How much damage would Viserys' golden crown have done?

[gr8artist]

How much damage would a character take if you poured molten metal over their skin?
I have a concept for "Slag-Tongues", orcish champions who take a permanent vow of silence by pouring bronze over their lower jaw. They undergo intense training to help them survive the experience, but those that do gain a tremendous amount of respect, status akin to paladins or gladiators, an enhanced bite attack, and possibly a 1/day roar or some other supernatural perks. They may also be the orc tribes' version of a paladin.
I'm wondering, though, if the damage dealt by pouring molten metal over ones' teeth, tongue, and chin would be too much (killing all but the highest level characters) or too little (something the average city guardsman could endure).
Heat Metal sounds like a good start, but I think "molten" is probably a lot hotter than "glowing red hot", and I don't know how long it would take to cool off.

[NecessaryWeevil]

Well, I'm not any kind of medical professional, but...

Realistically? Given the proximity of the throat and airways, lots of facial nerves, and major blood vessels, I can't see anyone surviving what you describe.

In a heroic fantasy roleplaying game? Probably as much damage as a significant lava splash, if there are rules for that. Maybe a direct hit from a dragon's breath weapon.

EDIT: You could come at it another way: who should be able to survive that? At the very least I'd want it to kill any Tier 1 character outright so...100 damage?

EDIT 2: I also like Trask's solution.

[Trask]

I think its one of those scenarios that would just be instant death, or at least save or die. The person getting the molten gold poured into their nose and throat has no way of resisting.

It would be similar if a character snuck up on a sleeping guard and said he was going to take his dagger and stab him in the throat, or line up his crossbow right with the guard's eyeball. He just dies. Its a special situation that bypasses HP because HP still represents you giving your best effort to fight back, and resist damage. If you are in a situation where you are helpless to stop some guys from pouring molten gold into your throat, you are dead. Maybe I'd say you get a save to not die, and just take lava damage. In which case you'd still be incapable for weeks, have horrific scarring, and probably unable to speak for the rest of your life or until you got some kind of regenerate spell.

If you want to have monsters pour lava on their mouths, thats cool and fine but maybe use something like coals instead? Or maybe its some kind of special magical ritual that wont just kill you. Its hard to imagine Orcs doing this and surviving, even if they are gluttons for pain.

EDIT: In case anyone disagrees with me on the basis that its a "heroic" game with characters that are superhuman in strength and resilience, I think the latter is about as superhuman as it gets. Instead of dying from something that would kill 99% of people, you become scarred for life (like the Hound) and if you manage to escape after that, pursue revenge.

[Ganymede]

Isn't this redundant with the eye-gouging ritual of orcs? Why not just use that? There's already stats for those champions as well.

Anyways, you only really assign damage when your PCs are confronting a dangerous situation. If there are no PCs in this particular bit of background you've developed, then there is no reason to assign damage; just narrate what happens.

[JackPhoenix]

Look at page 249 of the DMG. Given the examples, I'd say 2d10 damage sounds reasonable. Average 15 hp orc will have 80% chance to survive that, you may adjust the numbers to get what you want.

Assuming it happens to PC, because that's the only situation where it matters. Otherwise, just narrate it however you want.

edit: heh. Shadowmonk'd on the later part.

[leogobsin]

I'd agree with what other people are saying, namely: if this is happening 'off-screen' the damage doesn't really matter. Just tell your players it's a thing that happens and it's fine. Also keep in mind, being reduced to 0 HP does not necessarily equal instant death. At GM's discretion enemies/NPCs can be subject to death saves. If this was happening in a ritual context it's possible people would be on hand to stabilize them (though that may be something that would go against the spirit of the practice and might be seen as 'cowardly' by orcs) but even without stabilization or healing they'd have a slightly better than 50/50 chance of stabilizing through death saves.

[Tetrasodium]

How much damage would a character take if you poured molten metal over their skin?
I have a concept for "Slag-Tongues", orcish champions who take a permanent vow of silence by pouring bronze over their lower jaw. They undergo intense training to help them survive the experience, but those that do gain a tremendous amount of respect, status akin to paladins or gladiators, an enhanced bite attack, and possibly a 1/day roar or some other supernatural perks. They may also be the orc tribes' version of a paladin.
I'm wondering, though, if the damage dealt by pouring molten metal over ones' teeth, tongue, and chin would be too much (killing all but the highest level characters) or too little (something the average city guardsman could endure).
Heat Metal sounds like a good start, but I think "molten" is probably a lot hotter than "glowing red hot", and I don't know how long it would take to cool off.

flesh to stone ->do your thing possibly with some chiseling if desired-> let it cool -> stone to flesh 0 damage

PfE:Fire half what it would. Add false life or armor of agathys & possibly 0 damage again using a couple low level spells.

[Unoriginal]

If it's a religious ritual, the deities involved could just ensure the survival of they see as worthy.