Physical Conditions - Magma (TIP)

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Many primes believe that the Elemental Plane of Fire mirrors their version of Hell, but the moment they experience Magma that opinion changes to encompass this plane. Fire itself is bad enough (in their opinion, which I find shortsighted at best), but fire that sticks somehow conjures an even greater terror in their minds. I am only sorry they cannot comprehend the subtle glories of the paraplane.
==Getting Here==
Reaching the paraplane of Magma is easier than entering most of the other paraelemental realms. Vortices leading here are fairly common (as such things go). However, few portals provide access to Magma. Whether this is because of some difficulty in breaching the boundaries of the paraplane or whether it reflects the fact that not many people want to come here is a question yet unanswered.
The only portal I can speak of with accuracy, in fact, is a basalt gate found in an isolated, untended area of the Outlands. Exactly who built the portal is a subject of some debate, for the opening is quite small. Man-sized creatures I, have to squeeze to pass through it, and ~ ~ larger folk simply cannot make use :;") of the thing at all. Hal flings, dwarves, and other such Races have no problem with the portal, and they generally find it amusing to watch their larger cousins try to contort their way through.
The portal key is a simple glass lens, but a traveler should think twice before opening the gate. It's a one-way journey from the Outlands directly into the fortress of Chilimba, a powerful tyrant who's the closest thing Magma has to a ruler. Chilimba is more than a little paranoid, too, and tends to have people killed as soon as they step through the gate. If a planewalker isn't ready to present his case in a speedy and convincing manner, he might wish to find another way to the paraplane.
There are more vortices to Magma than to any other such realm. One exists at the heart of almost every active volcano. Of course, reaching such places may be a chore in itself, but if an outsider plans to survive in the paraplane of Magma, he really ought to have no trouble with a little volcano.
==Hazards==
Those who dislike heat find it difficult to survive in the paraplane of Magma. From the point of view of many, the environment combines the worst features of the Elemental Planes of Fire and Earth.
===Breathing and Vision===
As a substance, magma is no easier to breathe than earth. Without magic, a visitor who journeys below the surface of the paraplane survives only as long as he can hold his breath. Of course, some might try to travel atop the magma instead, in which case they discover an atmosphere quite toxic. Anyone who breathes it without some manner of filter or magical protection must make a saving throw vs. poison or die instantly.
When moving through the blazing regions above the magma, creatures not native to the paraplane find the range of their vision reduced to only 120 feet. In most cases, native creatures can see twice as far. Below the surface, vision is impossible without magical assistance-a ring of x-ray vision, for example. In either case, the heat of the paraplane makes infravision useless.
===Temperature===
The heat here is nearly as great as that of the beautiful plane of Fire. Any nonmagical or unprotected flammable substances, such as wood, paper, or cloth, burst into flames within I round. When this happens, anyone wearing items made of such material suffers 1 d 10 points of damage unless shielded from injury by heat or flame. Magical items, like scrolls or cloaks, are allowed a saving throw vs. magical fire (at a penalty of -2) to escape destruction.
Unprotected water and other fluids instantly boil away into vapor. Anyone exposed to these boiling liquids or their clouds of superheated steam suffers 2d10 points of damage. Magical fluids (a category that does not include holy water) are allowed a saving throw vs. magical fire at a -1 penalty. 
Nonvolcanic stone that is not magical or protected in some way melts into magma in 5 rounds. This causes 3d 10 points of damage to any unprotected traveler wearing or in close contact with the stone. Living creatures made of stone, such as earth elementals or golems, suffer 1d6 points of damage from the heat each round. Volcanic stone, which includes basalt, obsidian, and pumice, is virtually immune to the heat of the paraplane. Magical stone can survive as well, with a successful saving throw vs. magical fire. 
Unprotected or nonmagical metal items heat to the melting point in 4 rounds. This sudden increase in temperature causes 4d4 points of damage to anyone in contact with the metal and also might disable their limbs (as per the heat metal spell). Magical metal items can escape this fate by making a saving throw vs. magical fire with a +2 bonus. It goes without saying that creatures of flesh and blood suffer damage each round that they're exposed to the heat of Magma. The severity of their injuries depends on their natural Armor Class, as indicated by the chart below.
NATURAL AC	DAMAGE PER ROUND
10 to 8 	6d8
7 to 5 	5d8
4 to 2 	4d8
1 to -1 	3d8
-2 to -4 	2d8
-5 to -7 	1d8
-8 to -10 	Nil
Those above the surface of the lava suffer only half of the indicated damage, but they must be careful of bursting lava bubbles and erupting geysers (as described in "Other Dangers," below). The best advice I can give to a nonnative is this: Bring as much magical protection as possible. Spells like protection from magma are best, though the more common protection from fire or items like a ring of fire protection reduce the damage to 10 points per round.
===Other Dangers===
Outsiders may think it odd to discuss the "special perils" of a realm where the air is acidic and poisonous, the surface is an endless sea of boiling lava, and the entire place is hotter than Vulcan's forge. But for nonnatives, even more dangers exist.
BLAZING CLOUDS. On most prime-material worlds, the sight of a cloud drifting lazily across the sky is a peaceful one. In the paraplane of Magma, however, such things are extremely dangerous. Here, clouds are often composed of burning, acidic vapors and raw, elemental Fire.
Anyone who enters a blazing cloud must make a saving throw vs. breath weapon or suffer 2d 10 points of damage. Creatures immune to or protected from either fire or acid are allowed a +4 bonus to their rolls. (Those immune to both fire and acid are safe from the cloud and need not make a saving throw at all.) A successful saving throw cuts the damage sustained in half. Those who remain inside a blazing cloud must make a new saving throw every turn.
BUBBLES AND GEYSERS. While on or above the surface of the para plane, a traveler must be mindful of the roiling, seething nature of the magma. Each turn, there is a 10% chance that a bubble of magma explodes near him, or that a geyser of magma blasts up in his vicinity. Even a person immune to the heat of the molten rock sprayed all over him must make a successful saving throw vs. petrification or be flung up to 3d JO feet away by the force of the blast or pressure.
==Moving About==
The fact that gravity exists in the paraplane makes getting from one place to another rather difficult. Unless one has some means of flying through the deadly atmosphere, he must navigate the lava sea. In order to do this, he must secure some manner of ship that can withstand the heat.
In most cases, this requires a magical conveyance of some sort, but some artificers insist that technology can also fill the need. Indeed, the fact that more than a few travelers claim to have sighted the Avenger (as described in the chapter on the Elemental Plane of Water) speeding through the liquid stone of the paraplane supports that assertion.
It is possible, too, to travel beneath the magma rather than above it, thanks to one of the great secrets of the para- plane. A network of hardened lava tubes extends throughout the bubbling, still-liquid magma. While the temperature inside the tubes is extraordinarily hot, a nonnative can usu- ally travel through the linked passageways more easily than through the magma itself. The tubes even contain air, though it's just as toxic as the rest of the paraplane's atmosphere.