Alpine
The zone where snow does not clear in summer. There is no farming and almost no settlement, and what a party finds up here is a pass, a mine, a shrine or a wreck. Movement is roped or exposed, the air holds a third less oxygen than at sea level, and a route is often one ledge wide.
Crossing it
- Navigate
- DC 15
- Forage
- Nothing to find
- Notice
- DC 12
Movement is roped, and a day's progress is measured in thousands of feet climbed instead of miles covered.
Exposure
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Temperatures below about zero degrees Fahrenheit, or any water near freezing, made worse by wind.
CON save, DC 10, rising by 1 for each hour after the first. End of each hour. One level of exhaustion.
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Cold-weather gear
Proper layers, a sealed suit or a heated shelter removes the save. Wet layers give disadvantage on it instead.
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Immersion
A creature in near-freezing water makes the save each minute instead of each hour, and is Incapacitated at three levels of exhaustion.
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Gear
Unheated power cells lose half their charge, and any check made with bare hands after an hour of exposure has disadvantage.
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Adapted
A creature native to a cold world, or with resistance to cold damage, ignores the save.
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Wind, whiteout or downpour heavy enough to take away visibility and then footing.
CON save, DC 13. End of each hour in the open. One level of exhaustion.
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Obscured
The whole encounter is heavily obscured. Ranged attacks beyond 30 feet automatically miss and Perception by sight fails past that range.
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Wind
A Medium or smaller creature in the open makes a DC 13 Strength save at the start of its turn or is moved 1d4 x 5 feet downwind.
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No travel
A day spent traveling in it covers a quarter of the usual distance and still costs the hourly save.
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Shelter
A built shelter, a vehicle or a sealed suit removes the save. A Wisdom (Survival) check at DC 12 finds or improvises one where the terrain allows.
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Grounded
Nothing flies. A vessel caught airborne takes 4d6 bludgeoning damage per hour and its pilot makes a DC 15 check each hour to hold a heading.
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Gravity below about 0.4g, where a push-off sends a creature farther than expected and stopping takes planning.
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Movement
Ground movement is normal, but any push-off sends the creature farther. A creature that Dashes continues an extra 10 feet in the same direction at the end of its turn unless it spends 5 feet stopping.
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Melee
A melee attack made without an anchor point pushes the attacker 5 feet away from the target after the attack resolves.
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Jumps and falls
Jump distances are tripled and falling damage is halved. A fall of under 40 feet does none.
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Carrying capacity
Carrying capacity is tripled. Mass is unchanged, so anything being carried is as hard to start and stop as it is at normal gravity.
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Mag boots
Magnetic boots or a tether remove every entry above while a ferrous surface is underfoot, at the cost of half movement.
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In play
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Thin air
Above 15,000 feet, a creature that is not acclimatized has disadvantage on Constitution saves and cannot regain hit points from a short rest.
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Exposed
A failed Strength (Athletics) check on a pitch means a fall of 1d4 x 10 feet. A roped party halves it.
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Snowpack
Loud noise or a heavy footfall on a loaded slope triggers an avalanche: DC 15 Dexterity save, 4d10 bludgeoning damage and Buried on a failure, half and Prone on a success.
Variations
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Pass
The one crossable line for a hundred miles, and its position is known.
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Glaciated face
Ice instead of rock. Crevasses hidden under a snow bridge, at DC 15 to spot.
Worlds it occurs on
- Terran (Arctic) A rocky world covered in ice for most of the year but habitable, with open water at the margin in summer.
- Terran (Barren) Rock and wasteland with a thin atmosphere or none, habitable but sparsely settled.
- Terran (Verdant) A rocky world with liquid water, breathable air and a magnetic field to protect them, rare and the cause of most wars.
