Frostbrand Weapon interaction with Lava

[CrazyNoob]

Good morning all,

Reading the information on the frost brand weapon on the SRD/DMG I understand how it works with non-magical fire, but how does it work against lava? Does it auto cool down the lava/,magma at surface and hardens it? Or does it basically do nothing since there is so much lava that it can't do anything about it?

[soldersbushwack]

Lava is really, really, really hot. I'd just have the Frostbrand weapon immediately break (unless it was an artifact.) There's a reason the one ring was thrown into the fires of mount doom.

[noob]

Lava you encounter in dnd is really really cold(probably less than 100 degrees): there is a reason why one point of fire resistance completely immunize you to lava and from the damage dealt by being immersed in it but not protects you from boiling water.(Yes that is 100% raw)

An immunity or resistance to fire serves as an immunity to lava or magma. However, a creature immune to fire might still drown if completely immersed in lava (see Drowning, below).
Lava is not fire(it is just a sightly warm material) and so your sword will do nothing by raw.

[Bohandas]

"That really sounds like they left out a second "or resistance".

Is the errata still up on WoTC's website?

[Cruiser1]

Reading the information on the frost brand weapon on the SRD/DMG I understand how it works with non-magical fire, but how does it work against lava? Does it auto cool down the lava/,magma at surface and hardens it? Or does it basically do nothing since there is so much lava that it can't do anything about it?
Frost Brand doesn't do anything against lava. Fire is combustion, which Frost Brand explicitly puts out. Lava however is molten rock, so there's just intense heat (material in a relatively liquid state) instead of combustion.


Lava is really, really, really hot. I'd just have the Frostbrand weapon immediately break (unless it was an artifact.) There's a reason the one ring was thrown into the fires of mount doom.
Frost Brand isn't hurt if you stick it into lava. Lava does 2d6 fire damage to things exposed to it. Frost Brand gives you fire resistance 10, so it has at least fire resistance 10 itself. Also, fire damage is halved when applied to objects, so that combined with a +3 weapon's hardness means Frost Brand never takes any damage when you stick it in lava.

However, if you throw it into a lava pool like the One Ring, it's now unattended and immersed in lava, so takes 20d6 damage a round, which is enough to overcome its resistance and destroy it. Being thrown into the fires of Mount Doom is the One Ring's "special way to destroy this artifact" that all artifacts have. Lava by itself is usually just a non-magical damage source like any other (which may or may not be enough to destroy a standard magic item).


Lava you encounter in dnd is really really cold(probably less than 100 degrees): there is a reason why one point of fire resistance completely immunize you to lava and from the damage dealt by being immersed in it but not protects you from boiling water.(Yes that is 100% raw)
Heh, that's a classic rules dysfunction (there are many in D&D, like healing through drowning) when the text is read literally. RAI that would be used in actual games is of course, "An immunity or resistance to fire serves as a corresponding immunity or resistance to the fire damage from lava or magma."

[Bohandas]

Even if it's not busted by the lava you're not going to be using it again soon (except maybe as a club or a macuahuitl) unless you're the true king of England. That lava is going to harden around it if the cold cools it down.

[Crake]

Lava is really, really, really hot. I'd just have the Frostbrand weapon immediately break (unless it was an artifact.) There's a reason the one ring was thrown into the fires of mount doom.

Lava does what, 2d6 damage from partial submersion? Fire damage is halved against many objects, so the maximum 6 damage wouldn't even come close to overcoming the 10 hardness of steel, not to mention a magical weapon has increased hardness, meaning even if you say that the fire damage isn't halved, a +1 metal weapon hs 12 hardness and would never be damaged by partial submersion into lava.

[Bohandas]

Does hardness apply against energy damage?

[Elxir_Breauer]

Unlike with Damage Reduction, yes. Hardness applies fully against Energy damage unless the material or attack specify otherwise. This usually only occurs in cases such as non-heat-resistant Wood actually catching fire, where normally with its 5 Hardness it would be immune to most fire damage except from spells or full immersion in Lava/Magma. Sonic is usually used as the go-to for dealing with objects with high Hardness ratings (despite only dealing full damage to objects with certain spells/powers and/or having certain splatbooks in play).

[Troacctid]

Fire and electricity deal half damage against most objects, before applying hardness. Cold damage does one-quarter damage against most objects, again before applying hardness. Acid and sonic damage affects most objects the same as it affects creatures, which is a frustratingly ambiguous rule, because it's not clear if it's meant to indicate that sonic and acid effects ignore hardness (since you don't apply hardness when dealing damage to creatures)--talk to your DM.

Additionally, some objects are especially vulnerable or resistant to certain types of attacks. For example, a spiderweb might be vulnerable to fire damage, but immune to bludgeoning damage. This is at the DM's discretion, so there's lots of wiggle room in cases where the default rules don't make sense--it explains why fire can burn wood, and why acid doesn't melt through the glass vial you keep it in.

[paranoidbox]

Lava is really, really, really hot. I'd just have the Frostbrand weapon immediately break (unless it was an artifact.) There's a reason the one ring was thrown into the fires of mount doom.

Yikes. Others have explained the RAW, but this is my question: If you're the DM and someone tried this in your game, you'd be like: "Your named sword, which you probably paid handsomely for and/or defeated a fairly difficult encounter for, that sword which you think is pretty cool, because, well, it's Frost Brand, that sword touches the lava and breaks. Sorry, better luck next time."?

Also, what does the One Ring have to do with Frost Brand?

[Troacctid]

The reason the One Ring was thrown into Mount Doom was because it was forged there. If all it took to destroy it was some really hot lava, they could have gone to any old volcano.