Environmental Effects: Difference between revisions
Jump to navigation
Jump to search
(→Tents) |
|||
| Line 111: | Line 111: | ||
* '''''Low Pass (lower than 5,000 feet):''''' Most travel in low mountains takes place in low passes, a zone consisting largely of alpine meadows and forests. Travelers might find the going difficult (which is reflected in the movement modifiers for traveling through mountains), but the altitude itself has no game effect. | * '''''Low Pass (lower than 5,000 feet):''''' Most travel in low mountains takes place in low passes, a zone consisting largely of alpine meadows and forests. Travelers might find the going difficult (which is reflected in the movement modifiers for traveling through mountains), but the altitude itself has no game effect. | ||
* '''''Low Peak or High Pass (5,000 to 15,000 feet):''''' Ascending to the highest slopes of low mountains, or most normal travel through high mountains, falls into this category. Most creatures labor to breathe in the thin air at this altitude. Each hour spent traveling at this altitude inflicts 1d6 points of environmental | * '''''Low Peak or High Pass (5,000 to 15,000 feet):''''' Ascending to the highest slopes of low mountains, or most normal travel through high mountains, falls into this category. Most creatures labor to breathe in the thin air at this altitude. Each hour spent traveling at this altitude inflicts 1d6 points of environmental damage due to exposure. Furthermore, characters may only travel at this altitude a number of hours equal to their CON modifier before becoming [[fatigued]]. The fatigue ends after a full night's rest, or when the character descends to an altitude with more air. Acclimated characters can travel at this altitude for an additional 4 hours before becoming fatigued, and can reduce the environmental damage by 1 point per hour. | ||
* '''''High Peak (more than 15,000 feet):''''' The highest mountains exceed 15,000 feet in height. At these elevations, creatures are subject to both high altitude fatigue (as described above) and altitude sickness, whether or not they're acclimated to high altitudes. Altitude sickness represents the inimical nature of such heights to normal life, and affects mental and physical prowess. Each hour spent traveling at this altitude, characters suffer 3d6 points of environmental | * '''''High Peak (more than 15,000 feet):''''' The highest mountains exceed 15,000 feet in height. At these elevations, creatures are subject to both high altitude fatigue (as described above) and altitude sickness, whether or not they're acclimated to high altitudes. Altitude sickness represents the inimical nature of such heights to normal life, and affects mental and physical prowess. Each hour spent traveling at this altitude, characters suffer 3d6 points of {{dmg|cold}} as environmental damage due to exposure, and must make a [[Might]] check versus a [[Skill DC|Challenging]] DC for their level or become [[Exhausted]]. The exhausted condition persists until a full night's rest. Creatures acclimated to high altitude receive a +4 competence bonus on their might checks to resist altitude sickness, and can reduce the environmental cold damage by 1 point per hour, but eventually even seasoned mountaineers must abandon these dangerous elevations. | ||
===Inimical Gases=== | ===Inimical Gases=== | ||
The High Altitude rules can easily be expanded to include all cases where the air is less than nice. This can be dense layers of swamp gas clinging heavily to the lungs of feckless explorers, it can be a bad case of 'mine damp' smothering those who wander into it, it can be a magical effect in an Alchemists' lab where the air around a bubbling cauldron is no longer the right kind of air, it can be due to Planar effects leaking into the Prime material, or cloying shadowstuff clogging the lungs in a dark barrow, and many other things besides. | The High Altitude rules can easily be expanded to include all cases where the air is less than nice. This can be dense layers of swamp gas clinging heavily to the lungs of feckless explorers, it can be a bad case of 'mine damp' smothering those who wander into it, it can be a magical effect in an Alchemists' lab where the air around a bubbling cauldron is no longer the right kind of air, it can be due to Planar effects leaking into the Prime material, or cloying shadowstuff clogging the lungs in a dark barrow, and many other things besides. | ||
All such effects can be attributed to a similar High Altitude effect and run with the same rules. For highly noxious environments, the amount of damage can be increased to 2d6 or even 3d6 per hour. For places where the air is densely fouled, the frequency of the check can be increased to every half hour, or even every ten minutes. If the GM is feeling particularly cruel, do both! The inside of a volcano is a classic place where the noxious fumes choking the air may inflict 3d6 of | All such effects can be attributed to a similar High Altitude effect and run with the same rules. For highly noxious environments, the amount of damage can be increased to 2d6 or even 3d6 per hour. For places where the air is densely fouled, the frequency of the check can be increased to every half hour, or even every ten minutes. If the GM is feeling particularly cruel, do both! The inside of a volcano is a classic place where the noxious fumes choking the air may inflict 3d6 of {{dmg|poison}} as environmental damage every ten minutes, and that's on top of the Heat or Wildfire conditions. Yikes! Whether or not it is possible to have acclimated creatures to such effects is up to the GM, but it certainly works to have a tribe of specially adapted Fire Trolls living in the volcano.... | ||
==Avalanche== | ==Avalanche== | ||
| Line 127: | Line 125: | ||
An avalanche can be spotted before it hits with an Average DC check against the CR of the area in which the avalanche is encountered. Higher CR terrain is considered to be higher, steeper, and generally less forgiving than lower CR terrain. | An avalanche can be spotted before it hits with an Average DC check against the CR of the area in which the avalanche is encountered. Higher CR terrain is considered to be higher, steeper, and generally less forgiving than lower CR terrain. | ||
An avalanche inflicts damage as a [[Collisions | collision]] to all creatures caught in its path, but an avalanche does not have a given "speed", instead assumed to be moving 'really, REALLY, fast.' You cannot outrun an avalanche, ever, although you can generally fly above one if you are quick and lucky. The GM adjudicates how 'tall' an avalanche is, but generally it's between 5 and 30 feet. An avalanche, since it does not have a speed to measure the collision damage, does 1d6 of damage per CR of the area the avalanche is located within. Affected creatures are allowed either a Reflex or Fort save to reduce this damage by half. The DC of this check is an Impossible Save versus the CR of the area. Those who fail their saves are buried. | An avalanche inflicts damage as a [[Collisions | collision]] to all creatures caught in its path, but an avalanche does not have a given "speed", instead assumed to be moving 'really, REALLY, fast.' You cannot outrun an avalanche, ever, although you can generally fly above one if you are quick and lucky. The GM adjudicates how 'tall' an avalanche is, but generally it's between 5 and 30 feet. An avalanche, since it does not have a speed to measure the collision damage, does 1d6 points of {{dmg|bludgeoning}} as environmental damage per CR of the area the avalanche is located within. Affected creatures are allowed either a Reflex or Fort save to reduce this damage by half. The DC of this check is an Impossible Save versus the CR of the area. Those who fail their saves are buried. | ||
===Buried=== | ===Buried=== | ||
Buried characters gain the [[pinned]] condition unless they have [[Burrow]], [[Earth Glide]], Swim, or some other way of moving, and take 1d6 points of {{dmg|crushing}} as environmental damage per minute. If a buried character falls unconscious, their hit points are immediately set to negative 1 and they must begin making death saves. Yikes! If you are buried by a Flash Flood, Lava Flow, or Tsunami, you don't even have that much time, and go straight to Suffocation. | |||
Buried characters gain the [[pinned]] condition unless they have [[Burrow]], [[Earth Glide]], Swim, or some other way of moving, and take 1d6 points of | |||
===Rescue=== | ===Rescue=== | ||
Creatures buried in an avalanche (or a tsunami, or a flash flood, or a collapse, or a pyroclastic flow, or a lava flow, see below) are generally helpless, because they are pinned or unconscious or worse. To dig a buried creature free, the best plan is to have someone with an appropriate Move speed simply go get them. Burrow is always usable on solid material, and Swim is always effective on liquids. Pyroclastic Flows or lava flows may be traversed with one or both, depending upon circumstance and the GM's decisions. Rescuers are subject to normal effects according to the type of event. Rescuing a friend from a lava flow by Swimming down to them is incredibly brave, but also extremely painful. See Lava for details. | Creatures buried in an avalanche (or a tsunami, or a flash flood, or a collapse, or a pyroclastic flow, or a lava flow, see below) are generally helpless, because they are pinned or unconscious or worse. To dig a buried creature free, the best plan is to have someone with an appropriate Move speed simply go get them. Burrow is always usable on solid material, and Swim is always effective on liquids. Pyroclastic Flows or lava flows may be traversed with one or both, depending upon circumstance and the GM's decisions. Rescuers are subject to normal effects according to the type of event. Rescuing a friend from a lava flow by Swimming down to them is incredibly brave, but also extremely painful. See Lava for details. | ||
| Line 140: | Line 136: | ||
==Earthquake== | ==Earthquake== | ||
Surprisingly enough, Earthquakes just aren't that bad if you are on reasonably level terrain without high trees. During the actual trembling of the earth, all surfaces are treated as difficult terrain. The shaking doesn't last very long, no more than 1 to 6 minutes, and then its over. | Surprisingly enough, Earthquakes just aren't that bad if you are on reasonably level terrain without high trees. During the actual trembling of the earth, all surfaces are treated as difficult terrain. The shaking doesn't last very long, no more than 1 to 6 minutes, and then its over. | ||
| Line 148: | Line 143: | ||
===Collapses=== | ===Collapses=== | ||
If you are underground, in a building in a city, exploring the hollow bones of a Garuda Bird, or any other circumstance other than open terrain, then it is possible for there to be a collapse, with or without an earthquake. A collapse is an avalanche, usually of the surrounding material, with a penalty to the saving throw of -1 to -4 or maybe even more depending on circumstances. If you're Squeezing your way down a six-inch wide crevice a mile underground and the crack suddenly slams shut, you're pretty much done for, although the GM who would put you in such a situation should get an Honorable Mention. Just, like, wow. | If you are underground, in a building in a city, exploring the hollow bones of a Garuda Bird, or any other circumstance other than open terrain, then it is possible for there to be a collapse, with or without an earthquake. A collapse is an avalanche, usually of the surrounding material, with a penalty to the saving throw of -1 to -4 or maybe even more depending on circumstances. If you're Squeezing your way down a six-inch wide crevice a mile underground and the crack suddenly slams shut, you're pretty much done for, although the GM who would put you in such a situation should get an Honorable Mention. Just, like, wow. | ||
| Line 154: | Line 148: | ||
==Cold== | ==Cold== | ||
An unprotected character in '''cold weather''' (a freezing day in a normally temperate clime) must make a fortitude save each hour (Average DC for the CR of the area, +1 per previous check) or take 1d6 points of cold as environmental damage. | |||
A character cannot recover from the damage dealt by a cold environment, nor get rid of the fatigued condition, until they get out of the cold and warm up again. | |||
In conditions of '''severe cold''' or exposure (a normal day in an arctic area or a cold desert) an unprotected character must make a fortitude save once every 10 minutes (Average DC for the CR of the area, +1 per previous check), taking 1d6 points of Cold damage on each failed save. | |||
'''Extreme cold''' (a really cold day in an arctic area or cold desert) an unprotected character must make a fortitude save once every minute (Average DC for the CR of the area, +1 per previous check), taking 2d6 points of Cold damage on each failed save. Even if they succeed on the save, they take half damage. | |||
===Movement on Ice=== | ===Movement on Ice=== | ||
| Line 229: | Line 221: | ||
==Heat== | ==Heat== | ||
Environmental heat | Environmental heat deals {{dmg|fire}} as environmental damage that cannot be healed from until the character gets cooled off (reaches shade, survives until nightfall, gets doused in water, is targeted by [[Endure Elements (Sorcerer/Wizard Spell)|Endure Elements]], and so forth). | ||
A character in '''very hot conditions''' (a hot day in a usually temperate clime) must make a fortitude saving throw each hour (Average DC for the CR of the area, +1 per previous check) or take 1d4 points of {{dmg|fire}} as environmental damage | |||
In '''severe heat''' (a normal day in a hot desert or a jungle), a character must make a fortitude save once every 10 minutes (Average DC for the CR of the area, +1 per previous check) or take 1d4 points of Fire as environmental damage. . | |||
a character must make a fortitude save once every minute (Average DC for the CR of the area, +1 per previous check) or take 2d4 points of Fire as environmental damage. the character takes half damage. | |||
Note that in most cases, environmental heat on a material plane ends when the sun goes down...although in many environments, that just means you now have to endure Environmental Cold. It is possible to encounter extreme heat that lasts through the night, but such things are rarer on the Prime Material Plane. | Note that in most cases, environmental heat on a material plane ends when the sun goes down...although in many environments, that just means you now have to endure Environmental Cold. It is possible to encounter extreme heat that lasts through the night, but such things are rarer on the Prime Material Plane. | ||
| Line 324: | Line 312: | ||
Unless they can remove the Asphyxiating condition, they die promptly. | Unless they can remove the Asphyxiating condition, they die promptly. | ||
===Slow Suffocation | ===Slow Suffocation=== | ||
A | A sized-medium character can breathe easily for 6 hours in a sealed chamber measuring 10 feet on a side. After that time, the character takes 1d6 points of {{dmg|winded}} damage every 15 minutes. Each additional Medium character or significant fire source (a torch, for example) proportionally reduces the time the air will last. Small characters consume half as much air as Medium characters, Large characters consume twice as much. | ||
==Storms== | ==Storms== | ||
| Line 335: | Line 324: | ||
A sandstorm can represent the fine grit we are familiar with, or it may be caused by icy spicules on a glacier, or driving needles of bone in a vast graveyard, or tiny spores in a giant field of poppies, or many other effects. | A sandstorm can represent the fine grit we are familiar with, or it may be caused by icy spicules on a glacier, or driving needles of bone in a vast graveyard, or tiny spores in a giant field of poppies, or many other effects. | ||
{{dmg|buffeting}} damage per hour to any creatures caught in the open, on top of any Heat or Cold effects the environment may be inflicting. | |||
==Tsunami== | ==Tsunami== | ||
| Line 381: | Line 370: | ||
See the [[Movement]] skill for most interactions with fairly shallow (less than a hundred feet) water, or similar fluids. | See the [[Movement]] skill for most interactions with fairly shallow (less than a hundred feet) water, or similar fluids. | ||
Very deep water is not only generally pitch black, inflicting [[blind]] to all light-depended visual senses, but worse, deals water pressure | Very deep water is not only generally pitch black, inflicting [[blind]] to all light-depended visual senses, but worse, deals water pressure {{dmg|crushing}} damage of 1d6 points per minute for every 100 feet the character is below the surface. Very cold water also deals 1d6 points of environmental {{dmg|cold}} damage per minute of exposure. | ||
===Drowning=== | ===Drowning=== | ||