Stream, you make some nice points, but again, should it be as easy to find food and water in Death Valley in the middle of summer as it is in a Georgia woods in early Autumn?
So does that mean there should be a reduced DC for survivial in the Georgia woods in early autumn, rather than a penalty for Death Valley in mid-summer? We always seem to think in terms of penalty for tougher tasks rather than bonuses for easier ones.
The base skill level for survival is a pretty well-trained wilderness survivor, since he can get along in the wild with no supplies. That autumn in a temperate climate doesn't require you to deal with temperature extremes, and there's tons of plant and animal life - maybe you should get a significant bonus, since you only needed a 10 to survive in Death Valley in the height of summer, or the Arctic in the dead of winter.
The degree of modifier is something I've wondered about. I'm also curious how fire building and shelter finding can be worked into survival checks.
Seems to me that, if you need a fire and/or shelter, that's part of "getting along in the wilderness".
Early on, at level one, this party wandered up into the (arctic) mountains with no supplies, after calculating that the PC with survival could take 10 every day and they'd all be fine. Something about that seemed wrong to me.
Perhaps the character should not be able to take 10 on survival checks, as there is always a threat, so the consequences for failure are too significant. Maybe we set the first tier of penalty that harsher environments preclude taking 10.
Then again, the Inuit seem to do all right in arctic conditions - do they really have to roll once a day to survive?
I think you should lower/increase base DCs as you deem appropriate, based upon a multitude of factors, not just one. I am a field wildlife and fisheries biologist and have worked in coastal, mountainous, desert and valley climates and can attest to differing difficulties in getting by based upon season. Food/water is real important too, not enough means your body typically begins to consume itself and/or body functions begin to shut down. Your players will learn how important it is to prepare properly rather then just set out, kinda sucks to loose body parts to frostbite or a character to freezing.
A lot of modifiers affect a lot of other skills. If we gathered 100 gamers, how many could climb a rough wall? Anyone with no ranks and no penalty can Take 10 and do so by the game rules. Maybe trained adventurers are a bit more skilled than average couch potatoes.
I also prefer heroic characters, and characters who can't make the journey to the average adventure site don't strike me as particularly heroic. Seems the Fellowship of the Ring managed some pretty harsh terrain, for example - and there were a lot of them, so adding 2 for each extra person makes for a high DC.
Why? If you don't make preparations in advance for something like Death Valley in the summer you're going to die. The DC should be very high.
What should the bonuses for making preparations be? Presumably, enough to offset much or all of that penalty - so extremely high, if the DC is increased a lot. That would mean the same advance preparation that gives you a decent shot in extreme conditions makes less extreme conditions trivial.
"Perfect tools" grant a +2 bonus, so those advance preparations provide a limited bonus, don't they? I could certainly see a penalty for lacking "appropriate tools", such as appropriate clothing for the environment, and a bonus for having clothing specifically suited for the environment.
A skilled PC with Survivial wouldn't be wandering Death Valley at high noon - he would know to kep under cover at the heat of the day and travel when the temperatures are cooler.
