Environmental Risks

On occasion, the environment will be an opponent for you. Damage and effects of an environment are usually expressed in terms of Elemental Damage and/or Conditions. Weather has an effect and an impact on the daily lives, and can hamper or limit, aid or protect, depending on how one uses it.

Weather

Different Weather Environments have different effects. Wyrlde has Magic, Powers, Spirits, and more than can all affect weather on a local, regional, or large scale, in addition to the normative weather patterns.

Extreme Temperatures

Equiv (°F)	Temp (°W)	Common Level	Effects	Frequency of Checks
-50	-5	Fatally Cold	DC 25 Vitality + DC20 Con or 2 pt Fatigue	1 Minute
-40	-4	Deadly Cold	DC 20 Vitality + DC15 Con or 1 pt Fatigue	10 Minutes
-30	-3	Frigid	DC 15 Vitality + DC10 Con or 1 pt Fatigue	1 Hour
-20	-2	Freezing	DC 10 Vitality or 1 pt Fatigue	4 Hours
-10	-1		DC 5 Vitality or 1 pt Fatigue	8 Hours
0 – 30	0	Frosty
31 – 40	1	Cold
41 – 50	2	Cool
51 – 80	3	Comfortable
81 – 90	4	Warm
91 – 100	5	Hot
101 – 110	6		DC 5 Vitality or 1 pt Fatigue	8 Hours
111 – 120	7		DC 10 Vitality + DC15 Con or 1 pt Fatigue	4 Hours
121 – 130	8	Blistering	DC 15 Vitality + DC20 Con or 1 pt Fatigue	1 Hour
131 – 140	9	Deadly Hot	DC 20 Vitality + DC 25 Con or 2 pt Fatigue	10 Minutes
141+	10	Maximum	DC 25 Vitality + DC 30 Con or 3 pt Fatigue	1 Minute

Extreme Temperatures have an impact. Extreme Temperatures cause Fatigue and have additional risks.

The table gives the Equivalent temperature in degrees Fahrenheit, the Wyrlde temperature, and the common term for temperatures in that range. Armor always increases the effective temperature for a given character by 1. Temperatures below and above the listed have the same effects as the final.

The Effects show the nature of the roll(s) that must be made for each time of exposure in that temperature.

For each period of time in extreme weather, the DC increases by one.

When two rolls are required, both must be successful in order to resist the point of fatigue.

Certain Cold Weather clothing can provide a reduction of one level in risk, others may reduce the DC.

Strong Winds

Strong Winds can have significant impact. The following table lists general descriptions and impact for winds. Strong Winds also can create Sandstorms and increase Wave Height. Strong Winds can be combined with storms, for additional or increased effects.

Degree		Up to Speed	MPH	Wave Height	Swim / Fly	Impact	Vehicles	Effect
1	Calm	9	0	0 feet	Calm	Calm wind. Smoke rises vertically with little if any drift.		None
2	Light Air	27	1 to 3	< 1/2		Direction of wind shown by smoke drift, not by wind vanes. Little if any movement with flags. Wind barely moves tree leaves.		None
3	Light Breeze	61	4 to 7	1/2 ft (max 1)	Rippling	Wind felt on face. Leaves rustle and small twigs move. Ordinary wind vanes move.		None
4	Gentle Breeze	106	8 to 12	2 ft (max 3)		Leaves and small twigs in constant motion. Wind blows up dry leaves from the ground. Flags are extended out.		None
5	Moderate Breeze	158	13 to 18	3 ft (max 5)	Choppy -3 to Swim Speed -2 to Fly Speed	Wind moves small branches. Wind raises dust and loose paper from the ground and drives them along.	Handling Check +1	Flying STR Check DC 10 +2 DC Hearing
6	Fresh Breeze	211	19 to 24	6 ft (max 8)	Cresting -4 to Swim Speed -3 to Fly Speed	Large branches and small trees in leaf begin to sway. Crested wavelets form on inland lakes and large rivers.	Handling Check +2	Disadvantage on ranged Weapons Disperses Fog & Smoke Flying STR Check DC 15 +4 DC Hearing
7	Strong Breeze	273	25 to 31	9 ft (max 12)	Rough -5 to Swim Speed -4 to Fly Speed	Large branches in continuous motion. Whistling sounds heard overhead. Umbrellas used with difficulty.	Handling Check +3 Piloting Check	Disadvantage on ranged Weapons Extinguishes flames Disperses Fog & Smoke Flying STR Check DC 20 +6 DC Hearing
8	Near Gale	334	32 to 38	13 ft (max 19)	Crashing -7 to Swim Speed -5 to Fly Speed	Whole trees in motion. Inconvenience felt when walking against the wind.	Handling Check +4 Piloting Check	Disadvantage on ranged Weapons Extinguishes flames Disperses Fog & Smoke Ends Flying +6 DC Hearing
9	Gale	405	39 to 46	18 ft (max 25)	Breaking -10 to Swim Speed -10 to Fly Speed	Wind breaks twigs and small branches. Wind generally impedes walking.	Handling Check +5 10 damage/hour Piloting Check DC 15	Disadvantage on ranged Weapons Extinguishes flames Disperses Fog & Smoke Ends Flying +10 DC Hearing
10	Strong Gale	475	47 to 54	23 ft (max 32)	Tempest -15 to Swim Speed -15 to Fly Speed	Structural damage occurs, such as chimney covers, roofing tiles blown off. Ground is littered with many small twigs and broken branches.	Handling Check +7 20 damage per hour Piloting Check DC 20	Disadvantage on ranged Weapons Extinguishes flames Disperses Fog & Smoke Ends Flying +15 DC Hearing
11	Whole Gale	555	55 to 63	29 ft (max 41)	Wrack -20 to Swim Speed -20 to Fly Speed	Considerable structural damage occurs, especially on roofs. Small trees may be blown over and uprooted.	Handling Check +9 30 damage per hour Piloting Check DC 25	Disadvantage on ranged Weapons Extinguishes flames Disperses Fog & Smoke Ends Flying +20 DC Hearing
12	Storm Force	660	64 to 75	37 ft (max 52)	Tidal -25 to Swim Speed -25 to Fly Speed	Widespread damage occurs. Larger trees blown over and uprooted.	Handling Check +11 40 damage per hour Piloting Check DC 30	Disadvantage on ranged Weapons Extinguishes flames Disperses Fog & Smoke Ends Flying +25 DC Hearing
13	Hurricane Force	Over 661	over 75	45+ ft (max 75)	Devastating -30 to Swim Speed -30 to Fly Speed	Severe and extensive damage. Roofs can be peeled off. Windows broken. Trees uprooted. Large vehicles overturned. Moving vehicles can be pushed off the roadways.	Handling Check +13 50 damage per hour	Disadvantage on ranged Weapons Extinguishes flames Disperses Fog & Smoke Ends Flying +30 DC Hearing

Storms

The most challenging for of weather is storms. Storms on Wyrlde last 1 to 12 hours in general.

Storms are often accompanied by wind, and so these effects are added to existing effects of any Wind.

Rain Storms

The most common sort of storm. Rainstorms will be Mild, Average, or Intense.

Mild Storms are more annoyance than anything. They reduce visibility and Obscure anything beyond 90 feet. They add +5 to Handling.

Average storms will reduce speed by half, and Obscure anything beyond 60 feet. They add +7 to handling.

Intense storms reduce speed to one quarter and Obscure anything beyond 30 feet. They add +9 to handling.

Thunderstorms

Thunderstorms are a type of rainstorm that can also be mild, average, or intense.

Thunderstorms introduce a chance to be struck by lightning of 1 in 999 (a roll of 1 on 3d10, with each die being a different digit). Being struck by lightning does 20d10 Lightning damage to anything it hits.

Hailstorms

Hailstorms can also be mild, average, or intense. Hailstorms last 1d4 hours. Hailstorms cause 1 point of damage to vehicles each minute, overcoming thresholds.

A Mild hailstorm features small, pebble sized ice. For each hour out in a mild hail storm, a being or vehicle takes 1 hp of bludgeoning damage.

An Average size storm features larger hailstones. For each hour out in an average hailstorm, 1d6 bludgeoning damage happens.

An Intense hailstorm features fist sized hailstones. For each hour out in an intense hailstorm, 2d6 crushing damage is taken.

Tornadoes

Tornadoes have a 33% chance of including a hail storm, and a 50% chance on including a rainstorm. Tornadoes typically have a radius of 125 feet where they touch ground, an eye of 1d20 feet, and being caught in one will have a few different effects. Being caught in a Tornado adds +15 to Handling.

Tornadoes have a Speed of 5500 and move each round in a random direction (d8).

Tornadoes last 1d6 minutes at a time, but in a given hour, there can be 2d6 Tornadoes.

Characters holding on to something or Flying under their own power must make a Str check against a DC20 to resist being sucked up.

6d6 bludgeoning damage from debris caught in the funnel.

Carried 5d10 feet into the air.

Moved 6d12 feet in a random direction away from last position.

Falling damage based on height of fall once released.

Hurricanes

Hurricanes are always Intense Storms, with a radius of 125 miles and an eye of 25 miles. Being caught in a hurricane will cause 5 hp per hour of abrasion damage. Falling unconscious while exposed in a hurricane has a chance to drown a character. Hurricanes add +6 to Handling.

Blizzards

Blizzards are snowstorms. Blizzards can be Average or Intense.

An Average Blizzard reduces visibility to 30’, and each hour of exposure the folks out in it must make either a Con or Vitality save against a DC of 18. Failure means they take 1d6 Cold Damage and 1 point of Fatigue.

Intense Blizzards reduce visibility to 15’, and each hour a Vitality check is made against fatigue, and a Con check is made to avoid cold damage. Intense Blizzards add +10 to Handling.

Sandstorms

Sandstorms happen when the wind hits 6^th Degree (a speed of 211 (19 to 24 mph) or higher), called a Fresh Breeze. Sandstorms can last 1d6 hours.

At (7) Strong Breeze, visibility becomes lightly obscured, and Perception Check have a DC of 10.

At (8) Near Gale, Visibility becomes Obscured, and Perception Checks have a DC of 13.

At (9) Gale, Perception checks are at disadvantage, and Perception Checks have a DC of 16.

At (10) Strong Gale, Sandstorms do 1d6 damage per hour of exposure, and Perception Checks have a DC of 18.

For each degree above 10, the Perception DC increases by 3. Sandstorms increase Handling DC by +1 for each degree above 6 as a result of reduced visibility.

Stormy Seas

As noted in the Strong Winds table, large open bodies of water (seas, oceans, etc.) become very dangerous in high-speed winds. Combined with a storm, they can be downright devastating.

Landslides & Avalanches

The Mountains of Wyrlde are all very high, some of the smallest mountains a mere 20,000 feet, while the typical one is around 25,000 feet high. Passes through them that still require climbing usually are about 15,000 feet, and very, very seldom used since there are land and sea routes that are much faster and safer due to the bitterly cold temperatures that can kill a man in under a day above 10,000 feet.

Still, the heights of these mountains mean there is a constant snowpack, and where there is snow pack there are avalanches, which are extraordinarily deadly to be caught up in, causing falling and bludgeoning damage.

A character caught in an avalanche must make a STR or DEX save with a DC of 20 to avoid being caught in an avalanche, with failure meaning they take 6d6 frost damage, and have a good chance of suffocating or suffering from frostbite if they cannot gain escape or freedom within six hours. For each hour trapped, they suffer an additional 1d6 Frost Damage. The DC of this is 15, and can be made using PER, KNO, or SAN. Additional Conditions may apply at the DM’s discretion.

If a creature is buried beneath a Landslide r avalanche, they will be 2d10 feet below the surface, and will begin to suffocate. If they are less than 5 feet below the surface, they can burrow their way out or climb their way out through difficult terrain.

If they are deeper, they must be dug out by someone else, are sightless and restrained. It takes 1 minute to dig one foot through an Avalanche or Landslide.

Flash Floods

Flash floods strike in areas where water is rushed together. Flash floods happen without much warning. 10 rounds before a flash flood, a Survival check can be made to determine it is coming. If the area beign flooded has a clear sky, 5 rounds before a flood arrives, initiative should be rolled to begin determining actions as the sound of the flood can be heard. If the area is currently experiencing a storm, the sound is only heard two rounds beforehand.

Flash floods one is caught in require a STR (athletics) check or fall into the flood and be swept away 10d20 feet. Falling damage is taken for the distance swept down the flood.

Vehicles caught in a Flash flood will capsize.

Forest Fires

Forest fires travel at a speed of 1d8 each hour. Four hours before a fire is reached, the soke can be smelled. Two hours before a fire is reached, ash can be seen. Being caught in a Forest Fire causes both 1d6 damage each round, and increases fatigue by 1 point each minute, with suffocation striking if a character is rendered unconscious. Forest Fires last 1d8 days.

Raging Rivers

Raging Rivers are generally shallow (less than 10’) but move in excess of a speed of 2500 through rocky, dangerous, difficult terrain. While trying to cross a Raging River, one must make a STR (athletics) check or fall into the river and be swept away 10d20 feet. Falling damage is taken for the distance swept down the river.

Swamp Gas

Biomes of this nature typically have escaping gas pockets that give the area a strong, nasty smell not unlike rotten eggs. Every mile of travel is likely to pass through a pocket of such, and exposed flames can light it, doing 3d6 fire damage to all within 60 feet.

Earthquake

Earthquakes are very rare on Wyrlde, nearly always the effect of some kind of magic or creature. There are no natural fault lines on Wyrlde, as the Powers that Be decided they didn’t want them.

Sinkholes

Sinkholes are unpredictable, as they are areas of soil and rock that lie directly above an empty space in the earth, and there is rarely any way to spot them or be prepared for them (Survival DC of 25 to spot them). Sinkholes themselves are relatively safe, it is the drop should they open into an empty space that is the problem, along with the debris that adds 1d6 crushing damage to any falling.

Quicksand

Quicksand may not be sand. It can be mud, vegetation, or other challenges. Each round that someone is in quicksand, any movement they apply will draw them down 1 foot for every 5 feet of movement they attempt. IF they end up submerged, they begin to suffocate.

Vision and Light

The most fundamental tasks of adventuring— noticing danger, finding hidden objects, hitting an enemy in combat, and targeting a spell, to name just a few—rely heavily on a character’s ability to see. Darkness and other effects that obscure vision can prove a significant hindrance.

Any visual aspect will have two qualities to it at least. Additional factors like refraction can be treated as one of these two.

Obscureness

Obscureness is the quality of translucence of something. Rock is not translucent, Fog can vary, smoke can vary.

Level	%	Description	Vision
Clear	0		0
Light	25	Light foliage, thick haze, light fog, typical smoke. Penalty of -1 to rolls.	-20
Medium	50	patchy fog, or moderate foliage, creatures have Disadvantage on Perception checks that rely on sight.	-40
Heavy	75	Thick fog, smoke, or clouds, creatures have Disadvantage on Perception checks that rely on sight.	-80
Total	100	blocks vision entirely. A creature effectively suffers from the blinded condition when trying to see something in that area.	—

Brightness

Brightness is a quality of light source. The presence or absence of light in an environment creates five categories of illumination:

Level	Description	Vision
Bright		0
Dim	usually, a boundary between a source of bright light, such as a torch, and surrounding darkness. The soft light of twilight and dawn also counts as dim light. Coyola three quarters to full is a moonlit dim night,	-10
Shadowed	Places between the possible sources of light, Sina’s three quarters to full nights, shadowy alleys and heavy forests during the day.	-20
Dread		-40
Dark	outdoors at night (even most moonlit nights, but not during any full moon of Sina or Coyola), within the confines of an unlit dungeon or a subterranean vault, or in an area of magical darkness.	-80

A given area might be lightly or heavily obscured.

In a lightly obscured area, such as dim light,

A heavily obscured area—such as darkness,

When trying to see through a lightly obscured area, they also have disadvantage, and things within that range of sight are treated as lightly obscured.

bright light, dim light, and darkness.

Bright light lets most creatures see normally. Even gloomy days provide bright light, as do torches, lanterns, fires, and other sources of illumination within a specific radius.

Dim light, also called shadows, creates a lightly obscured area. An area of dim light is usually a boundary between a source of bright light, such as a torch, and surrounding darkness. The soft light of twilight and dawn also counts as dim light. A particularly brilliant full moon might bathe the land in dim light.

Darkness creates a heavily obscured area. Characters face darkness outdoors at night (even most moonlit nights, but not during any full moon of Sina or Coyola), within the confines of an unlit dungeon or a subterranean vault, or in an area of magical darkness.

Ursight

A creature with Ursight can perceive its surroundings without relying on sight, within a specific radius. Creatures without eyes, such as oozes, and creatures with echolocation or heightened senses, such as bats and true dragons, have this sense.

Darkvision

Many creatures in Wylde have darkvision, which treats Darkness as Dim Light and Dim Light as Bright Light. The range of this ability varies from being to being, but within that range the treat Dim light as Lightly Obscured. However, the creature cannot discern color in darkness, only shades of gray.

Truesight

A creature with truesight can, out to a specific range, see in normal and magical darkness, see invisible creatures and objects, automatically detect visual illusions and succeed on saving throws against them, and perceives the original form of a shapechanger or a creature that is transformed by magic.

Furthermore, the creature can see into the Ethereal Plane. As noted, this is not always healthy for those who can see into it. Those who have this ability describe it as a horrific experience that gives them nightmares. Apparently, the Ethereal plane is not a pleasant place, and there are a lot of unseen, invisible spirit beings roaming around.

Haunted Locations

Haunted areas are those locations that raise goosebumps on the skin and are said to be an effect of a current or recent or future haunting by a ghost. It is a location where the lost still wander and is always searching for a Shrinewarden or Shaman to send them home.

Haunted locations are typically 10 to 60 degrees colder than the area immediately around them and have reduced visibility both in obscureness and brightness without any identifiable cause. Strange noises, whispered words, and other markedly disorienting effects can happen. Wisps are known to frequent Haunted locations, drawing on the emotional energy of the area.

Resonant Locations

These areas are off in some way – they have strong psychic vibrations. A common effect of a Resonant location is an eerie feeling, like chills down the spine, or the fine hairs on your arms raising on their own. Resonant Locations may have a Psychic or Necrotic feel to them.

The specific effects of a resonant Location can vary from location to location. Some cause damage, others cause a strange sense of uneasiness, still others can alter or change the nature of the very world, shifting it to astral or ethereal spaces, causing terrors to come to life in both real and illusory ways, and mimicking certain spell effects.

Palescent Locations

These are places where the Pale is having a hard time, where the veil is thing and threadbare, and there is leakage into the Dimension from the Pale. These locations can have unusual effects on the way that spells operate, and can recharge or drain mana, cause spells to misfire, or result in strange effects that may not have been intended if mana is involved.

Magic can work in extremely unpredictable ways in a Palescent area, such that one spell when cast may produce an effect of a different spell, or the cost of a spell may change, or the spell may be of greater or weaker potency or a combination of all of the above. Magical items may or may not work, and also will suffer from the same effects. Some artifacts may be unbound from restrictions on them.

Falling

Falling causes crushing damage. Every 10’ of distance fallen causes 1d6 damage. For distances in between 10’, increments, the die is added at 7’ of distance. Thus, a 15 foot fall only causes 1d6, but a 28 foot fall causes 3d6.

Falling onto a Creature

If a creature falls into the space of another creature that is not at least two size categories larger than it, the second creature must succeed on a DC 15 Dex roll or take crushing damage, and any damage taken is divided evenly between both creatures, with prone being the resulting position for all.

Food and Water

Characters who don’t eat or drink suffer the effects of fatigue. Exhaustion caused by lack of food or water can’t be removed until the character eats and drinks the full required amount.

Food

A character needs one pound of food per day and can make food last longer by subsisting on half rations.

A character can go without food for a number of days equal to 3 + his or her Constitution modifier (minimum of 1). Eating half a pound of food in a day counts as half a day without food.

At the end of each day beyond that limit, a character automatically suffers one level of fatigue. A normal day of eating resets the count of days without food to zero.

Water

A character needs one gallon of water per day, or two gallons per day if the weather is hot.

A character who drinks only half that much water must succeed on a DC 15 Constitution saving throw or suffer one level of fatigue at the end of the day. A character with access to even less water automatically suffers one level of fatigue at the end of the day. If the character already has one or more levels of fatigue, the character takes two levels in either case.

No one can go more than three days without water unless they have some special ability. At the end of the second day, they must make a Sanity Check against a DC of 15. At the end of the third day they will collapse, exhausted.

Elemental Rock-Paper-Scissors

Many folks are of a mind that says one element counters another, or that there is an order to them that affects what they can do and how they can do it – you can beat rock with acid, or acid with snow, or however one wants to organize that.

That is not the case here. Throw water against stone or earth and you get mud. Throw it against sand and you get gritty sand. Try to melt ice and you get steam. All the elements are equal here, there is no one over the other. In a contest of magic, it is the skill and power of the mage that determines victory in such a case, not the element they use. This also matters because environmental effects are often expressed in terms of elemental damage.