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You may attempt to answer this question seriously, or if you feel like it, don't. :P
Great question UR.
I would say it depends on the size of the "body" of water. ;)
Also don't forget water has DR100/evapotranspiration.
Good question. I'm only considering the idea of attacking a pool or pond, not a container of water or water elementals.
I would wager that water is immune to physical attacks. Every time you hit it with something, it flows back in to fill the spot. You COULD rule it as a regeneration ability too.
However, Water is weak against Fire. Treat fire attacks as not being regenerated since the water turns to steam and drifts away. Torches would not work since the water would extinguish the torch.
Any effect that dropped temperature could freeze water. Frozen water would have similar stats to Wood. Frozen water is immobile.
Who can fill in what I missed?
-Aaron
Ice has 3 hit points per inch and zero hardness. If we assume that water has the same hit points and hardness, we can construct the following scenario:
There is a two foot deep barrel of water. A barbarian has decided to destroy the water with a hammer.
The barbarian strikes the water and deals 72 damage! All of the water is destroyed. The barbarian is left with an empty barrel, surrounded by the remains of the water.
So there you have it, a mechanic for determining what volume of water you can splash. :P
That makes me think that as far as I've read the rules book, there is, in PathFinder, no difference between "health points" and "hit points"? If yes, and if you're speaking about "health", then Umbral question would simply be not applicable in PathFinder context, is it?
I'd say 1 hp, DR/Fire or cold 9999 and regeneration. You can't damage it with weapons, you can only evaporate or freeze it (thus the DR gets circumvented by fire and cold) and once you leave it alone, it melts/condenses again. (thus regeneration)
Materials have hit points. See the section on damaging objects.
Materials have hit points. See the section on damaging objects.
Thank you. It'll teach me to fully read the manual before trying to discuss such a technical mater ^^,
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Now, this here is a house rule but it may help anyone that's ever wanted to freeze some water with cone of cold and been told that it only does damage and can't freeze things:
When you deal cold damage to an area of a surface of water, first determine the area it affects in squares. Divide the cold damage dealt (for area spells, this is usually the same for every square) by 3. This is the depth of water frozen by the effect. Cold damage that only affects single targets is not sufficient to produce more than a few superficial ice chunks on a surface.
Destroying the resulting ice follows the normal rules for bursting or damaging materials.
I'd say 1 hp, DR/Fire or cold 9999 and regeneration. You can't damage it with weapons, you can only evaporate or freeze it (thus the DR gets circumvented by fire and cold) and once you leave it alone, it melts/condenses again. (thus regeneration)
Damage reduction is always overcome by energy damage, so fire and cold damage will always bypass Damage Reduction. There is no such thing as DR/Fire or DR/Cold.
(Damage reduction stops physical damage, Resistances stop energy damage, Hardness stops both)
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The "Swarm" subtype is immune to weapon damage (at least for Fine or Diminutive creatures), and it seems this is due to the fluid nature of the swarm. So I think objects in liquid and gas form are also immune to weapon damage.
To answer the original question, look at it mathematically. HP=(H)*(P), and by the commutative property, (P)*(H)=ph. Water has a ph of 7, so it should have an hp of 7 as well.
To answer the original question, look at it mathematically. HP=(H)*(P), and by the commutative property, (P)*(H)=ph. Water has a ph of 7, so it should have an hp of 7 as well.
There should definitively have "repliers medals" in this forum! ^^
I've actually been wondering about this also.
I've seen some statement is some threads that leads me to believe that at least some people have vastly different ideas about changing states (freezing or evaporating) than I have.
Using repeated ray of frost to freeze a body so it doesn't smell...
Cone of cold freezing a pool solid so a swimmer is now helpless...
Using a few fireballs to evaporate a pond...
Wall of ice to freeze a solid barrier to block a river...
Wall of fire to evaporate a creek as it flows through the area...
I've even seen, cone of cold around a ships hull to immobilize it now that it is stuck in a small iceberg...
I would not have allowed any of these to work. But I see statements like this all the time. Almost no one seems to have a problem with it.
Raising the temperature of ice or water actually takes quite a bit of energy. It takes a whole lot more to cause a state change (melting or boiling).
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Raising the temperature of ice or water actually takes quite a bit of energy. It takes a whole lot more to cause a state change (melting or boiling).
This is a very good point. I don't think you can accurately model this with hitpoint or DR mechanics. Best just leave it up to "it's freaking magic" and let high-level cold or fire spells freeze or boil water respectively. Of course, that isn't RAW.
It depends on the water. Heavy Water is effectively "Masterwork Water" and is about 11% more dense than regular water. The problem is you have to focus your damage over such a tiny amount of water to actually split it into components. Those components have a strong tendency to recombine. Perhaps regeneration or fast healing ?
No, I ask "immune to damage" not "immune to weapon damage".
These are different.
Are you implying that the Water is tougher than the Tarrasque? *gasp*
Put water in a cup, it becomes the cup. Put it in a tea-pot, it becomes the tea-pot. Now water can flow, or creep, or drip, or crash! Be water my friend.
How many hit points does a five foot square of fire have? :P
Then there's that whole bit about inappropriate weapons, with the example of how it's difficult to cut a rope with a hammer.
How much damage does standing in a campfire do ? How long does it take the water in a teakettle set in the same campfire to be boiled away ? Do a little math and we've got the answer.
I think you can dry things with presdigitiatoin as that is part of cleaning them like drying dishes is part of watching them and this effect lasts. It cleans a little less than four squares of water in an hour. Also anyone else thinking of the eversoaking sponge from 3.5 adventure?
Fun question.
I doubt I'd actually ever let someone try it in-game, but if push came to shove, I think I would rule that 1 gallon of water is evaporated into steam per 1d6 fire damage delivered (approximately filling a 10x10x10 cube with steam, and I would divide the damage by 8 (number of 5x5x5 cubes) against small and medium creatures inside the steam, large and greater-sized creatures would take full damage), and probably the same amount frozen per 1d6 cold damage. Water is effectively immune to all other forms of damage, except where otherwise mentioned.
To be amusing, I would say that Axiomatic attacks freeze water at 1 gallon per 10 full hp of damage, and Anarchic attacks evaporate it at in the same proportion.
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I don't think you can accurately model this with hitpoint or DR mechanics. Best just leave it up to "it's freaking magic" and let high-level cold or fire spells freeze or boil water respectively.
I still think this is the best answer. Trying to figure out HP mechanics in order to resolve magic attacks on water is likely to end in madness, as the system can't come close to modelling it. Ice is listed at having HP and DR because it is a solid item. Things like fire, water and air are not solid items and can't be 'broken.'
@OP - 14 hit points per five foot square, 17 if the water has toughness.
Actually, I could probably argue that a broken corpse can't be resurrected without a true res unless someone mends/create whole on that mess.