Lava damage

[Dmdork]

if you are submerged in lava in combat, do you take damage when you are submerged AND at the start of your turn?

[Kane0]

I mean you probably die, spending more than a few seconds in direct contact with molten rock.
That said, if youre playing a high heroism game youre probably just looking at a fistful of d10s fire damage and carry on, once per turn is the standard so no need to double up.

[Jervis]

I mean you probably die, spending more than a few seconds in direct contact with molten rock.
That said, if youre playing a high heroism game youre probably just looking at a fistful of d10s fire damage and carry on, once per turn is the standard so no need to double up.

I believe the DMG rules are 10d10 fire damage so a teifling barbarian can probably take a round or two at mid levels. A moon druid with rage can probably swim in the stuff as early as CL 5. I'd assume once on contact and at the end of your turn if you don't get out. At least thats how id run it. Though keep in mind i'm the guy that wrote a modern setting where soldiers use swords and guns with the in universe justification that greatswords, Glaives, etc deal more damage, and a guy can tank a shot to the forehead and sleep it off because he only took 1d10 +3 piercing damage which recovers on a long rest. I find settings that integrate mechanics interesting.

[Mastikator]

DM decides based on circumstance, I'd go with when you enter and when you end your turn in there.

[JackPhoenix]

I recommend using 3rd party supplement Lava Rules (http://www.scratchfactory.com/Resources/LavaBanners/LavaRules.pdf). Though it was originally made for a different edition, conversion to 5e should be easy enough.

[Naanomi]

There are a handful of ways of being immune to fire damage. If the damage gets oppressive, it also makes a great refuge for those who can stand it. Especially if it is fantasy style 'lava is water' that you can swim through ect

[Zhorn]

I recommend using 3rd party supplement Lava Rules (http://www.scratchfactory.com/Resources/LavaBanners/LavaRules.pdf). Though it was originally made for a different edition, conversion to 5e should be easy enough.

I'm not usually one for 3rd party rule set, but that's pretty good.
Very comprehensive and robust system they have, looks pretty easy to convert to a lot of game systems.
Cheers for sharing this gem. Will be referring back to this a fair bit I imagine.

[Jervis]

I recommend using 3rd party supplement Lava Rules (http://www.scratchfactory.com/Resources/LavaBanners/LavaRules.pdf). Though it was originally made for a different edition, conversion to 5e should be easy enough.

Those rules get circulated a lot because they're kinda memey but, especially in the edition they were created for where fire resistance is trivial to get and thats how creatures that swim in lava survive it, they're pretty bad. The rules of dnd just don't adhere to reality very well. The square cubed law means that dragons and a bunch of other popular monsters kinda just don't function without fantasy supermaterials that break the laws of physics. Even humans in the system get absurd survivability from hit dice alone as they gain levels even if they go with the most nonmagical of nonmagical classes.

Beyond the system not following our logic uncapped damage and instant death is just annoying game design. Thats why fall damage is so easy to survive, because the barbarian who tanked a red dragon attack yesterday dying to a trip feels more annoying and unbelievable than the fridge logic of someone potentially falling from orbit and surviving. Lava is arguable worse because your character will probably be tanking A LOT of fire damage in their career.

[strangebloke]

There are a handful of ways of being immune to fire damage. If the damage gets oppressive, it also makes a great refuge for those who can stand it. Especially if it is fantasy style 'lava is water' that you can swim through ect

Swimming in lava is soooo annoying to me. Its still rock! You can't swim in it! It's wayyyy denser than you! Trying to dive in lava is like trying to submerge a beach ball in water. Even if the lava is so hot its pure liquid with the viscosity of water (which really just won't happen) you will only displace enough lava to equal your own mass. If you're REALLY huge might mean you sink to like... your knees. Even a dragon won't really be able to submerge itself.

[Kane0]

Swimming in lava is soooo annoying to me. Its still rock! You can't swim in it! It's wayyyy denser than you! Trying to dive in lava is like trying to submerge a beach ball in water. Even if the lava is so hot its pure liquid with the viscosity of water (which really just won't happen) you will only displace enough lava to equal your own mass. If you're REALLY huge might mean you sink to like... your knees. Even a dragon won't really be able to submerge itself.

So all we need to do is add Earth Glide as well as Fire Immunity

[Naanomi]

Swimming in lava is soooo annoying to me. Its still rock! You can't swim in it! It's wayyyy denser than you!
Way denser than me sure. Way denser than certain constructs? Some types of elemental? Maybe even a few kinds of dragon or even giant? Maybe not

[JLandan]

It's funny to think of someone getting immersed in lava and dying of suffocation. :smalleek: