Tyler Dunn
Explorer
Has anyone ever played in a campaign set primarily in cold weather or arctic conditions. If so, how many characters did you lose to the extreme cold?
D&D 5E Arctic Campaign Lethality
Bayushi_seikuro
Hero
I was running a fairly short campaign (maybe 5 sessions). I didn't find that the extreme weather conditions are as deadly or lethal as the party levels, but maybe that was my 'fault' because the weather was more of a challenge than the threat. I think in a setting with extreme weather having a woodsman/ranger helps immensely, as does having various casters. I think parties might 'age out' of the weather's lethality as it were.
For useless background, the premise was: A meteor crashed into the planet, causing an impact winter. It became a points-of-light style game, and my party found the cultures I'd modified for the world the interesting aspect (for example, halflings were largely dead as a culture, having held off barbaric hordes, post-crash, through their use of firearms from the gnomes. The players discovered, when they were sent to recover whatever remained of halfling lore by the leader of the last 200, that halfling 'magic' was in cooking - they had invented Heroes' Feast as a spell, the players found a lemon cake of halfling craft that gave frost resistance, etc) ... Oh, the meteor? Actually was the corpse of Ymir, crashing through various planes until it landed there, having brought some unknown viral creatures with it... YMMV
For useless background, the premise was: A meteor crashed into the planet, causing an impact winter. It became a points-of-light style game, and my party found the cultures I'd modified for the world the interesting aspect (for example, halflings were largely dead as a culture, having held off barbaric hordes, post-crash, through their use of firearms from the gnomes. The players discovered, when they were sent to recover whatever remained of halfling lore by the leader of the last 200, that halfling 'magic' was in cooking - they had invented Heroes' Feast as a spell, the players found a lemon cake of halfling craft that gave frost resistance, etc) ... Oh, the meteor? Actually was the corpse of Ymir, crashing through various planes until it landed there, having brought some unknown viral creatures with it... YMMV
Oofta
Legend
I ran an arctic campaign, loss due to weather was minimal because the PCs originated in the area and knew how to deal with it.
On the other hand, I grew up in Minnesota so I'm biased. A group of us were hiking in the mountains above the snow line and we had a snowball fight with some Texans once. The level of adaptation to a snowy environment became clear immediately.
Are the PCs from the area? Much like the Inuit they've learned how to live with the cold, in some extreme situations someone in the party may have to roll for survival but it would probably be DC 10 or less. From a temperate climate where you never get sub zero temperatures? They're going to have problems.
On the other hand, I grew up in Minnesota so I'm biased. A group of us were hiking in the mountains above the snow line and we had a snowball fight with some Texans once. The level of adaptation to a snowy environment became clear immediately.
Are the PCs from the area? Much like the Inuit they've learned how to live with the cold, in some extreme situations someone in the party may have to roll for survival but it would probably be DC 10 or less. From a temperate climate where you never get sub zero temperatures? They're going to have problems.
aco175
Legend
Exposure is DM controlled and not heroic like what @Morrus said. The players are trying to come up with ideas to limit things and the DM controls what they find and how things affect them so it becomes DM against players instead of a shared game.
You can present problems and challenges that the players overcome like the cold and finding shelter or fire and such. A frozen river that is crossed and maybe fall through (great place for a battle). I guess a player can die if they do nothing, but that is basically quitting the game like other threads talk about with problem players. It also depends on how much the players know about woody stuff and survival vs. the PCs.
You can present problems and challenges that the players overcome like the cold and finding shelter or fire and such. A frozen river that is crossed and maybe fall through (great place for a battle). I guess a player can die if they do nothing, but that is basically quitting the game like other threads talk about with problem players. It also depends on how much the players know about woody stuff and survival vs. the PCs.
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