Post/Author/DateTime	Post
hovnarr 01-02-08, 10:11 AM	I was looking over the rules for environmental effects: http://www.d20srd.org/srd/environment.htm In some cases, it explicitly states that energy resistance works to avail the resistant creature of the environmental hazard. For example, under "Lava" it says that fire resistance/immunity is effective against lava. What about Cold Resistance and the non-lethal damage taken from an extremely cold environment? A guideline for interpretation could be the Endure Elements spell and the Resist Energy spell - does the latter completely overlap and surpass the former, do they have completely different applications (so that Resist Energy doesn't help at all against "the elements"), or something in between?
Tedronai 01-02-08, 10:35 AM	More information can be found in the supplements Frostburn and Sandstorm, which deal much more thoroughly with the effects of cold and heat, respectively, than does the core material. IIRC, Fire and Cold resistance of a certain quantity does negate the dangers of a hot or cold environment (though not the dangers that merely tend to accompany such environments, such as creatures and 'dire weather'). I can't recall, however, whether that bar is placed at 5 or 10 (or the 6 that would normally be necessary to eliminate the maximum result of a single D6 damage) Either way, Resist Energy will protect from either a hot or a cold environment, but not both (not in a single casting, anyway), but when was the last time you needed protection from BOTH environments simultaneously?
JackSnape 01-02-08, 11:07 AM	Note: Resist energy overlaps (and does not stack with) protection from energy. If a character is warded by protection from energy and resist energy, the protection spell absorbs damage until its power is exhausted. I think it only specifically states that energy resistance applies if the name of the environmental factor is not the same as the name of the energy resistance (ie it's mentioned that fire resistance counters lava damage, but not that cold resistance counters cold damage. Tedronai is right about Frostburn/Sandstorm, look at them if you can. They have a lot more info, including temperatures that require saves and the damage taken from those temps.
hovnarr 01-02-08, 12:01 PM	Thanks, that clears it up to me :)
Voran 01-03-08, 12:17 AM	Generally speaking, it the worst 'natural' case scenario, environmental effects like cold/heat do 1d6 lethal and 1d4 non-lethal per <X> amount of time. It also meant that in general, having a resistance of 5 for the related energy type means you'll rarely take lethal damage, at most 1 point every 10 minutes or so, but that's only if you keep rolling 6s, and you'll never suffer the fun things like hypothermia or heat-stroke cause that only happens if you suffer non-lethal damage as well (since max is 4, and your resistance is 5, you'll never take dmg) In either case, having resistance 5 gave you like a 'class 3' protection, which largely meant you could survive indefinitely in the environment, even if running around naked. Add appropriate clothing and you go up to 'class 4' which even provides enough protection vs unearthly type frost/heat situations.