How do Energy Effects work underwater?

Question

This is similar to this question on fire damage underwater but a little broader. How do other energy types work underwater? I'm plumbing through the underwater level of Castle Whiterock and my kineticist Psion is mowing through the opposition with energy cone/energy missile. Due to the kineticist abilities I can change the energy type between fire/cold/electricity/sonic easily so the question quickly became: "What effects does being underwater have for each energy type?"

My DM house-ruled the effects for different energies but I was wondering if either Pathfinder or D&D 3x had specific rulings for each type.

Answer 1

In D&D 3.5, if a character is swimming, floating, or underwater, it affects stealth, AC, attacks, damage, and movement. Being underwater also affects fire-based spells and spell-like effects (as you mentioned). There is no mention in the DMG of effects on other energy types (DMG p. 93). The other combat effects are listed in Table #3-22.

In Pathfinder, the rules for making attacks and impacting AC differ from 3.5 (see Pathfinder Core p.432). Spells with the [Fire] descriptor require a caster level check (DC 20+spell level) to cast; supernatural fire effects are ineffective unless the spell says otherwise, and the surface blocks line of effect. In addition, a creature that cannot breathe water must make a concentration check (DC15+spell level) to cast any spell underwater. "Some spells might function differently underwater, subject to GM discretion."

So, the short answer is, "no, there isn't" - at least not in the core rules.

Answer 2

lol - physics - lol

According to Thermo-Dynamics, heat is heat. The fact that you are underwater doesn't protect you from heat. The concept of being protected from fire-based spells is that fire relies on the availability of oxygen. Oxygen is easily accessed from the air but not from water (where it is bound to hydrogen and takes more energy to release). The burning process is retarded underwater and undergoes oxygen death. If fire-based spells provide heat energy directly rather than simply consuming oxygen than there is no real protection from being underwater (example: Heat Metal). Let's look at the Fireball. In 2nd edition, wizards casting Fireball had to be careful about tossing Fireballs into enclosed areas because the Fireball would expand (consume the oxygen) of a particular volume of air. In 3rd edition, the Fireball changed to affect a sphere of preset radius implying that it no longer needed to consume the oxygen in the air. Because we no longer worry about oxygen consumption, it follows that a Fireball generates its own heat energy and should work underwater. The difference is that it no longer ignites combustibles (oxygen death) and therefore no longer appears as a ball of fire. The short of my argument is that if cold-based attacks work fine underwater, then heat-based attacks should also work fine underwater.

lol - physics - lol