Forest Fires?

[prufock]

Has anyone ever run an encounter around a forest fire (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/wilderness.htm#forestFiresCr6) before? In my current campaign there is a fire for which the PCs are sort of indirectly responsible. I'm planning to let this fire burn away a fair section of the landscape and possibly threaten some towns.

However, the party is level 2, and the CR of a forest fire is given as 6. And they have no spellcaster at the moment.

So how should they (and I) deal with this? I was considering letting it just be a terrain feature for a while, not an encounter at all, but the story at the moment tends toward the fire becoming a threat.

A rift to the plane of fire had opened in a hill in this area. A malevolent magmin had been living there, appeased by sacrifices from the goblin tribe that lived at the base of the hill. PCs stopped the sacrifices, now it's angry and on a rampage, burning as it goes.
The fire itself has limits on how long it will burn and how far it can travel before it hits a break.

Anyway, I'm just looking for suggestions as to how to run with this. I have a few ideas, but no harm in crowd-sourcing! Thanks in advance.

[Anxe]

I too used a forest fire at level 2 once. The party rightly chose to run the hell away from it. Those things are lethal to parties without some form of escape magic prepared.

[Aeryr]

I played something like that once, using small mephits or salamanders or any fiery monster for the encounter.

In our case most of the monsters were trying to keep the PCs from runing away from the fire, pushing them towards the flames we would draw a red line on the battle grid that would keep approaching every round. It is mostly a timed encounter you can also use enemies that might be healed/empowered by the proximity to the fire for a more strategic twist.

[Namfuak]

Considering that even today the most firemen do to stop wildfires is basically try to stop them from spreading rather than actually fight the fire itself, I doubt your party can do much against it. However, if they were to get a few hundred commoners with buckets, it would seem like it might be a CR appropriate encounter...

[Jodah]

I was unaware of it having rule, else this would not have happened, but when my party started one (a dragonborn paladin breathed fire into the branches, Bahamut was angry later) I ad-libbed rules for it.

I made it spread 5ft per round along an entire side. Didn't get a chance to do much more with it other than that because,while it was still small enough, the cleric cast wind wall around the entire thing, which while having interesting ramifications, did stop the fire from spreading as the flames couldn't pass the wall.

[prufock]

I mostly expect them to race to reach town (they'll discover the fire is moving against the wind - following the magmin's path), warn people, and perhaps organize an evac or rally the people to build firebreaks. I don't mean for them to get caught in the fire (at level 2 they'd be hard pressed to survive), though it should get close enough to scorch.

[Serpentine]

Interesting. Sounds like a good encounter to me.
Yeah, I think the most they'll be able to do is damage control - convincing people to evacuate, herding livestock, that sort of thing.
If you want a battle, you could have fear-maddened animals attack the party.
If you want a social encounter, you could have a village resistant to evacuation - the party would have to convince them that they need to leave, help them prepare as well as they can to try to save their homes, and/or make a decision to stay and help or leave them to their fates.
If they want to stop or control the fire, they'll probably have to seek help, and that's a side-quest in itself. Maybe they have to rally the normals to work together, or maybe there's a Druid somewhere nearby who they have to convince to do a bit of weather-working.

[Palanan]

Depending on humidity and wind conditions, a forest fire can literally explode across the landscape. Even a moderate fire can rip through dry woods far faster than anyone can run.

The SRD sets the speed at 120 feet per round, and while this varies tremendously depending on conditions and fuel type, I'd say that's a modest average. Major fires have been known to explode across several square miles in two or three minutes.

In game terms, lower-level characters would hardly have any chance. I recently threw a prairie-grass fire at several 8th-level characters, and they barely survived. Everything depends on local conditions: humidity, wind speed, fuel type and moisture content. It makes for a really tense encounter.

[prufock]

Yeah, I think the most they'll be able to do is damage control - convincing people to evacuate, herding livestock, that sort of thing.
If you want a battle, you could have fear-maddened animals attack the party.
If you want a social encounter, you could have a village resistant to evacuation - the party would have to convince them that they need to leave, help them prepare as well as they can to try to save their homes, and/or make a decision to stay and help or leave them to their fates.
If they want to stop or control the fire, they'll probably have to seek help, and that's a side-quest in itself. Maybe they have to rally the normals to work together, or maybe there's a Druid somewhere nearby who they have to convince to do a bit of weather-working.

Or all of the above!


Depending on humidity and wind conditions, a forest fire can literally explode across the landscape. Even a moderate fire can rip through dry woods far faster than anyone can run.

The SRD sets the speed at 120 feet per round, and while this varies tremendously depending on conditions and fuel type, I'd say that's a modest average. Major fires have been known to explode across several square miles in two or three minutes.

In game terms, lower-level characters would hardly have any chance. I recently threw a prairie-grass fire at several 8th-level characters, and they barely survived. Everything depends on local conditions: humidity, wind speed, fuel type and moisture content. It makes for a really tense encounter.

I'm aware of all this; DM fiat for the direction and speed of the flames, no problem. I think I will be using the fire mostly as a terrain feature and additional hazard for the encounter with the magmin and his fire elemental sidekick, as well as an RP potential (as a social encounter in the town). There's also a plot hook in there (open rift to plane of fire), but they may not see it or decide to investigate.

[Slipperychicken]

there is a fire for which the PCs are sort of indirectly responsible.

Lies. PCs are always to blame for fire :smalltongue:. If they had someone with SM3, they could've used water elementals to make a dent in the fire. Otherwise, running the hell away seems to be the best option right now. At level 2, there's not much they can do about it, and they'll quickly burn to death if they try to run in.


Looks like the Magmin is going to win the day.