Fire Elemental

Fire elementals can be conjured in any area containing a large open flame. To provide a fire elemental with an adequate shell of Prime Material flame, a fire built to house an elemental should have a diameter of at least six feet and reach a minimum of four feet into the air.

On the Prime Material Plane, a fire elemental appears as a tall sheet of flame. The fire elemental will always appear to have two armlike appendages, one on each side of its body. These arms seem to flicker back into the creature’s flaming body, only to spring out from its sides seconds later. The only facial features of a fire elemental are two large glowing patches of brilliant blue fire, which seem to function as eyes for the elemental. Like all common elementals, fire elementals rarely speak on the Prime Material plane, though their voices can be heard in the crackle and hiss of a large fire.

Combat: Because they resent being conjured to this plane, fire elementals are fierce opponents who will attack their enemies directly and savagely, taking what joy they can in burning the weak creatures and objects of the Prime Material to ashes. In combat, a fire elemental lashes out with one of its ever-moving limbs, doing 3-24 points of damage. Any flammable object struck by the fire elemental must save versus magical fire at a -2 or immediately begin to burn.

Fire elementals do have some limitations on their actions in the Prime Material plane. They are unable to cross water or non-flammable liquids. Often, a quick dive into a nearby lake or stream is the only thing that can save a powerful party from certain death from a fire elemental. Also, because their natural abilities give them some built-in resistance to flame-based attacks, creatures with innate fire-using abilities, like red dragons, take less damage from a fire elemental’s attack. The elemental subtracts 1 point from each die of damage it does to these creature (to a minimum of 1 point of damage per die).

Water Elemental

Water elementals can be conjured in any area containing a large amount of water or watery liquid. At least one thousand cubic feet of liquid is required to create a shell for the water elemental to inhabit. Usually a large pool serves this purpose, but several large kegs of wine or ale will do just as well.

The water elemental appears on the Prime Material Plane as a high-crested wave. The elemental's arms appear as smaller waves, one thrust out on each side of its main body. The arms ebb and flow, growing longer or shorter as the elemental moves. Two orbs of deep green peer out of the front of the wave and serve the elemental as eyes. Like all other common elementals, water elemental rarely speak on the Prime Material Plane, but their voices can be heard in the crashing of waves on rocky shores and the howl of an ocean gale.

Combat: In combat, the water elemental is a dangerous adversary. It prefers to fight in a large body of water where it can constantly disappear beneath the waves and suddenly swell up behind its opponent. When the elemental strikes, it lashes out with a huge wave-like arm, doing 5-30 points of damage.

Water elementals are also a serious threat to ships that cross their paths. A water elemental can easily overturn small craft (one ton of ship per hit die of the elemental) and stop or slow almost any vessel (one ton of ship per hit point of the elemental). Ships not completely stopped by an elemental will be slowed by a percentage equal to the ratio of ship’s tons over the hit points of the attacking elemental.

Though the water elemental is most effective in large areas of open water, it can be called upon to serve in a battle on dry land, close to the body of water from which it arose. However, the movement of the water elemental on land is the most restricted of any elemental type: a water elemental cannot move more than 60 yards away from the water it was conjured from, and 1 point of damage is subtracted from each die of damage they inflict out of the water (to a minimum of 1 point of damage per die).