Enduring the Elements of Weather Adds to Immersion in Your RPG Experiences

Get your ponchos and snow boots ready because we are about to get wet as we brace for all sorts of inclement weather. The one aspect of roleplaying games that always keeps me coming back for more is the opportunity for creativity. The opportunity to create worlds, characters and entire universes is really awesome. With these opportunities the weather is a factor I personally do not see frequently in games. Attention Game Masters — this is the perfect way to lead to a TPK. Just kidding about that, but adding weather elements is a way to spice up your game. Match the weather to the environment and see what happens. Descriptive weather can add to the story and immersion of your game without any additional mechanics added.

Magical and mundane weather in RPGs

There are already resources to help you out if you don’t want to create your own tables and charts. However, if you are like me creating tables and charts might be one of the highlights. You might even consider creating an entire weather system for a world. The possibilities are exciting. I wonder what kind of Armor Class a tornado has and could you even fight one? Waiting it out is probably best but where is the fun in being sensible? Aside from these random thoughts let’s brainstorm some possibilities with the weather based on traditional environments.

Forests

Forests are one of the most common areas I personally have had adventures. The type of forest would determine the weather. There is a wide variety here — anything from stick damp rainforests to snowy evergreens. So we have humid downpours to blizzards. This can get exciting! I would imagine blizzard conditions would lower exposure time and it would definitely be important to stay warm.

Desert

I always wanted to adventure in the desert. It just sounds like fun with an extra layer of difficulty due to the heat and lack of consumables. Typically my groups in the past have not counted food and water. I feel like in a desert this would change as the heat and potential for sand storms adds a whole mother level of danger. And I love it! Sign me up, and by me I mean a character, not irl. I wouldn’t make it more than 30 minutes.

Mountains

With mountain environments typically the higher up you go the colder it gets. This always amazed me in western Colorado where high plains with tumbleweeds rolling around give way to a nice whitecap of snow. Weather in the mountains can vary by type. My concerns when traveling through mountains was always blizzards, avalanches and flooding. Nothing like an avalanche to really ruin your Sunday adventure.

Plains

One of the most terrifying but also incredible forces of nature in my point of view is the tornado. If you are traveling through plains a tornado in the right season is probable. Of course in a plains environment things are much easier to see and you should in theory be able to see the weather really well. Wind and rain make things a lot more exciting in fights. Think of the possibilities there like a fight scene in a thunderstorm before a tornado. Better hope you end it quickly.

Ocean

In the ocean the main worry is hurricanes and strong winds. Although I was a collegiate swimmer and rescue diver I get super seasick on boats. I always have to be super careful before I get on a boat because any chance of high winds and I would not be able to go for leisure trips. High winds and hurricanes could definitely add some spice and excitement if you are taking a boat transport across a large body of water. I would guess your adventurer did not check google for the weather before departure but maybe you ought to check with your local druid or another naturalist.

Islands and Coasts

Ah, port towns! This is where it can get really chaotic with hurricanes, typhoons, storms and the like. Normally there are plenty of folks in these towns on islands and coasts who really pay attention to the weather and this is because of all the bad things the weather can do in these areas. These NPCs could be great resources for not only local information but weather information. Best talk to these folks when planning your trip out of town.

These as mentioned are all traditional environments but you could create your own weather anomalies if you wanted to get scary creative. Imagine a tornado of locusts similar to a Sharknado but more terrifying because bugs. This swarming twister would leave nothing but bare bones as it passed through living organisms. Yeah, I went there — eaten by a locust tornado — a new nightmare for the next brood of cicadas.

Think about what weather mechanics you might like in your games. Do you like the of incorporating extreme heatwaves because it’s super hot in a desert or do you want to go further into this maelstrom and create your own entire weather system? Fortunately if you don’t have time lots of players have made these for various tabletop games that you can find all over the internet. There are also some official releases and rules you can find for fifth edition Dungeons & Dragons, particularly in the Dungeon Master’s Guide. There’s also the control weather spell and I believe in Pathfinder there is a staff of weather. Tornados in the snow — no one will expect it!

If you need more weather ideas check out 5 Magical D&D Weather Phenomena for some great ideas. Our own Bestiary of Benevolent Monsters includes the Cloud Tender too. This mighty creature of storm, rock and rain holds sway over the weather in the region where it resides. As always whenever you sign up for Nerdarchy the Newsletter as one of the benefits you’ll receive $9.99 in store credit so you can pick up the supplement with credit to spare. Check out Bestiary of Benevolent Monsters here.

*Featured image — Magical weather effects for D&D might not allow characters to draw three cards, then put two cards from their hand on top of their library in any order. But who knows? In your world perhaps Brainstorms are a weather phenomenon inspired by the card from Magic: The Gathering’s Ice Age expansion. [Art by Chris Rahn]

New videos every Monday, Wednesday and Friday at Nerdarchy the YouTube channel here