The idea came to me the other day, when someone is hit with a Cone of Cold spell, there is a sudden temperature drop, and they take damage if they are in the area of affect. Even if they save they take half damage.

The thing is such a sudden temperature drop that causes such drastic cold would cause some degree of frost bite and at the very least hypothermia. With hypothermia, the blood pulls away from the extremities, thus people with severe frostbite having black fingers and losing them. Hypothermia causes those affected to become tired. On the long march back from Moscow of  Napoleon’s army, many soldiers just laid down and died because they didn’t have the energy to keep marching. Thus the efforts of others in the same situation to keep everyone awake, and for rescuers to do the same.

Perhaps a severe temperature drop might be a welcome thing in a hot and humid jungle, but on a cold day, a mountain top, or the depths of winter, not so much.

Similarly with heat and fire based spells, in addition to some degree and portion of the body affected with burns, there could also be heat stroke or heat exhaustion. Heat might be welcome on the frozen tundra, but the steamy jungles or arid scorching desert would be most unhelpful.

Electrical attacks would have effects similar to those hit with high voltage. Lightning bolts should cause injuries on par with being struck by lightning. People hit by lightning often have toes blown off.

I don’t think there needs to be a special table or other additional mechanic or rule for this. this is just something to keep in mind to add some flavor when describing the scene.

If a character takes the full brunt of a cone of cold and fails their save, and still live, they should be shivering with cold, fingers, toes, earlobes, and face stinging from the cold. Fingers slow to grasp things. Metal chilled to freezing temperatures is most unpleasant to hold in already cold and bare hands. For example, a thief trying to pick a lock soon after receiving an icy blast might not be up to the task at peak performance right away. I speak of this from personal experience.

Similarly with a fire base spell or attack,and just how sever the burns are, i.e. first, second or third degree; and how much of the person is affected. One can use the Rule of 9’s to explain the percentage of the body affected.

One can add a bit more realism to the game with just some descriptions and throwing a wrench into the plans. Every game I have ever played where a player is hit by a fireball, cone of cold, or lightning bolt, the player runs their character like nothing happened and keeps going. Other than the change in hit points getting their attention and making them more desperate or more cautious, most don’t play it showing that they have a boo boo.

I know how much I jump when I touch an electric fence by mistake, how cranky I get when I get super cold, and how angry I feel when I get bacon grease on the back of my hand. Add in all the appropriate expletives to let the world how miserable those things have made me. Imagine that magnified a hundred or a thousand times.

Perhaps it is something players should keep more in mind when playing characters affected by these things. I’m not saying that one should aim for an Oscar winning performance. If your style of role playing is just descriptive of what your character is doing, you can still add this bit of flair to it. I know that I am still able to see the action a players describes in my head. That is, I see the scene, be it a room in a dungeon, bar at a tavern, or along a trail, I have an image in my head of what the GM describes and place the characters in the scene. Just like with reading a book, I can make my own “movie” out of it.

Some memorable event in the later re-telling, we all see it and laugh or console each other with each re-telling of our favorite actions from a particularly memorable session. We can bore to tears anyone who wasn’t there. But when even a mere mention with the right group can take everyone back to that moment.

If your thief is suddenly frosted by a cone of cold and says something that fits the situation perfectly, whether serious or humorous, the rest of the party, and the DM will remember it.