Cold
Cold-based attacks are rarer than fire-based attacks but are still fairly
common among wizard spells. The most obvious examples are ice storm, cone of cold, and Otiluke’s freezing sphere.
Visibility: The supernatural temperatures of a cold-based spell can cause some
surprisingly thick fog by condensing water vapor in the air. The more humid the setting,
the more likely it is for cold-based attacks to leave a residue of fog.
Generally, cold spells create a cloud of fog equal in size to the spell’s area of
effect. The fog persists for 1d6 rounds, and any attacks in or through the mist
suffer a –2 attack penalty.
Environmental Effects: Cold spells don’t start fires, but they can leave a dangerous coating of ice
on the ground; in fact, the ice storm spell specializes in this effect. Creatures moving in the area of effect have
a 25% chance of risking a slip or fall, which a saving throw vs. death magic
(or a Dexterity check, DM’s choice) can avert. Note that this is not as dangerous
as the sleet application of ice storm since that version of the spell is designed to coat the ground with slippery
ice.
Objects subjected to intense cold may be weakened or become unusually brittle
for a short time afterwards. Even if an item passes the saving throw, for the
next 1d6 rounds it is especially vulnerable to normal blows or crushing blows,
suffering a –4 penalty on any further item saving throws.
As noted under fires, metal or stone objects subjected to supernaturally cold
temperatures may be affected as if struck by a chill metal spell.
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