Rain on the battlemat.

[Quasqueton]

Say it is raining in game. Or snowing. Or fog. Or just dark (like night, outside), for that matter. How do you get the feeling of weather/darkness across in game and have it stick in the Players' minds? Or have it stick in your own mind for that matter.

I can put walls, doors, trees, rocks, ruins, etc. on the battlemat and keep the terrain in everyone's mind during a fight. But how do you put rain or fog on the battlemat?

Quasqueton

 

[Krieg]

You could always just break out a fog machine:

Or just drop a chunk of dry ice in a cup of water at the edge of the battlemat...

That might be a bit overkill though.

 

[Henry]

Two things:

1) Use evocative imagery when describing combat results. Don't forget the splash in the puddles as the fighter hustles forward to deliver a devastating blow, and the blood mixing with the rain running down the opponent. Don't forget the steam that rises after the mage cooks the enemies from a fireball, or the weird arcs that the lightning cuts through the charged atmosphere.

2) Use background tracks. Some people use music during combat, but JUST as evocative are those "soothing" tracks that some people sell. The ocean, the wind, the rain, etc. Use a track of heavy falling rain when a fight's going on in a rain storm.

Fog is easy to emulate - concealment bonus for anything over 20 feet away!

 

[Tinker Gnome]

Take a tub of water and dump it on the miniatures and say "Oh noes!!!! rainz!!!!!"

 

[adwyn]

If you look around the web it is possible to find some overhead terrain shots that can be saved. It is possible to get the wet look with high lights and a generally glossy look, fog can be photoshopped in as well. Use a graphics program to add in some grid lines and then print out.

Not as versatile as a battlemat, though if you have it laminated you can draw on it.

 

[Lonely Tylenol]

Say it is raining in game. Or snowing. Or fog. Or just dark (like night, outside), for that matter. How do you get the feeling of weather/darkness across in game and have it stick in the Players' minds? Or have it stick in your own mind for that matter.

I can put walls, doors, trees, rocks, ruins, etc. on the battlemat and keep the terrain in everyone's mind during a fight. But how do you put rain or fog on the battlemat?

Quasqueton

Try this:

Get a table lamp with a directable head. Buy a set of bulbs of different colours. Use red for darkness/dim light (like a darkroom lamp). Try blue for snow or rain. Green makes a good "light coming through canopy" colour. Overcast, snowy skies shed an off-white bluish light, so perhaps just going over a frosted white bulb with a blue magic marker will give you a good colour.

Even just changing the lighting might be enough to constantly remind the players that they're in a certain kind of condition. If you have the ability to do it, try hooking up a tiny (couple millimetres) light bulb to a watch battery, to stand in for a torch, in a darkened area. That will help make things look that extra bit more creepy.

 

[eris404]

If you look around the web it is possible to find some overhead terrain shots that can be saved. It is possible to get the wet look with high lights and a generally glossy look, fog can be photoshopped in as well. Use a graphics program to add in some grid lines and then print out.

Not as versatile as a battlemat, though if you have it laminated you can draw on it.

To add to that, a couple of map/terrain companies have full color maps with grids to download. They may have maps with puddles, banks of snow, ice, etc. on them that will be a good visual reminder of weather conditions.

Henry, I love the background track idea.

Get a table lamp with a directable head. Buy a set of bulbs of different colours. Use red for darkness/dim light (like a darkroom lamp). Try blue for snow or rain. Green makes a good "light coming through canopy" colour. Overcast, snowy skies shed an off-white bluish light, so perhaps just going over a frosted white bulb with a blue magic marker will give you a good colour.

I was thinking of using the dimmer switch on our overhead light in the same way. We used to play CoC by candlelight as well, which is nice 'n creepy, too.

 

[jmucchiello]

Why would the fog need to be on the battlemat?
Do you set fire to the mat to show where the campfire is?
Do you pour streams of water on the table when they travel along a river bank?

The battlemat is for determining distance and relative position between characters. What is in seen if still up to the DM to describe.

 

[Ranger REG]

Why would the fog need to be on the battlemat?
Do you set fire to the mat to show where the campfire is?
Do you pour streams of water on the table when they travel along a river bank?

ROFL!!!

 

[Serps]

I like the idea of using lighting effects for night time etc. I'll be using that in my games.

For fog, i'd break out the cotton balls...