D&D 5E Survival and Exhaustion in ToA: need a good house rule.

[CapnZapp]

I hate this absolute phrases in class, race or BG features.

Exactly this.

Any "always on, never fails" ability will sooner or later wreck a scene or storyline.

The simplicity is never worth it. ANY ability should explicitly say "..Unless the DM says otherwise" at the very minimum.

Of course, as a player I prefer to have more control than that, and so it's fine to specify almost any dice roll.

But for heaven's sake stop it already with the absolute powers!! [emoji20]



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[Sacrosanct]

After a few sessions, I implemented a house rule. I like to keep things simple. So every day traveled, I roll a d20 and a d8. On a 16 or higher, there is an encounter. I roll to see which chart to use (monster, cache, etc). I think there are too many encounters RAW for a map that will have the PCs travelling hundreds of hexes by the time it's all said and done. So I only roll once a day.

If I get an 8 on the d8, that means it's a horrible storm that lasts all day and night. PCs must make a DC 5 CON save or suffer one level of exhaustion, and a long rest isn't possible. Doesn't matter how much water they have, if you've ever spend 24 hours in a deluge and misery, you're not really resting. I've found that it doesn't really have that MUCH of an effect, because most days they are able to recover the next night before any further encounters, but it does remind them of the misery of the jungle. The DC isn't very high, but we did have it affect PCs twice on different nights. It seemed to be a good balance of not ruining the game or making exhaustion constant, but also always there on the fringes, occasionally happening.

A simple d20 and d8 roll. way simpler for me than all the rolls in the book RAW for encounters and exhaustion. Oh! They have the alchemy jug, so exhaustion by dehydration is moot.

 

[CapnZapp]

I think there are too many encounters RAW for a map that will have the PCs travelling hundreds of hexes by the time it's all said and done.

We have different goals in our gaming, so I won't respond in general.

One thing though - I would have thought the more encounter rolls, the better is a large table - the purpose of the large table is avoiding repetition?



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[Sacrosanct]

We have different goals in our gaming, so I won't respond in general.

One thing though - I would have thought the more encounter rolls, the better is a large table - the purpose of the large table is avoiding repetition?



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I found that RAW, encounters were happening way too often and it took forever to get from one place to another on the map. I didn't want to spend an entire session on just random encounters. YMMV

 

[CapnZapp]

I found that RAW, encounters were happening way too often and it took forever to get from one place to another on the map. I didn't want to spend an entire session on just random encounters. YMMV

It sounds like you aren't using any component of the "hex crawl" idea whatsoever.

(Not that there's anything wrong with that, only you were very vocal in my threads that are all about making the hex crawl of ToA work...)

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[Sacrosanct]

It sounds like you aren't using any component of the "hex crawl" idea whatsoever.

(Not that there's anything wrong with that, only you were very vocal in my threads that are all about making the hex crawl of ToA work...)

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What are you talking about? How does toning down the frequency of random encounters from 3 rolls a day down to 1 mean I'm "not using any component of the hex crawl"?

 

[Guest 6801328]

What are you talking about? How does toning down the frequency of random encounters from 3 rolls a day down to 1 mean I'm "not using any component of the hex crawl"?

I was wondering the same thing. Hyperbole, maybe?

 

[CapnZapp]

I like the direction CapnZapp is going with his house rule ("If you wear heavy armor you have a minimum exhaustion level of 1") but I don't like that no armor, light armor, and medium armor have zero penalties, and then suddenly heavy armor is an automatic 1.

Just as an aside, here is the 2nd edition AD&D rule on this:

Armor and the Heat
Even with an ever-flowing water supply, the omnipresent heat and humidity can pose a threat to travelers in Chult. Characters who insist upon wearing armor greater than scale mail or hide armor-that is, lower than AC 6 suffer heatstroke, which carries the same dehydration effects as someone getting less than half the required supply of water. Lost Constitution points can be recovered in the same way as points lost to dehydration, though drinking extra water will not prevent the heatstroke loss from occurring in the first place; the only way to prevent the damage is to remove the offending armor before setting out on an expedition.
This penalty does not apply to native Chultan PCs or NPCs, since their systems are accustomed to the climate.

The above references the water rules:

Water and Dhydration
Like Zakhara, the Great Glacier, or any other land of extremes, the jungles of Chult present a challenge to the average explorer braving their depths for the first time. Not only does the terrain often make travel slow and tedious, but the heat and humidity exact a toll on those unprepared for their severity.
In any part of the jungle, an average person must drink at least one gallon of fresh water each day to survive. Someone remaining inactive can cut that requirement to a half-gallon. Because the oppressive humidity affects a person in the shade as much as the sun, no further reductions in water requirements can be gained by hiding in the shade or traveling only at night.
Failure to meet this water requirement results in dehydration, which in turn is reflected in a loss of Constitution.

A character whose Constitution drops to 0 or less is dead, with a resurrection survival chance of 25 percent.

Water Consumed Per Day
Full Requirement: No loss
Half or more Requirement: 1d4 Con daily
Less than half Requirement: 1d8 Con daily

Yes, you read that correctly Lose an average of 2.5 Con each day you wear heavy(ish) armor, which of course includes loss of hit points, worse Constitution saves and Hit Dice as well.

In comparison, I would say my rule is fabulously generous!

 

[Keravath]

Just some comments ...

Yes the ever present heat and humidity are an environmental aspect of ToA. However, I don't understand why some DMs feel compelled to make it onerous on their players.

Enforcing a level of exhaustion on someone wearing heavy armor? You're free to change the rules however you like in your game but as long as you are getting enough water to drink (based on the rules) then you don't roll for exhaustion. Exhaustion is a significant penalty ... if your players are running into a situation where they are exhausted then they didn't plan the jungle foray well nor discuss with their guides (who should easily be able to advise the players on how to travel in the jungle).

Most of the environmental hazards can be eliminated or mitigated by some low level spells.

Create Water
Create Food and Drink
Purify Food and Drink
Paladin cure disease if you actually catch something

Most of these will easily provide the clean food and drink needed for a party.

As for being too hot .. the ever versatile prestidigitation cantrip might offer some relief.
"You chill, warm, or flavor up to 1 cubic foot of nonliving material for 1 hour."
"If you cast this spell multiple times, you can have up to three of its non-instantaneous effects active at a time"

Armor is non-living material. Depending on DM, a "cubic foot" foot could be a 12"x12"x12" volume or 12 squares 12"x12"x1" ... needless to say the latter will pretty much chill all the armor on a typical humanoid and keep them comfortable even in extreme heat ... for the cost of one cantrip, once an hour. Comparable to the water cooled shirts worn by some workers in hot environments?

This is D&D, the environmental issues in Chult are there to add flavour, not to be real obstructions to any even moderately prepared party ... though they do increase the risks involved if something goes wrong out in the jungle. Lose your cleric, druid, paladin ... and losing access to clean food and water might be a real problem.


On the topic of an Outlander or Ranger being able to forage ... no matter how skilled the character, they can't find what does not exist. ALL ground water in chult is not safe to drink. You need a raincatcher or purify spell. Barbarians and Rangers can look all they like for safe water but they won't find it in the jungle. As far as not getting lost goes ... I don't really think that is a big deal since the PCs don't know where they are going. There is a large map of empty hexes ... even if they explore successfully hex by hex it will take a while to get anywhere and they are on a time limit. Getting lost one too many times would be an easy way to lose the entire campaign unless the DM decides to step in later on to make some other part go faster. Getting lost doesn't change the encounters, it doesn't really change the play of the adventure ... it is a mechanism to use up time and my impression is that there is more than enough to do in this adventure that time could be at a premium anyway.