Environmental Effects: Difference between revisions

From Epic Path
Jump to navigation Jump to search
No edit summary
Line 1: Line 1:
[[Category:Epic Path]]
[[Category:Epic Path]]
Outside the safety of city walls, the wilderness is a dangerous place, and many adventurers have gotten lost in its trackless wilds or fallen victim to deadly weather. The following rules give you guidelines on running adventures in a wilderness setting.
Outside the safety of city walls, the wilderness is a dangerous place, and many adventurers have gotten lost in its trackless wilds or fallen victim to deadly weather. The following rules give you guidelines on running adventures in a wilderness setting.
==Starvation and Thirst==
Characters might find themselves without food or water and with no means to obtain them. In normal climates, Medium characters need at least a gallon of fluids and about a pound of decent food per day to avoid starvation. (Small characters need half as much.) In very hot climates, characters need two or three times as much water to avoid dehydration.
A character can go without water for 1 day plus a number of hours equal to his Constitution score. After this time, the character must make a Constitution check each hour (DC 10, +1 for each previous check) or take 1d6 points of nonlethal damage. Characters that take an amount of nonlethal damage equal to their total hit points begin to take lethal damage instead.
A character can go without food for 3 days, in growing discomfort. After this time, the character must make a Constitution check each day (DC 10, +1 for each previous check) or take 1d6 points of nonlethal damage. Characters that take an amount of nonlethal damage equal to their total hit points begin to take lethal damage instead.
Characters who have taken nonlethal damage from lack of food or water are fatigued. Nonlethal damage from thirst or starvation cannot be recovered until the character gets food or water, as needednot even magic that restores hit points heals this damage.
Finding Food and Water
See also: Survival Skill
To find food and water for one person requires a Survival skill check DC 10. Enough food and water can be found for one additional person for every 2 points by which the Survival check result exceeds 10. Source: PCh:HotJ
Poisonous Food If a player is brave or naive enough to eat a plant or animal she's unfamiliar with or is maneuvered into doing so by well-meaning or mischievous locals you may want to roll on the following table to determine whether or not the item is poisonous. The effects listed below may either represent actual poison or simply compounds travelers have not properly adapted to. Source: PCh:HotJ.
Table: Poisonous Food Effects
Roll Fort DC Onset Frequency Effect Cure
1-50 - - - No effect -
50-75 15 5 min. 1/10 min. Nauseated 1 Save
76-85 12 10 min. 1/min. for 3 min. 1d6 hp 2 Saves
86-90 14 1 min. 1/min. for 4 min. 1 Str, 1 Dex 1 Save
91-96 15 10 min. 1/day 1d2 Str, 1d3 Con 1 Save
97-100 - 17 1/rd. for 7 rds. 1d3 Con 2 Saves
With a DC 15 Knowledge (nature) or Survival check, a character can use smell, color, and other signs to tell if a potential food is likely to be poisonous, and a DC 20 check is usually enough to predict the severity of the poison effect. Also, an alchemist with access to the proper reagents may preserve the effects with a Craft (alchemy) check equal to 5 + the DC of the poison.
In addition to ingested poisons, there are also a fair number of contact poisons in the wild. Most notable are the poisonous frogs that inhabit jungles. Fortunately, most plants and animals that are poisonous to the touch are brightly colored and easy to pick out (requiring a DC 12 Survival or Knowledge [nature] check to recognize them as poisonous). If a character does touch one of these brightly colored objects, use either the 86-90 or 91-96 result on Table: Poisonous Food Effects above.
Tainted Water Tainted water poses an attractive danger to a thirsty traveler. A character can make a DC 10 Survival check to tell fresh water from tainted water. Most trackers know that still water holds the greatest potential for contamination, while fast-moving streams and headwaters are more likely to be fresh. A purify food and drink spell, of course, removes all doubt, and create water renders the question moot. Canny adventurers pack clean bowls or canteens with which to carry magically purified or created water and boil any water they're forced to harvest from lakes or rivers (effectively eliminating the threat of disease). Tainted water can have any number of causes, from dangerous local plants leaching poison into the water, to a battleground or dung heap upstream, or even a simple animal corpse decaying and putrefying at the water's edge. Source: PCh:HotJ.
If a character drinks tainted water, she must make a DC 12 Fortitude save or contract filth fever. The amount of water ingested does not modify the save or the severity of the disease in any way, as a thimbleful of tainted water can have the same effect as a bucketful. At your discretion, you can replace the standard filth fever with a different disease (such as dysentery.)
Wading through tainted water can also communicate filth fever, as tiny drops of the water get on the character's hands, clothes, and face and can later be transferred to the mouth, nose, or eyes as the character moves about. It is more difficult to contract a disease in this way, though. When wading or swimming through tainted water, a character receives a +2 circumstance bonus on her save to resist contracting filth fever.
==Getting Lost==
There are many ways to get lost in the wilderness. Following an obvious road, trail, or feature such as a stream or shoreline prevents most from becoming lost, but travelers striking off cross-country might become disorientedespecially in conditions of poor visibility or in difficult terrain.
Poor Visibility
Anytime characters cannot see at least 60 feet due to reduced visibility conditions, they might become lost. Characters traveling through fog, snow, or a downpour might easily lose the ability to see any landmarks not in their immediate vicinity. Similarly, characters traveling at night might be at risk, too, depending on the quality of their light sources, the amount of moonlight, and whether they have darkvision or low-light vision.
Difficult Terrain
Any character in forest, moor, hill, or mountain terrain might become lost if he moves away from a trail, road, stream, or other obvious path or track. Forests are especially dangerous because they obscure far-off landmarks and make it hard to see the sun or stars.
Chance to Get Lost
If conditions exist that make getting lost a possibility, the character leading the way must succeed on a Survival check or become lost. The difficulty of this check varies based on the terrain, the visibility conditions, and whether or not the character has a map of the area being traveled through. Refer to the table below and use the highest DC that applies.
Terrain Survival DC
Desert or plains 14
Forest 16
Moor or hill 10
Mountain 12
Open sea 18
Urban, ruins, or dungeon 8
Situation Check Modifier
Proper navigational tools (map, sextant) +4
Poor visibility 4
A character with at least 5 ranks in Knowledge (geography) or Knowledge (local) pertaining to the area being traveled through gains a +2 bonus on this check.
Check once per hour (or portion of an hour) spent in local or overland movement to see if travelers have become lost. In the case of a party moving together, only the character leading the way makes the check.
Effects of Being Lost
If a party becomes lost, it is no longer certain of moving in the direction it intended to travel. Randomly determine the direction in which the party actually travels during each hour of local or overland movement. The characters' movement continues to be random until they blunder into a landmark they can't miss, or until they recognize that they are lost and make an effort to regain their bearings.
Recognizing You're Lost: Once per hour of random travel, each character in the party may attempt a Survival check (DC 20, 1 per hour of random travel) to recognize that he is no longer certain of his direction of travel. Some circumstances might make it obvious that the characters are lost.
Setting a New Course: Determining the correct direction of travel once a party has become lost requires a Survival check (DC 15, +2 per hour of random travel). If a character fails this check, he chooses a random direction as the correct direction for resuming travel. Once the characters are traveling along their new course, correct or incorrect, they might get lost again. If the conditions still make it possible for travelers to become lost, check once per hour of travel as described above to see if the party maintains its new course or begins to move at random again.
Conflicting Directions: It's possible that several characters may attempt to determine the right direction to proceed after becoming lost. Make a Survival check for each character in secret, then tell the players whose characters succeeded the correct direction in which to travel, and tell the players whose characters failed a random direction they think is right, with no indication who is correct.
Regaining Your Bearings
There are several ways for characters to find their way after becoming lost. First, if the characters successfully set a new course and follow it to the destination they're trying to reach, they're not lost anymore. Second, the characters, through random movement, might run into an unmistakable landmark. Third, if conditions suddenly improvethe fog lifts or the sun comes uplost characters may attempt to set a new course, as described above, with a +4 bonus on the Survival check.


==Acid==
==Acid==
Line 206: Line 127:


Within the bounds of a forest fire, a character faces three dangers: heat damage, catching on fire, and smoke inhalation:
Within the bounds of a forest fire, a character faces three dangers: heat damage, catching on fire, and smoke inhalation:
==Getting Lost==
There are many ways to get lost in the wilderness. Following an obvious road, trail, or feature such as a stream or shoreline prevents most from becoming lost, but travelers striking off cross-country might become disorientedespecially in conditions of poor visibility or in difficult terrain.
Poor Visibility
Anytime characters cannot see at least 60 feet due to reduced visibility conditions, they might become lost. Characters traveling through fog, snow, or a downpour might easily lose the ability to see any landmarks not in their immediate vicinity. Similarly, characters traveling at night might be at risk, too, depending on the quality of their light sources, the amount of moonlight, and whether they have darkvision or low-light vision.
Difficult Terrain
Any character in forest, moor, hill, or mountain terrain might become lost if he moves away from a trail, road, stream, or other obvious path or track. Forests are especially dangerous because they obscure far-off landmarks and make it hard to see the sun or stars.
Chance to Get Lost
If conditions exist that make getting lost a possibility, the character leading the way must succeed on a Survival check or become lost. The difficulty of this check varies based on the terrain, the visibility conditions, and whether or not the character has a map of the area being traveled through. Refer to the table below and use the highest DC that applies.
Terrain Survival DC
Desert or plains 14
Forest 16
Moor or hill 10
Mountain 12
Open sea 18
Urban, ruins, or dungeon 8
Situation Check Modifier
Proper navigational tools (map, sextant) +4
Poor visibility 4
A character with at least 5 ranks in Knowledge (geography) or Knowledge (local) pertaining to the area being traveled through gains a +2 bonus on this check.
Check once per hour (or portion of an hour) spent in local or overland movement to see if travelers have become lost. In the case of a party moving together, only the character leading the way makes the check.
Effects of Being Lost
If a party becomes lost, it is no longer certain of moving in the direction it intended to travel. Randomly determine the direction in which the party actually travels during each hour of local or overland movement. The characters' movement continues to be random until they blunder into a landmark they can't miss, or until they recognize that they are lost and make an effort to regain their bearings.
Recognizing You're Lost: Once per hour of random travel, each character in the party may attempt a Survival check (DC 20, 1 per hour of random travel) to recognize that he is no longer certain of his direction of travel. Some circumstances might make it obvious that the characters are lost.
Setting a New Course: Determining the correct direction of travel once a party has become lost requires a Survival check (DC 15, +2 per hour of random travel). If a character fails this check, he chooses a random direction as the correct direction for resuming travel. Once the characters are traveling along their new course, correct or incorrect, they might get lost again. If the conditions still make it possible for travelers to become lost, check once per hour of travel as described above to see if the party maintains its new course or begins to move at random again.
Conflicting Directions: It's possible that several characters may attempt to determine the right direction to proceed after becoming lost. Make a Survival check for each character in secret, then tell the players whose characters succeeded the correct direction in which to travel, and tell the players whose characters failed a random direction they think is right, with no indication who is correct.
Regaining Your Bearings
There are several ways for characters to find their way after becoming lost. First, if the characters successfully set a new course and follow it to the destination they're trying to reach, they're not lost anymore. Second, the characters, through random movement, might run into an unmistakable landmark. Third, if conditions suddenly improvethe fog lifts or the sun comes uplost characters may attempt to set a new course, as described above, with a +4 bonus on the Survival check.


===Heat Damage===
===Heat Damage===
Line 290: Line 254:


Creatures with tremorsense can easily locate patches of quicksand due to the difference in vibrations and density of the pits of sand. Creatures with a burrow speed treat quicksand as difficult terrain, but they can still suffer the effects of suffocation if they are submerged in it and do not free themselves. Creatures that can breathe water also suffocate in quicksand, but they take twice as long to do so. Water Dangers The serpentine rivers and still ponds of the jungle both sustain life and take it. All creatures, be they animals, monsters, or humanoids, require water in one form or another, and the local watering hole is the common bond that both predator and prey share, albeit not peacefully. Slow-moving jungle rivers also make for easy ship and barge travel, and where their overgrown banks turn sandy the rivers can provide a welcome respite from underbrush for those traveling on foot. The biggest danger inherent in any jungle water supply is from the creatures that live within it or set ambushes near its banks, waiting for weaker creatures to approach and drink. Yet along with high-profile dangers like crocodiles, hippopotamuses, and carnivorous fish, the lakes and rivers also hold many lesser dangers, some inherent to the water itself.
Creatures with tremorsense can easily locate patches of quicksand due to the difference in vibrations and density of the pits of sand. Creatures with a burrow speed treat quicksand as difficult terrain, but they can still suffer the effects of suffocation if they are submerged in it and do not free themselves. Creatures that can breathe water also suffocate in quicksand, but they take twice as long to do so. Water Dangers The serpentine rivers and still ponds of the jungle both sustain life and take it. All creatures, be they animals, monsters, or humanoids, require water in one form or another, and the local watering hole is the common bond that both predator and prey share, albeit not peacefully. Slow-moving jungle rivers also make for easy ship and barge travel, and where their overgrown banks turn sandy the rivers can provide a welcome respite from underbrush for those traveling on foot. The biggest danger inherent in any jungle water supply is from the creatures that live within it or set ambushes near its banks, waiting for weaker creatures to approach and drink. Yet along with high-profile dangers like crocodiles, hippopotamuses, and carnivorous fish, the lakes and rivers also hold many lesser dangers, some inherent to the water itself.
==Starvation and Thirst==
Characters might find themselves without food or water and with no means to obtain them. In normal climates, Medium characters need at least a gallon of fluids and about a pound of decent food per day to avoid starvation. (Small characters need half as much.) In very hot climates, characters need two or three times as much water to avoid dehydration.
A character can go without water for 1 day plus a number of hours equal to his Constitution score. After this time, the character must make a Constitution check each hour (DC 10, +1 for each previous check) or take 1d6 points of nonlethal damage. Characters that take an amount of nonlethal damage equal to their total hit points begin to take lethal damage instead.
A character can go without food for 3 days, in growing discomfort. After this time, the character must make a Constitution check each day (DC 10, +1 for each previous check) or take 1d6 points of nonlethal damage. Characters that take an amount of nonlethal damage equal to their total hit points begin to take lethal damage instead.
Characters who have taken nonlethal damage from lack of food or water are fatigued. Nonlethal damage from thirst or starvation cannot be recovered until the character gets food or water, as needednot even magic that restores hit points heals this damage.
Finding Food and Water
See also: Survival Skill
To find food and water for one person requires a Survival skill check DC 10. Enough food and water can be found for one additional person for every 2 points by which the Survival check result exceeds 10. Source: PCh:HotJ
Poisonous Food If a player is brave or naive enough to eat a plant or animal she's unfamiliar with or is maneuvered into doing so by well-meaning or mischievous locals you may want to roll on the following table to determine whether or not the item is poisonous. The effects listed below may either represent actual poison or simply compounds travelers have not properly adapted to. Source: PCh:HotJ.
Table: Poisonous Food Effects
Roll Fort DC Onset Frequency Effect Cure
1-50 - - - No effect -
50-75 15 5 min. 1/10 min. Nauseated 1 Save
76-85 12 10 min. 1/min. for 3 min. 1d6 hp 2 Saves
86-90 14 1 min. 1/min. for 4 min. 1 Str, 1 Dex 1 Save
91-96 15 10 min. 1/day 1d2 Str, 1d3 Con 1 Save
97-100 - 17 1/rd. for 7 rds. 1d3 Con 2 Saves
With a DC 15 Knowledge (nature) or Survival check, a character can use smell, color, and other signs to tell if a potential food is likely to be poisonous, and a DC 20 check is usually enough to predict the severity of the poison effect. Also, an alchemist with access to the proper reagents may preserve the effects with a Craft (alchemy) check equal to 5 + the DC of the poison.
In addition to ingested poisons, there are also a fair number of contact poisons in the wild. Most notable are the poisonous frogs that inhabit jungles. Fortunately, most plants and animals that are poisonous to the touch are brightly colored and easy to pick out (requiring a DC 12 Survival or Knowledge [nature] check to recognize them as poisonous). If a character does touch one of these brightly colored objects, use either the 86-90 or 91-96 result on Table: Poisonous Food Effects above.
Tainted Water Tainted water poses an attractive danger to a thirsty traveler. A character can make a DC 10 Survival check to tell fresh water from tainted water. Most trackers know that still water holds the greatest potential for contamination, while fast-moving streams and headwaters are more likely to be fresh. A purify food and drink spell, of course, removes all doubt, and create water renders the question moot. Canny adventurers pack clean bowls or canteens with which to carry magically purified or created water and boil any water they're forced to harvest from lakes or rivers (effectively eliminating the threat of disease). Tainted water can have any number of causes, from dangerous local plants leaching poison into the water, to a battleground or dung heap upstream, or even a simple animal corpse decaying and putrefying at the water's edge. Source: PCh:HotJ.
If a character drinks tainted water, she must make a DC 12 Fortitude save or contract filth fever. The amount of water ingested does not modify the save or the severity of the disease in any way, as a thimbleful of tainted water can have the same effect as a bucketful. At your discretion, you can replace the standard filth fever with a different disease (such as dysentery.)
Wading through tainted water can also communicate filth fever, as tiny drops of the water get on the character's hands, clothes, and face and can later be transferred to the mouth, nose, or eyes as the character moves about. It is more difficult to contract a disease in this way, though. When wading or swimming through tainted water, a character receives a +2 circumstance bonus on her save to resist contracting filth fever.


==Suffocation==
==Suffocation==

Revision as of 12:45, 28 June 2017

Retrieved from "https://www.epicpath.org/index.php?title=Environmental_Effects&oldid=61366"