Fire Immunity - Downloaded from the Wizards Community, all coding removed by Solauren

Fire Immunity

Post/Author/DateTime Post
#1
gorbeck
Mar 22, 2008 18:52:56 My group is looking for a little perspective on fire immunity. How exactly does fire immunity manifest itself? If a character with fire immunity stood in a fire, would it burn their skin and simply regenerate instantly (ala Wolverine in X-Men III) or would the flames not even touch their skin? If it's the latter, does that mean that it would be impossible to light such a character on fire, or would the fire simply burn on the surface of the skin, causing no damage?

And now for the specific question: if a character has non-magical fire immunity (such as a 9th level gold Dragon Shaman), and that character dies, does his body retain the fire immunity? In other words, could the corpse of a character who was immune to fire be burned?

Thanks for any and all opinions on the subject!
#2
salla
Mar 22, 2008 19:03:37 It would depend on how the creature in question has fire resistance, but generally the creature simply ignores the fire. More like Superman standing in a bonfire. He's aware there's fire, but he's invulnerable to it (and a lot of other stuff, but that's tangential). I would assume that such a character could not be set on fire, though his belongings could.

I would also tend to assume that a creature immune to fire could not be incinerated post mortem either, though this might vary on a case-by-case basis.
#3
eldritch_lord
Mar 22, 2008 19:17:35 In my games, I describe 4 types of fire immunity:

1) A creature with the (Fire) subtype would already be made of so much fire or be so hot that throwing fire at it would be like throwing water at a fish--the fire would touch it, but not do any harm. The fire could continue to burn if there's fuel, but there would be no noticeable effect.

2) If the creature has (Ex) fire immunity but not the (Fire) subtype, then they are simply non-combustable. It's like a rust monster trying to rust wood; it makes no sense to rust a non-metal object, and it makes no sense to combust a non-combustible object.

3) If the creature has (Sp) fire immunity, the skin is simply reknitted after it combusts, as if new skin is constantly taking its place. As soon as the skin blisters and drops off, there is new skin to take its place.

4) If the creature has (Su) fire immunity, fire can't touch them. There is a radius around them which fire cannot enter, and any flames touching them that don't have a big-enough source of fuel die out immediately.

Visually, (1)and (2) look like the creature is covered in fire-shaped light instead of real fire, since it isn't damaging (the difference isn't noticeable visually, it's more subtle--see below); (3) looks like Wolverine super-fast healing; (3) looks like a force field of some sort.

I play it that a creature with the (Fire) subtype has a literally non-flammable body and cannot be burned or cremated after death--they're mostly fire, after all--but a creature without the subtype with non-magical immunity only retains immunity while alive and its remains are flammable; that's the subtle difference between (1) and (2) noted above.

Hope that helps.
#4
azezel
Mar 23, 2008 11:53:47 In the case of the Gold Dragon Shaman - the character is simply incombustable (and unmeltable). Even post mortem, such a character cannot be affected by fire or heat. Even post-mortem.

Now, his clothes on the other hand...
#5
anodai
Mar 24, 2008 17:45:40 If something takes no damage from fire the fire has no effect on it. Fire damage is the manifestation of the consumption of matter by fire, or the burning from an intense heat source. If no damage is taken, no visible damage is manifested.

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
#1 gorbeck Mar 22, 2008 18:52:56	My group is looking for a little perspective on fire immunity. How exactly does fire immunity manifest itself? If a character with fire immunity stood in a fire, would it burn their skin and simply regenerate instantly (ala Wolverine in X-Men III) or would the flames not even touch their skin? If it's the latter, does that mean that it would be impossible to light such a character on fire, or would the fire simply burn on the surface of the skin, causing no damage? And now for the specific question: if a character has non-magical fire immunity (such as a 9th level gold Dragon Shaman), and that character dies, does his body retain the fire immunity? In other words, could the corpse of a character who was immune to fire be burned? Thanks for any and all opinions on the subject!
#2 salla Mar 22, 2008 19:03:37	It would depend on how the creature in question has fire resistance, but generally the creature simply ignores the fire. More like Superman standing in a bonfire. He's aware there's fire, but he's invulnerable to it (and a lot of other stuff, but that's tangential). I would assume that such a character could not be set on fire, though his belongings could. I would also tend to assume that a creature immune to fire could not be incinerated post mortem either, though this might vary on a case-by-case basis.
#3 eldritch_lord Mar 22, 2008 19:17:35	In my games, I describe 4 types of fire immunity: 1) A creature with the (Fire) subtype would already be made of so much fire or be so hot that throwing fire at it would be like throwing water at a fish--the fire would touch it, but not do any harm. The fire could continue to burn if there's fuel, but there would be no noticeable effect. 2) If the creature has (Ex) fire immunity but not the (Fire) subtype, then they are simply non-combustable. It's like a rust monster trying to rust wood; it makes no sense to rust a non-metal object, and it makes no sense to combust a non-combustible object. 3) If the creature has (Sp) fire immunity, the skin is simply reknitted after it combusts, as if new skin is constantly taking its place. As soon as the skin blisters and drops off, there is new skin to take its place. 4) If the creature has (Su) fire immunity, fire can't touch them. There is a radius around them which fire cannot enter, and any flames touching them that don't have a big-enough source of fuel die out immediately. Visually, (1)and (2) look like the creature is covered in fire-shaped light instead of real fire, since it isn't damaging (the difference isn't noticeable visually, it's more subtle--see below); (3) looks like Wolverine super-fast healing; (3) looks like a force field of some sort. I play it that a creature with the (Fire) subtype has a literally non-flammable body and cannot be burned or cremated after death--they're mostly fire, after all--but a creature without the subtype with non-magical immunity only retains immunity while alive and its remains are flammable; that's the subtle difference between (1) and (2) noted above. Hope that helps.
#4 azezel Mar 23, 2008 11:53:47	In the case of the Gold Dragon Shaman - the character is simply incombustable (and unmeltable). Even post mortem, such a character cannot be affected by fire or heat. Even post-mortem. Now, his clothes on the other hand...
#5 anodai Mar 24, 2008 17:45:40	If something takes no damage from fire the fire has no effect on it. Fire damage is the manifestation of the consumption of matter by fire, or the burning from an intense heat source. If no damage is taken, no visible damage is manifested.