Fire immunity and fire descriptor


Rules Questions


Does a character with fire immunity automatically have fire descriptor immunity, even if the fire descriptor spell does not involve fire damage?


Energy immunity only means you don't take damage from that energy source.

So, if there is a spell that has the fire descriptor but doesn't deal damage, the fire immune creature can be affected just as much as anyone else.

The Exchange

Can you give an example spell? There is some GM discretion involved.

But in general, Claxon is right. Even though blood crow strike has the fire descriptor you are only immune to the the half of the damage that is fire, not the half that is negative energy.


even creatures with Fire Immunity can drown in magma/lava, be crushed in the collapse of a burning building, or have vision obscured by smoke/fire. It can get complicated (there are spells that do a mix, sometimes writer's/GMs get creative). The Game does not get into (scientific) details like oxygen content due to fire etc.

So it is really just Fire damage and environmental Heat effects.


Remember also that a creature immune or resistant to fire can still catch on fire (not that the damage is likely an issue, unless their resistance is 5 or lower and they roll a 6 on the d6) and also that their gear or equipment is not resistant or protected for effects like heat metal or rolling a natural 1 where it might be damaged. The exception to this is usually magical protection, like spells such as resist energy, which do state that they apply to the creature's gear as well.

Technically an immune creature is also immune to secondary effects, but catching fire could be clothes, hair, or other gear catching fire (though probably not hair in an immune creature's case).

A GM can certainly rule some creatures' gear to be resistant if it makes sense, but a fire giant wading through a lava pool might lose his boots or pants.


Pizza Lord wrote:
... A GM can certainly rule some creatures' gear to be resistant...

yeah, possessed/worn gear (part of the person) or failed saves can be problematic. Otherwise things have to be specifically targeted. See sunder, break:T1, burning disarm:T1, etc.

Burn(Ex) actually deals fire damage (opening sentence) so Fire immunity makes that a No-Go. Thus a fire giant's knickers and viewer's propriety are safe. An attacker would only get the +2 with a lucern hammer to sunder if they were underarmors... (a bit of pedantic humor)

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