Survival in the desert

[heirodule]

Survival DC 10
Get along in the wild. Move up to one-half your overland speed while hunting and foraging (no food or water supplies needed). You can provide food and water for one other person for every 2 points by which your check result exceeds 10.

I can't find anything that ever modifies this for desert travel. Even Sandstorm didn't say that the DC was any harder.

So should it be? By how much?

 

[dcollins]

Good point. I think it would be reasonable for the DM to simply specify a different DC for different campaign regions. Maybe 15 in mountains, 20 in desert or at sea, etc.

 

[werk]

Difficulty Class
Some checks are made against a Difficulty Class (DC). The DC is a number (set using the skill rules as a guideline) that you must score as a result on your skill check in order to succeed.

Table: Difficulty Class Examples
Very easy (0)
Easy (5)
Average (10)
Tough (15)
Challenging (20)
Formidable (25)
Heroic (30)
Nearly impossible (40)



The average DC is 10, just like most all skills. So crossing 'the fruitful plains' may be a DC 5 (or even 0) but crossing 'the desert of blistering death' may be DC 30 or more. Or that's the way I read skills.

 

[lukelightning]

The DC is even lower if you don't mind some cannibalism.

 

[SteelDraco]

And once you've turned into a ghoul, you don't even have to roll!