Fire Damage

Anyone here have any good ideas on how to deal with fire damage?

I am thinking about the constant damage that can come from fire until it is extinguished?

Thoughts?

Anyone here have any good ideas on how to deal with fire damage?

I am thinking about the constant damage that can come from fire until it is extinguished?

Thoughts?

Fire damage is probably dependent on the size and heat of the flames.  Basically just say "there's a fire, it's burning really bright, you'll probably take d10 damage if you touch it" and then just deal damage as established if anyone gets tossed in it or whatever.

Maybe it gets bigger as time goes on and the damage die goes up, too.  It's a narrative danger inherent to a scene and the players can use it to their advantage or avoid it, etc the same way they would a monster or a trap or NPC or whatever.

And if they say meh, I can take the heat! Just tell them the consequences and ask. Well, sure you may be able to take the damage, but if you don't extinguish the flames soon, your armour will be uselss until repaired / your pack and all its contents destroyed / your face melted and scarred.

The specific instance I had was where someone threw a flask of burning oil at someone.  I used volley to hit but wasn't sure how the damage should continue as it continued to burn. 

Anyone else come across this?

when it came to a fireball casting wizard, I simply went on with moves that involved the ongoing fire.

gm move: the wizard casts a mighty fireball! -> the players fails the move, takes damage and...
gm move: flames engulf you, your are literally on fire! -> failed move, a little more damage, flammable worn objects are no more

and so on.

when it came to a fireball casting wizard, I simply went on with moves that involved the ongoing fire.

gm move: the wizard casts a mighty fireball! -> the players fails the move, takes damage and...
gm move: flames engulf you, your are literally on fire! -> failed move, a little more damage, flammable worn objects are no more

and so on.

Ok so that is great if you are attacking a player.  What about if it is the player who threw the burning flask of oil.  Do you jus say that each round after the initial hit the creature takes the same damage as it did on the first hit? Do you make the player roll for damage each round with a failure meaning that the creature puts the fire out?

When this happened in my game the creature died within 2 rounds anyway but this one still puzzles me.

Quote from: (not that) adam on November 15, 2012, 02:50:45 AM

when it came to a fireball casting wizard, I simply went on with moves that involved the ongoing fire.

gm move: the wizard casts a mighty fireball! -> the players fails the move, takes damage and...
gm move: flames engulf you, your are literally on fire! -> failed move, a little more damage, flammable worn objects are no more

and so on.

Ok so that is great if you are attacking a player.  What about if it is the player who threw the burning flask of oil.  Do you jus say that each round after the initial hit the creature takes the same damage as it did on the first hit? Do you make the player roll for damage each round with a failure meaning that the creature puts the fire out?

When this happened in my game the creature died within 2 rounds anyway but this one still puzzles me.

Sounds like a valid method -- player just rolls damage if the monster is still on fire and hasn't done anything to put itself out.  Poor damage roll and that sounds like it went out. 

Essentially, the fire goes out when it goes out, time is abstract anyway as rounds aren't fixed.

When this happened in my game the creature died within 2 rounds anyway but this one still puzzles me.

well now I am a bit puzzled. Maybe it's off topic, but what do you mean by "rounds"?

well now I am a bit puzzled. Maybe it's off topic, but what do you mean by "rounds"?

I think he's just referring to the well-known use of "combat rounds" in a lot of games, and how DW doesn't have them, so measuring how long a fire burns is more of a common-sense thing with this system.

I think the most fun thing about fire damage in DW would be the effect on a player's items. Burning to death probably takes a long time; people survive fires pretty often if smoke inhalation doesn't do them in. So I'd just throw a couple points of damage on the target every thirty seconds or so of a combat... but make sure to describe the awful scarring it causes and the items/clothing being ruined.

Geez, I feel morbid now. :(

 people survive fires pretty often if smoke inhalation doesn't do them in.

Emphasis mine.

That's usually from like a burning building, right? How much smoke does flesh and clothing give off? Why am I thinking about this right before sleep?

That's usually from like a burning building, right? How much smoke does flesh and clothing give off? Why am I thinking about this right before sleep?

Depends on how hot the fire is, right?  Plus, in the real world, we only have regular old fire.  In Dungeon World, does corpsefire burn differently?  How about the strange white flames summoned by elven magic?  What about elemental flame itself?