Elemental Fire

A world made of burning: seas of flame, plains of ash, rivers of molten rock and, here and there, cities of brass and glass where fire folk trade and quarrel. One comes by spell, through the heart of a volcano or through a gate that fire spirits keep, and leaves the same way, if its keepers allow it. Without magic against the heat, no mortal lasts a day. Its people are proud and hot-tempered, but they keep markets and honour a fair deal.

Light
Lit
Going
Hard

Hear it

Hazards

  • Furnace heat. The air itself burns. Water boils away from open flasks within the hour. D&D 5e: At 38 °C (100 °F) or hotter, anyone exposed without drinkable water makes a Constitution save at the end of each hour, DC 5 then 1 higher each hour, or gains 1 Exhaustion. Medium or heavy armour gives Disadvantage; fire resistance or immunity passes automatically.
  • Catching fire. Cloth, hair and packs catch fire at a touch of the flames. D&D 5e: A creature on fire takes 1d4 Fire damage at the start of each of its turns. It can spend an action dropping Prone and rolling to put itself out; dousing, plunging into a liquid or smothering the flames does it too.
  • Molten rock. Rivers and lakes of molten rock cut every road. A crust that looks solid may not be. D&D 5e (House rule): A creature that enters molten rock or starts its turn in it takes 6d10 Fire damage, or 18d10 if it is fully under. A Wisdom (Survival) DC 14 check spots a crust too thin to cross.
  • Choking smoke. Thick smoke and fumes roll across the ash plains. Inside, there is nothing to breathe. D&D 5e: A creature can hold its breath for 1 plus its Constitution modifier minutes, never less than 30 seconds. After that it gains 1 Exhaustion at the end of each of its turns, and loses all of it as soon as it can breathe again.

Adventure hooks

  1. A brass caravan has lost its guide in a storm of cinders and offers rare metals to whoever gets it to the city of brass and glass. Its cargo is alive, and would very much like to be let out.
  2. A smith of the fire folk challenges mortal smiths to forge at his furnace. The winner takes a blade that never cools; the loser stays as his apprentice for a hundred years, and the party’s smith has already accepted.
  3. A mortal girl wandered through the heart of a volcano and lives among the fire folk, unburned. Her parents want her home; she has a trade, friends and a very hot temper, and she does not want to go.
  4. A salamander has fallen in love with the eternal candle of a mortal chapel and wants a love letter delivered. The letter is on fire, and so is anything that carries it for long.

What may happen

  1. A caravan of fire folk pulling sledges of glowing ore. They offer to trade cool water for gold, at a terrible price.
  2. Sparks fall like rain for a few minutes. Everything not fireproof starts to smoke.
  3. Long serpent-like shapes swim through a river of molten rock, hunting something on the bank.
  4. A forest of trees made of black glass, each one ringing softly in the heat.
  5. A small island of cold stone stands in a sea of fire, with a spring of real water. Someone has camped here.
  6. A smith of living fire challenges the party’s best fighter to strike his anvil harder than he can.
  7. A mortal wizard is chained in a glowing cage at a market, sold as a curiosity.
  8. The ground shakes and a fountain of molten rock bursts up a hundred steps away.
  9. A small spirit of flame, no bigger than a cat, follows the party out of pure curiosity and eats their firewood.
  10. A wall of black ash moves across the plain, lit from inside by lightning.
  11. A field of rubies has grown out of cooled rock. Each is warm to the touch.

Creatures

To bring back

Elemental Essence, Efreeti Ashes, Salamander Brain, Azer Flame

Other planes

Feywild, Shadowfell, Ethereal, Astral, Elemental Water, Elemental Earth, Elemental Air, Infernal, Abyssal, Celestial, Hades

This work includes material from the System Reference Document 5.2.1 ("SRD 5.2.1") by Wizards of the Coast LLC, available at https://www.dndbeyond.com/srd. The SRD 5.2.1 is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, available at https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/legalcode.

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