The 10-foot pole, antithesis of what adventuring should be?

[Ralts Bloodthorne]

Man, you guys would probably freak over three simple items on my PC list that I try to get away with.

2 5' long, 1" thick metal poles.
A tap & die set.

That means I can take these 2 metal poles, and make a 10' pole if I need too.

I have my monk carry them. Handy dandy weapons/exploration devices. We can stop sliding walls, knock open pits, whomp an ogre on the head, use a little stonework skill or spells, and make a trip-rod.

5' iron rods, baby.

"Here, take good old Blue'y."

 

[Aus_Snow]

Man, you guys would probably freak over three simple items on my PC list that I try to get away with.

2 5' long, 1" thick metal poles.
A tap & die set.

That means I can take these 2 metal poles, and make a 10' pole if I need too.

Nice.

I was thinking just the other day, I might try and do a similar thing for a fantasy campaign, ony with three 'yardsticks' (of steel). I was hoping for much the same end result though.

 

[JRRNeiklot]

Why's the book wrong? It's talking about how cold weather affects people in the D&D game world. Now if it claimed that's how things worked in reality, that would be a different matter, but it doesn't.

You got me there, but I would think the book should make an attempt at representing a somewhat realistic world, magic not withstanding. I really hate it when my characters fall over dead at things a 10 year old could endure with only mild discomfort.

 

[Hussar]

You got me there, but I would think the book should make an attempt at representing a somewhat realistic world, magic not withstanding. I really hate it when my characters fall over dead at things a 10 year old could endure with only mild discomfort.

Um, JrrNeiklot, you are wrong on this. Hypothermia at 20 degrees F is VERY possible, as well as frostbite. You can and will die in a few hours if undressed in that temperature. Never mind that people traveling by horse are NOT going to stay dry for very long. Horses and people sweat.

Yup, if you're wearing good polar fleece long johns, you can stay out in that weather for a while. So long as the wind was down. But, in a METAL suit of armor? Good grief, you're going to be losing toes in very short order.

 

[Ralts Bloodthorne]

You got me there, but I would think the book should make an attempt at representing a somewhat realistic world, magic not withstanding. I really hate it when my characters fall over dead at things a 10 year old could endure with only mild discomfort.

You realize that winter is coming soon, right?

If you live where it's going to be down to 20F, I'll bump this post, and you can go out there in only: T-Shirt, jeans, boots, 1 pair of NORMAL socks.

Hang around out there for 2 hours, in the wind, and then you can come back in and tell me that a 10 year old could survive that weather.


--Ralts "I trained at Graf & Wildflicken During the Winter" Bloodthorne

 

[WayneLigon]

If you live where it's going to be down to 20F, I'll bump this post, and you can go out there in only: T-Shirt, jeans, boots, 1 pair of NORMAL socks.

Of course, are we talking about carrying around a hundred pounds or so of, um, 'padding' (read: fat)? I'm packing the equivilant of a 50-pound plastic and fleece overcoat, myself, but living in central Alabama I start getting cold around about 50 degrees. 20 degrees F is something I would certainly notice upon stepping outside, and after a couple hours (unless I was walking brisky, I assume), I'd be pretty bad off. A friend of mine used to be quite overweight but over the course of two years he shed over 129 pounds and now is probably closer to 'adventurer grade' for his age than most people I know; he walks several miles a day, does cardio and treadmill, etc. And one of the things he's noticed is how cold he gets, now. He wears a jacket to the theater or in most homes, since a lot of us tend to crank the AC up.

Ordinarily I'd think that the 'winter adventuring' post was a joke, but it would not surprise me in the least. It simply amazes me the GMs that think that the characters are total idiots. Today in tabletop gaming, we had a character drag another person out of the line of fire, and then go try to help me.

DM: OK, you start that way, but you can't move that far.
Player: Huh? It's only 30 feet. I have more than enough movement.
DM: You never said you were putting down the 120 pound body. So you're still carrying it. In fact, you're been carrying it for the last three rounds.

OK, whatever. Honestly, anyone that pulls that kind of stuff should simply be ashamed of themselves. Deeply ashamed.

 

[moritheil]

Fundamentally, our modern world and a world that requires adventurers are two very different places in terms of safety and in terms of what constitutes "reasonable precautions." I have yet to see a case wherein someone cried foul for dying to a situation they could have walked away from and yet fully embraced that concept.

 

[DestroyYouAlot]

I know it frequently takes me two hours of siting outside to notice that it's below freezing. I'm assuming that your post is some kind of joke instead of an example of simple crap DMing.

A shining, resplendant example of crap DMing, no less. (I love you, too.)

Not stated in the above example, spelled out here for those who need it to be so, was that I had spent fifteen minutes setting the scene, where, while the characters rested up after their last adventure, spent a few tendays training (levelling up), and going to the equinox festival, the weather had been getting steadily (and unseasonably) cold. After describing, in loving detail, the first snow that started that morning, and the biting cold that had descended over the land, I'm quite willing to impose cold penalties on adventurers who set out on the road wearing the same gear they had on in (the campaign world's equivalent of) August. It produced an equal measure of chuckles and groans, and a flurry of "oh crap, we forgot everything" provision-buying (which likely saved them from starving on the road), but I'll let the guys know that it didn't go over well on a forum, so we're dispensing with this sort of thing.[/sarcasm] I also don't warn them before they walk into a trap or a wandering monster, crap DM that I am. For shame.

 

[Kanegrundar]

I'm all for a little realism in a game, but that would suck the fun right out gaming if I had to micro-manage every bit of provisions and various other gear just to go whack an orc. If that works for your group, great. For me, I wouldn't have likely returned for another session.

Verisimilitude is alright to a point. After a while though, reality takes a back seat when I realize that I'm pretending to be a sentient construct wielding a magic sword against a mythological creature. If my character can survive a gout of red dragon breath and swing a sword the next round, then anything dealing with the effects of the environment can be chucked out the window.

 

[DestroyYouAlot]

I'll restate and clarify: I use and enforce the weather rules. I also require my PCs to eat, and to buy food to do it with. (Unless the cleric wants to spend a lot of time creating food and water.)

I emphasize the fact that being an adventurer is hard, dirty, uncomfortable work, and that they need to think ahead to get by. I make it clear that the world is out to get them, because it is. Same as it is in the Real World, something that we civilized gamers, safe in the basement, tend to forget. Again, what's not spelled out in the vignette related above is that no one took even a point of subdual damage, thanks to the ranger and his suddenly-useful Wilderness Lore (or Survival, if you like) skill, and its ability to help the ranger and his companions avoid taking damage from the environment. Wonder why they put that in the rules, not very "heroic", is it?