Cold and Wet (3.5)

[SirNibbles]

Does a wet Cold Weather Outfit (or similar equipment) provide any protection against the cold?




Cold Weather Outfit: A cold weather outfit includes a wool coat, linen shirt, wool cap, heavy cloak, thick pants or skirt, and boots. This outfit grants a +5 circumstance bonus on Fortitude saving throws against exposure to cold weather.

Immersion in chilled waters calls for an immediate check to resist the effects of cold or exposure and increases the DC of all Fortitude saves to avoid taking damage from cold or resisting cold-based spells and effects by 10 until the character and his clothes become dry.

Frostburn, page 10


Let's say the weather is simply cold and the character has level 1 protection (his Cold Weather Outfit) and he becomes immersed in cold water. Since he has at least level 1 protection from his clothing, he is immune to the effects of cold, so the -10 penalty to saves for wet clothing doesn't do anything. Additionally, even if the weather is colder and the character is only partially protected, they still receive a +5 circumstance bonus to their saves vs cold thanks to the clothing, even though it should be completely useless while wet.

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Am I missing a rule somewhere or is this just something the designers overlooked?

[Biffoniacus_Furiou]

A cold weather outfit is a protection level of 1, so that only means they don't need to make a Fort save every hour at temperatures below 40 F, down to 0 F. If the temperature is below 0 F down to -20 F (severe cold) they're only partially protected, and lower than that they're considered unprotected.

Protection level doesn't matter when immersed in cold water, it just says a check needs to be made immediately. The cold weather outfit still provides a +5 bonus, but all DCs are increased by 10 until they're dry.

[SirNibbles]

A cold weather outfit is a protection level of 1, so that only means they don't need to make a Fort save every hour at temperatures below 40 F, down to 0 F. If the temperature is below 0 F down to -20 F (severe cold) they're only partially protected, and lower than that they're considered unprotected.

Protection level doesn't matter when immersed in cold water, it just says a check needs to be made immediately. The cold weather outfit still provides a +5 bonus, but all DCs are increased by 10 until they're dry.

I know that for colder temperatures it's not enough to just have a cold weather outfit.

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They need to make a check immediately but since they have full protection against that level of cold, they automatically pass the check, regardless of the +5/-10, don't they? After all, you're making a save against Cold which is completely protected against by the outfit, unless the "calls for an immediate check" overrides "Characters whose protection against cold is at least...or higher are safe at this temperature range."