CR 10 Tornado? ::blink::

[Kahuna Burger]

As has been stated, I would treat such phenomena like weather as "traps" of sorts. Of course, having been through a tornado-experience several months back, the tornado listed in the corebooks is obviously a tiny one spawned by a spell or creature or something. The big nasties (an F-4 and an F-5 like the two that hit my town) are obviously something epic in scale. They would become story arcs and events, rather than encounters or something to make saving throws against.

Dungeon Master: So, you are in the small tavern without a cellar.
...
Sadistic DM: That would have been a good idea. However, considering that it is over a half-mile wide and is moving at a D&D speed of 350 ft. or so, you will have to be able to move at a speed of 2500 ft. to get out of the way in time. Don't even think about trying to save against being pulled up in it. These tornadoes routinely throw houses, ancient trees, and multi-ton vehicles like they are toys in a sandbox.

What kinda tavern doesn't have a beer/wine cellar in the first place? What structure of any kind doesn't have one in a area where something like that could blow out of nowhere? Clearly this was summoned by an epic level caster to get the players, and if they aren't high level to teleport out of there the DM is screwing them... wouldn't a dozen ancient dragons have been more subtle?

(well, to someone who knows what people do when they live in areas with that kind of weather... )

Luckily, the doozies like that occur almost exclusively in large flat areas where you see them coming, and no one's dumb enough not to have a cellar... There may be a wandering redneck encounter with a pickup truck and a camcorder, I guess... Most real tornadoes are pretty capricious. They smash you or leave you alone. (I loved the arial photos of my town after we got that coveted federal disaster area designation. You'd have houses with the roofs torn off, or totally gone and across the street someone with a broken window or two.) And people have survived with as little shelter as being in a ditch.

Man I miss weather that tries to kill you... the pile of snow that just got dumped on me doesn't compare to the midwestern joy of tornadoes, golfball sized hail and meteorologists forcasting "killer lightning" with a straight face...

Kahuna burger

 

[MerakSpielman]

Also remember if a tornado is coming after your party to SCATTER! Even the nastiest DM has a hard time justifying a tornado ruthlessly hunting you down one at a time.

 

[Ferret]

Why do you have to justify it?

 

[pawsplay]

I visited a weather museum once. They had on display a cinder block that had two pieces of straw imbedded in it from the force of the wind.

 

[Dirigible]

Lotta high level folks in Kansas, huh?

 

[Norfleet]

Also remember if a tornado is coming after your party to SCATTER! Even the nastiest DM has a hard time justifying a tornado ruthlessly hunting you down one at a time.

Actually, if a tornado is coming after your party, you want to put a safe distance between yourself, and the nearest mobile home or trailer park. But not too far: The trailer park serves as a lightning rod for the tornado. You want to be far enough that you minimize the risk of being accidentally killed by a flying trailer, but not so far away that the attractive effect of a trailer park on the tornado is lost. For optimal results, you should find cover no more than 500 meters from the edge of the trailer park.

 

[Kahuna Burger]

Actually, if a tornado is coming after your party, you want to put a safe distance between yourself, and the nearest mobile home or trailer park. But not too far: The trailer park serves as a lightning rod for the tornado. You want to be far enough that you minimize the risk of being accidentally killed by a flying trailer, but not so far away that the attractive effect of a trailer park on the tornado is lost. For optimal results, you should find cover no more than 500 meters from the edge of the trailer park.

"God must hate mobile homes - he always sends tornadoes there first. They become very... mobile"

Man, when I lived in Kansas, we were about a quarter mile down the highway from a mobile home park. I watched a small twister form while sitting on my front steps once, but that little cyclone magnet did its job consistently.

Kahuna Burger

 

[Gnarlo]

Also remember if a tornado is coming after your party to SCATTER! Even the nastiest DM has a hard time justifying a tornado ruthlessly hunting you down one at a time.

So the people that made Twister were Killer DMs? I knew it!