View Single Post
Old 12-06-2009, 10:46 AM   #22
Grouchy Chris
 
Grouchy Chris's Avatar
 
Join Date: Nov 2007
Location: The City of Subdued Excitement
Default Re: That wonderful stuff: Lava

Quote:
Originally Posted by Darekun View Post
Well, it's not like lava has a fixed temperature. So there's a wide range. I will be assigning numbers, on the principle that guessed numbers are better than none :J

Fresh from the interior, I'd guess 32d/sec burn damage from immersion. At these temperatures, even convection can't keep up, and you're probably looking at about 24d/sec burn damage from contact or being next to it. Maybe -1d/sec per hex, in open air.
I think you're overestimating the damage from being near to lava by quite a bit. Lava erupts at 700 C to 1200 C, per Wikipedia. Iron has a melting point of 1538 C, much hotter. And here is a picture of a man pouring molten iron.

http://www.gettyimages.com/detail/816153-001/Stone\

He's got bare forearms and a bare face, except for his goggles, and I'd say he's about five feet from the pour.

Quote:
A lava flow, hot enough to still be flowing but with a crust of solid black rock, I'd guess 10d/sec from immersion, 8d/sec from contact, 5d/sec from being next to it. Also -1d/sec per hex, so you can stand a few yards away and not take damage.
Above, I linked to an account of a tourist who walks up to a lava flow of the partially crusted variety and fishes out lava rocks with a stick. He says he got his beard burnt off, but he obviously didn't take 5d of damage, nor did the stick take 10d from being immersed in the lava, which would have been sufficient to destroy it.

The basic set gives 3d/second for contact with molten metal (p. 433).

Last edited by Grouchy Chris; 12-06-2009 at 03:02 PM. Reason: typo
Grouchy Chris is offline   Reply With Quote