Weather is often something that’s just set dressing, but what happens if that redefines the place you’re adventuring in, altogether? Where I am at the moment, it’s pouring in and that causes dangers for traffic, and even crossing roads becomes more difficult, as some areas aren’t set up with any drainage, so you have to wade to get to the gutter. Changing up a dungeon that’s being explored, by using natural weather, can make for a challenging change. For a start, flash floods that sweep people and creatures along a passageway (perhaps through a trap they’d just bypassed) can really shake things up. Any kind of combat in these circumstances becomes much more challenging, even for experienced players. However, it can also allow them to bypass things that might be an issue. That 20-foot wide chasm becomes a breeze to swim across when you aren’t going to fall onto the spikes below. A fire glyph might produce some steam and fizzle. A lightning bolt trap suddenly threatens everyone in the vicinity, however. Changing up what are the accepted rules partway can become a memorable challenge- the walls tearing away mid-hurricane, or lightning reaving away the roof of a tower- and you can foreshadow future danger (being swept away by winds, or struck by lightning) ahead of time, allowing PCs who can think of their feet to “promote” enemies into the line of fire, as well. (Originally posted on Game Masters Stash on 13 December 2018) Categories All Comments are closed.
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AuthorI'm Luke. He/him pronouns. Archives
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