An avalanche can occur on a
moderate || severe slope in any
mountainous region where the terrain has a heavy
snow cover
(12 inches or more). The most favorable conditions
are present
during the daytime when the sun is shining and
the temperature
is abnormally warm or at least higher than the
average. The heat partially
melts the snow, which becomes heavier because
of its
greater water content. If some areas of bare
rock are present in
the vicinity of a large accumulation of snow,
the chance of an avalanche
is even greater because the heat of the sun and
the air
warms the rock. This heat radiates throught the
rock beneath the
snow as well, giving it a higher temperature
than the snow on top
of it and further weakening the bond that keeps
the snow attached
to the surface it is covering. When the heat
differential
and the weight of the snow both reach sufficient
proportions, the
mass of snow will come loose from the slope and
begin its trip
down the mountainside.
An avalanche increases in volume
and speed as it falls, because
more snow is pulled loose by the weight and friction
of the
mass that is already falling. There is no good
place to be in the
path of an avalanche, but a character’s chance
of survival is considerably
smaller if he is standing at the base of a slope
than if he
is located some distance up the slope - assuming
that he is able
to avoid being carried down the slope by the
force of the falling
snow.
A character caught in an avalanche
will take anywhere from
2d10 to 3d20 points of damage from impact with
the falling snow
and debris that is carried along with it. The
damage dice are determined
by the Dungeon Master, depending on the size
of the
avalanche and the character’s location when he
is hit by it. This
damage is halved for a character who, knowing
he is going to be
hit, falls to the ground and curls into a ball
to offer himself as
much protection as possible. If a character is
standing or moving
when an avalanche hits him, he must make a successful
bend
bars roll to avoid becoming part of the avalanche.
A character
who is huddled in a protective position has a
50% chance of
maintaining his position and not being swept
away by the snow.
Whether he is swept along in the avalanche or
not, a character
will find himself buried under 2d3 feet of snow
when the avalanche
subsides (or 4d3, if he is at the bottom of the
slope). If he is
still alive, the character must make a Constitution
Check. Success
on this check indicates that he is conscious
and may be able
to dig himself out; failure indicates that he
is unconscious and
must be rescued by others.
A character who remains conscious
can dig through the snow
at the rate of 1 foot per round and thereby free
himself - but he
won’t necessarily know which way is up. A character
who was
huddled on the ground and was not swept away
when the avalanche
passed over him will be properly oriented and
will always
dig in the right direction. All other characters
must make a successful
Wisdom Check (rolled in secret by the Dungeon
Master)
before they will know the right direction in
which to dig. This
check is rolled once per round for a character
who is trying to dig
himself out until a check is successful. If the
first and subsequent
checks are failed, the character is spending
his effort digging parallel
to the surface instead of toward it. When a check
succeeds,
the character has realized his error and turned
in the right direction
- but he may still have a long way to go before
he breaks the
surface.
If some characters have escaped
the fury of the avalanche (by
aerial movement or magical protection, for instance)
or if they
have managed to dig ?hemselves out quickly, they
may be able to
locate the position of characters who are still
buried and get them
out. The base chance of finding the right spot
to dig in one round
of searching is lo%, modified upward by 1% per
point of intelligence
of the searcher and further modified by + 25%
if the buried
character is trying to dig himself out. (The
snow on the surface
will be disturbed by the actions of the character
underneath.) This
chance is checked separately for each character
searching and
for each character being sought. For instance,
if three characters
are searching in an area where four of their
comrades are buried,
a total of twelve checks will be called for in
the first round of
searching, and the odds are that at least one
searcher will locate
at least one victim. The chance to find a buried
character can be
re-checked on a round-by-round basis as long
as the search is
continued.
A character digging down to
a trapped comrade can do so at
the rate of 2 feet per round if moving snow with
his hands, or 3
feet per round if using an implement (weapon,
pole, etc.) to
loosen the snow and make it easier to move. Up
to three characters
can dig for the same victim at the same time,
and for each extra
character beyond the first one an extra 1 foot
of snow can be
moved per round.
The snow cover over a victim
is not airtight and may contain
trapped pockets of air, so that a character need
not worry immediately
about being able to breathe. However, the air
supply will
only last for 5-10 rounds (ld6 +4). After that
time has expired, the
character is treated as though he is holding
his breath, but without
a chance to take a deep breath before doing so;
see the section
on Swimming for details on how this is handled.
When the
character’s time limit for holding his breath
expires, he must begin
to make successful Constitution Checks as described
in the
section on Swimming. A failed Constitution Check
indicates that
the victim has suffocated.
| Natural Hazards in the Wilderness | WSG |