive one. Those are just possible examples. The effects would be the same, whether it was leaping through a bonfire or walking into a campfire.