Fria Ligans forum

Put this together the other day, maybe someone will find it useful. Was a bit surprised that there was no weather rules in the core games considering the theme of the game, except as a mishap result during journeys.

The point of this weather table is not to constantly roll the weather every quarter day, but it can be used to set the mood when starting the session, roll when it is interesting or when the player asks you what the weather is. The general Don't roll too often-rule applies. The table is created so that there's a 1/3 chance of rain and the table should not produce extreme weather situations, just natural - but normal - bad weather.

Ideas, comments, criticism...?

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Weather table
Roll once, using one of each red, white and black dice. If the clouds dice is ever 3 or above, roll another D6 for precipitation. The temperature dice is the general temperature, depending on the season and area. What the result means in reality is up to the GM.

D6   Temperature    Wind           Clouds            Precipitation            

1    Under          Calm           Clear sky                    
2    Normal         Light Breeze   A few clouds        No    Showers    Steady    Heavy
3    Normal         Breeze         Cloudy         →    1-5    6        
4    Normal         Fresh breeze   Very cloudy    →    1-4    5-6        
5    Normal         Strong breeze  Rain clouds    →    1-2    3-4        5-6    
6    Over           Moderate gale  Dark clouds    →    1      2-3        4-5        6

• Rolling a weather mishap when LEADING THE WAY or MAKING CAMP changes the corresponding Weather dice to what the mishap roll dictates.
• In general, forested areas are less windy, while the opposite is true for open areas. When in the mountains, it is usually both colder and more windy.
• Using the SURVIVAL skill, you can accurately determine the weather in the upcoming quarter days. One success means you find out what the weather will be in the next quarter day. Two successes or more gives you the general weather for the next full day. The information should include potential bad weather, scorching suns, extreme winds but also a general description of what to expect. The GM can either make a roll on the weather table or decide for himself.
• The spell Weathermaster is changed and the description of "A smaller change [...] requires Power Level 1" is replaced with "Shifting one of the weather dice requires Power Level 1, Shifting all weather dice, requires Power Level 2". All other effects for Power Level 2 and 3 remain the same.

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Suggested effects on journeys due to weather

Steady or Heavy rain                          -1 on KEEP WATCH, HUNT and MAKE CAMP
Strong breeze and Steady or Heavy rain        -2 on KEEP WATCH, HUNT and MAKE CAMP
                                              -1 on FORAGE  and FISH
Moderate Gale and Steady or Heavy rain        -3 on KEEP WATCH, HUNT and MAKE CAMP
                                              -2 on FORAGE and FISH
                                              -1 on LEADING THE WAY

Optional: A failed roll on MAKE CAMP due to precipitation or wind does not create a misshap. Instead use the rules for BARE GROUND with a -1 penalty to the corresponding SURVIVAL roll.

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Changing the weather
If you want to make a change to the current weather, instead of making a new roll or if a player accurately predicts the future weather, you may roll on this table instead.

T66     Description
11-26    No change
31-36    Reroll precipitation dice if Wind dice already is at 3+. Otherwise, no change.
41-46    Change in wind, reroll the wind dice.
51-56    Change in clouds, reroll the cloud dice.
61-63    Change in both wind and clouds. Reroll both wind and cloud dice.
64       Thick (natural) mist. -2 penalty to rolls LEADING THE WAY or KEEP WATCH
65       Sudden shift; reverse the previously rolled weather dice (1 → 6, 2 → 5 and so on…)
66       A strong weather phenomenon depending on the season. Roll a D6 and the higher the number, the stronger that     weather.

Weather phenomenon examples: blizzard, snow storm, thunderstorm, hail, heat wave, biting cold, a small tornado, dust devils…

Edit: Tables do not seem to work...

This is great! I had the same desire for weather rolls and was using an online pathfinder weather generator. This is so much better because it is much easier, being a set of physical tables and the modifications are for this system. Seems intuitive and easy to use.
Two suggestions: I feel rain should affect ranged attacks too, and probably make PCs roll for cold like the mishap.

That’s really cool. I use weather a lot but without a system per se. I just make rulings in the moment. Sometimes I’ll throw a twist at the players with weather when a positive random encounter result comes up instead of rolling on that table or coming up with something else.

Yes, totally agree with both suggestions! About the ranged attacks, I guess I would increase the difficulty to demanding, hard or formidable depending on how bad the weather is. Possibly increase the risk of a snapped bow string if kept out during the rain... As for rolling for cold, the rules state it's up to the GM to decide when and how often to roll so I think that works well with this. Good considerations to keep in mind as a GM, though!

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I did create a condition called overheated that I posted on the Swedish section. Translated it now, because it could relate to the weather.

OVERHEATED

When a heat wave is combined with hard work, you have to roll ENDURANCE regularly. The warmer it is, the more frequently you need to roll. A hot summer day of hiking requires a roll per day; in the middle of a spell induced heat wave, you might have to roll once every hour.
 
Heat and a lack of water is a dangerous combination. Every time you make an ENDURANCE roll due to the heat, you need to consume an extra ration of water to simulate this. You can then choose to use one additional ration of water to dampen a cloth to keep on your head, which give you a +1 Gear Dice to your next ENDURANCE roll. Other gear can give you more Gear Dice to roll. If you run out of water to consume you get a -1 penalty to your ENDURANCE roll, and by the time you make the next roll you also gain the condition THIRSTY.
 
Being OVERHEATED has several effects.
 
* You immediately take one point of damage to both your Dexterity and and Wits – as the heat gets to your head, you get both tired, confused and slow of mind.
* You can even hallucinate, causing you to act irrationally – details are up to the GM to decide.
* You must keep rolling ENDURANCE at the same interval, and with the same effect if you fail. If your Dexterity is Broken while you are OVERHEATED, you die the next time you have to roll.


Note: Effects from being both OVERHEATED and THIRSTY stack.

I also created a general talent for characters who want to be able to resist these sort of things...

TOUGH
Your body is built to endure the elements of nature such as heat, cold and going without food or water - hardships that would kill weaker men.


✥ RANK 1: Your ENDURANCE roll is modified by +1 when rolling to endure heat or cold.
✥ RANK 2: You can go by one additional day without water or food before you become THIRSTY or HUNGRY.
✥ RANK 3: You can add a D8 Artifact Die to all ENDURANCE rolls to withstand heat or cold.

Note: Unnatural attacks that does not allow a roll for ENDURANCE to resist (for example the spell CHILL OF THE GRAVE) works as normal.

Wow even more great work, I'll be sure to use this is players ever go into a note area. How do you get that font for your bullet points?

Awesome!! I wanted to do some simple weather as is found in Bitter Reach for Ravenland and you folks have done some great work here.