Dealing with heat

The DM’s Guide gives basic guidelines for dealing with adverse environmental conditions, and these provide an excellent basis upon which to expand. As soon as the sun rises in the desert, the temperature quickly escalates, reaches a peak at midday, and remains high as long as the sun is up. For every 8 hours that the PCs spend in direct sunlight, they should make an Endurance check to attempt to stave off heatstroke. The DC will vary according to the character’s level, as however powerful you may be, it may not count for much against the harsh nature of the desert.

The skill check, however, has a number of modifiers to take into account, detailed in the table below:

To give an example:

Breg the level 6 (+3) Dwarven Cleric is travelling through a desert at 1pm (-2 to skill check). His constitution modifier is +2, but his Endurance skill is untrained. He has taken 2 hours of shaded rest (+4), and has kept drinking water all morning. He is wearing a sun hat (+1) and is carrying 120lbs of equipment (+0). The DM asks him to make an Endurance check against DC 22, he rolls a 14.

14 + 3 + 2 + 4 + 1 – 2 = 22 – He passes!

A failed check will result in the use of a single healing surge, but that is enough to keep the character going until the next check is required. If the character has run out of healing surges and then fails an Endurance check, however, they begin to feel the effects of heatstroke, and lose hit points equal to their level.

Surviving at night

While the cold temperatures at night are not as extreme as the heat of the day, the speed at which it drops certainly is, and it is enough to chill someone who doesn’t have adequate warm clothing. In the event the PCs are in a desert at night, they should make an Endurance check (DC 18) or suffer the same effects as if they failed one during the day. This check, however, is only required if the characters do not possess warm clothing (equivalent to what would be warn in winter conditions). If the characters are travelling at night, they may take an additional +6 circumstance bonus to their check, since walking briskly is enough to largely negate the cold temperature.

Dehydration

One of the major stumbling blocks in desert adventuring is the need for constant water. In the heat of the desert, characters need far more water than they would normally due to the amount they lose through sweating. It is important therefore, that they take in water as often as possible, preferably a good long drink at least once an hour.

In normal situations, a character could survive without water for about 3 days without any real adverse effects setting in. In the heat and strong sunlight of the desert, however, dehydration will occur after just 1 day without water. In this case, 24 hours after the character last receives a drink, they must make an Endurance check against DC 20. If they succeed, they get another 8 hours without water. After this time they must make another check against DC 25 (the DC increases by 5 every 8 hours). In the event of a failure, the character loses a healing surge, and must immediately make another check until they either pass, or run out of healing surges. When the character has run out of healing surges, they take damage equal to their level, and continue taking this damage every hour until they either get water or die.

Sandstorms

The final major natural hazard for the players to confront is the power of the wind. Sandstorms have been known to last for weeks on end, and the winds can reach speeds of 70mph. Attempting to travel during a storm of this magnitude is risky at best, suicidal at worst.  Before even trying to make progress in a sandstorm, characters will need to cover their noses and mouths, and preferably also find some way to shield their eyes as well. If they take these precautions, they should be in a decent position to survive the howling winds and blowing sands, but a new problem will soon present itself, both to those who try travelling, and those who stay still.

The landscape of the desert is likely to be unrecognisable as the same place following a sandstorm, as the sands will have shifted dramatically, and attempting to follow the same direction will be difficult. Resourceful players may have placed some sort of marker down, pointing in the direction they need to go, but failing this, they will most likely have to guess at a direction. If this occurs, the DM should roll a D8 and consult the table below:

The most sensible thing the PCs can do is take shelter when a sandstorm hits and attempt to wait it out, finding some way to point out the direction they need to travel when it subsides. If they do wish to travel on, however, they will need to take an Endurance check every 8 hours (DC 25) or lose a healing surge as in extreme heat. This can be modified, however. If they cover their noses and mouths, they will receive a +5 circumstance bonus, and if they find a way to cover their eyes, they may also take another +3 to the check.

While travelling during a sandstorm, characters must attempt to ensure they are travelling in the right direction. Every hour of travel, the PCs should make perception checks (DC 25) – this is best done in secret so they are not necessarily aware they are going in the right direction – if this is passed by one or more PCs, they manage to struggle on in the correct direction. A failure by all the characters, however, means they have become lost and disorientated, and you should roll a D8 and consult the above table to give the direction the PCs are now travelling.

Types of sandstorm

Sandstorms tend to occur fairly randomly, and will die down after a length of time that is wildly variable, from a few minutes to a few weeks. For every day the characters are in the desert, roll a d100. On a 90 or higher, a sandstorm picks up. The length should be determined before hand, use the below table as a guideline. This uses a d10 roll to determine length:

There is a lot of information in this article, and a lot of rules and rolls that have been developed for the desert campaign. At some point or other I have used all of these rules within a campaign, but it can be a lot to keep track of all at the same time, so the best thing to do may be to pick and choose the parts that will fit into your way of DMing. Of course, if you are feeling adventurous, implementing a complex set of rules is a great way to add a depth of realism to a campaign.

Thanks for reading!

Next time – A look at what your intrepid adventurers might encounter when journeying through the shifting sands.

One question that may spring to mind is why on earth would you want to adventure in a desert? It isn’t exactly the most hospitable environment around, and the majority of people would undoubtedly rather avoid deserts than make a point of going far into one.

From a DM’s point of view, setting an adventure in a desert can make an interesting change from the usual dungeon crawl or journeys through more forgiving wilderness areas such as plains or forests. A desert will challenge the players’ ability to survive in harsh conditions, and can help to make them examine their characters in great detail as they attempt to find ways to cope with searing heat, dehydration and worse.

Introducing a desert environment is a good way of adding a new dimension to a campaign, fighting in a dungeon or a forest is fine, but short of perhaps offering cover here and there, the setting is not going to impact heavily on the way your players deal with encounters. In a scenario where you add in the constant danger of heatstroke and the need to conserve as many resources as possible, and that normally trivial fight with bugbears becomes a real battle for survival.

Adventure Hooks – Getting your characters into a desert

So maybe you want to use a desert setting, but are unsure of how to integrate it into your current campaign, well this section is designed to provide an overview of a few possible reasons for entering this harsh environment.

• Someone the PCs are close to contracts a potentially fatal disease. The only known cure is manufactured by an alchemist’s guild located in a city beyond the desert. Going around the shifting sands would take the heroes much longer, and does the victim have that much time left?
• A villain the PCs have been tracking has fled into the desert to escape justice. The relevant authority figures want him taken alive, and a big part of the heroes’ salary will be cut if the desert claims him first.
• A team of archaeologists wants to investigate the ruins of a great civilisation that are now buried beneath the desert, and they will pay the PCs handsomely to accompany them.
• A desert is expanding at an alarming pace and is threatening to engulf a nearby city. Scrying spells have pointed to a source at the heart of the desert.
• Nomad caravans have recently emerged from the desert telling tales of a great necropolis that has been uncovered by a sandstorm.
• A famous nobleman has organised a race across the desert for teams of adventurers, with promises of great riches for the winners.

Thanks for reading!

Next time – A more in depth look at the hazards involved in adventuring in a desert and how to apply them in a campaign.

My intention (at least for the first few articles) is to focus on the often-overlooked wilderness areas of the world, it’s very easy to constantly rely on dungeons for adventures, but taking your PCs above ground will allow for a whole new feel for your campaign.

You are welcome to use any of the ideas presented here in your adventures, and feel free to change bits and pieces so it fits with your world, or just use it to draw a little inspiration. Either way, I hope I can help contribute something to the world of the DM!