|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
In a game campaign where weather
conditions are not taken into
account - or in a world where, mysteriously,
the weather is always
pleasant - it is usually a good idea for
a character to be outfitted
in the best armor he can wear and afford.
All too frequently,
armor is the only thing a player or a
DM considers
when it becomes important to know what
a character is wearing.
No one worries about what other clothing
a character has on, and
even plate mail is so comfortable that
a character can keep wearing
it hour after hour and day after day.
But in a campaign world where the weather
can vary significantly
from one day to the next, and drastically
from one area to
another, it is impossible to ignore the
importance of being suitably
attired. Being covered up in combat is
one thing, but if a
character is too covered up he may be
so weakened by the time
combat takes place that he can’t defend
himself anyway.
A term used frequently in this section,
and in other parts of this
book, is effective
temperature. This figure, expressed in degrees
Fahrenheit, is based upon the actual temperature
at a given time
and in a given location. In most cases,
it is modified by other conditions
such as wind velocity; for instance, even
those of us who
live in warm-weather climates are familiar
with the concept of
wind chill: If the actual temperature
is 30 degrees, the effective
temperature will be much lower than that
if a strong wind is blowing,
and if that additional factor is taken
into account by the
DM.
The effective temperature for a particular
character may be
quite different from the effective temperature
for another one who
is standing right next to him, because
this figure can also be modified
by how a character is attired. Obviously,
the effective temperature
in any environment is lower for a magic-user
dressed
only in a loose, flowing robe than it
is for his fighter companion
decked out in a full suit of plate mail.
When the difference is important,
the effective temperature for each character
is described
as his personal temperature. This is the
term that is used in this
section, and the following section on
Effects of the Environment,
to describe the effective temperature
for a certain individual.
Armor is any attire that offers some protection
in combat by improving
the character’s AC; clothing is any attire
that
usually does not provide such protection.
However, the word
“usually” is important in this context.
As will be seen, some
forms of weather attire do incidentally
provide a character with
some amount of armor-class benefit that
he would not be able to
realize if he was not wearing the clothing.
Clothing is classified in one of four
categories, according to the
temperature range for which it is best
suited:
Very cold clothing
provides good protection from the elements
at temperatures below 0 degrees.
This category includes thick
garments such as parkas and trousers made
from the furs of animals
animals that are accustomed to very cold
weather (bears, wolves,
etc.). Extremely important is the quality
of insulation the clothing
provides; the clothing should fit loosely,
so that air can circulate
between the body and the garment. This
air is warmed by the
body, and in turn helps to keep the body
warm; in other words,
the garment itself doesn’t have to do
all the “work” of protecting
the body from freezing. The equivalent
of very cold clothing can
be obtained by wearing two layers of cold
clothing or four layers
of moderate clothing. As a rule, multiple
layers of relatively thin
clothing provide more insulation (and
thus more warmth) than a
single garment equivalent in thickness
to the multiple layers.
However, in extremely cold temperatures
there is no substitute
for a thick, bulky garment (presumably
worn over at least one
layer of normal-temperature clothing)
to act as a shield between
the character’s body and the subzero temperature.
Gloves or mittens,
heavy foot coverings, and face coverings
are also recommended,
and often necessary, to prevent a character’s
extremities from being affected by the
cold even if the greater
portion of his body is protected. Very
cold clothing has en encumbrance
value equivalent to that of plate mail
(bulky, 450 gp), and
an outfit of such clothing will cost about
15
gp.
Cold clothing
offers adequate protection at temperatures from
0 to 30 degrees. This clothing need not
be made of animal furs;
often, a bulky and fairly thick garment
of woven fabric will suffice.
Wool has the best insulating qualities
of any fabric that characters
are likely to have access to; the very
fibers of a wool garment
contain “pockets” that add to the fabric’s
ability to trap air. Canvas
or some other tightly woven fabric is
not nearly as good an insulator
as wool, because it does not allow air
to circulate through
and under the garment. However, tightly
woven fabrics do help to
keep the body’s natural warmth from dissipating
too quickly, and
they act as good protection against the
wind. Some kind of heavy
garment, regardless of how it fits or
what it is made of, is certainly
better than nothing in cold or very cold
temperatures. Coldclothing
has an encumbrance value equivalent to
that of ring mail
(fairly bulky, 250 gp), and an outfit
of such clothing will cost about
7 SP.
Moderate
clothing covers a wide range of garments, since the
category includes anything that keeps
a character comfortable at
temperatures from 31 to 75 degrees. At
the lower end of this
range (up to around 50 degrees), common
sense dictates that
some kind of light or moderately thick
outer garment is necessary
(in addition to normal clothing of the
sort that would be worn in a
heated room). At the upper end of this
range, characters can usually
get by with nothing more than the shirt
(or tunic, or robe) on
their back - except during rest stops
and sleep periods, when a
blanket or some similar extra protection
may be needed to keep
the body from being uncomfortably chilled.
Moderate clothing
may have no encumbrance value at all (if
the Dungeon Master
considers it to be the same as a character’s
normal attire), or may
be considered equivalent to leather armor
(non-bulky, 150 gp) if
the clothing is relatively heavy. An outfit
of moderate clothing will
usually cost no more than 3 gp.
Hot clothing keeps
a character from becoming overheated
when the temperature is higher than 75
degrees. The garments
in this category are greatly varied in
style and appearance, ranging
from the loincloths worn by natives in
a humid tropical forest
to the full-length robes that entirely
cover the bodies of tribesmen
in
the hot, dry air of the desert. When the
humidity is high, the
body tends to perspire more than normal,
and it is best to expose
as much skin as possible (within the bounds
of decency) so that
perspiration can evaporate and thereby
help to keep the body
cool. In a climate where the humidity
is consistently low - usually
also a place where water is scarce - the
body does not perspire
as readily, so the inhabitants keep themselves
covered and
are thereby able to retain more moisture.
Hot clothing has no encumbrance
value, and a minimal cost (perhaps as
much as a
robe, which is priced at 6 sp).
Table 3: EFFECTS
OF CLOTHING AND ARMOR ON PERSONAL TEMPERATURE
Effective Temperature
| Attire | -1 or lower | 0 to 30 | 31 to 35 | 76 or higher |
| Very Cold | +30 | +40 | +50 | +60 |
| Cold | +20 | +30 | +40 | +50 |
| Moderate | +10 | +20 | +20 | +30 |
| Hot | 0 | +0 | +0 | +0 |
| Full Plate | +10 | +20 | +30 | +40 |
| Field Plate | +10 | +20 | +30 | +40 |
| Plate Mail | +10 | +20 | +30 | +30 |
| Splint Mail | +5 | +10 | +15 | +20 |
| Banded Mail | +5 | +10 | +15 | +20 |
| Chain Mail | +0 | +5 | +10 | +20 |
| Scale Mail | +0 | +5 | +10 | +20 |
| Ring Mail | +0 | +5 | +10 | +15 |
| Studded Leather | +5 | +0 | +15 | +30 |
| Padded Armor | +20 | +30 | +40 | +50 |
| Leather Armor | +10 | +5 | +10 | +20 |
Entries on this table are cumulative, no
matter whether armor
is being worn over clothing or vice versa.
For instance, a character
in subzero temperatures who is wearing plate mail and very
cold clothing has his personal
temperature increased by 40 degrees
over the effective temperature.
Protected and Unprotected Characters
As described in the section on Effects
of the Environment, a
character may suffer hit-point damage
from exposure to either
hot or cold temperatures. The amount of
damage and the likelihood
of it occurring depend upon whether the
character is protected
or unprotected from the elements.
Unprotected characters are those
of whom at least one of the
following things is true:
-- Wearing very cold
clothing in an effective temperature
higher than 30 degrees.
-- Wearing cold clothing
in an effective temperature
lower than 0 degrees
or higher than 50 degrees.
-- Wearing moderate
clothing in an effective temperature
lower than 30 degrees
or higher than 80 degrees.
-- Wearing hot clothing
in an effective temperature
lower than 50 degrees.
-- Wearing any metal
armor (not incl. studded leather)
in an effective temperature
higher than 80 degrees,
regardless of clothing.
Any character who does not % at least one
of those catec
is protected and, as such, has a reduced
chance of suftering
damage as a direct result of exposure
to the temperature
The figures for personal temperature derived
from the above
table apply to characters who are stationary
and not engaging in
any significant physical activity. Exertion
of any sort, whether
strenuous or nonstrenuous, will raise
a character’s personal temperature
under certain circumstances.
In an effective temperature of less than
0 degrees, a protected
character’s personal temperature will
rise by 5 degrees whenever
he exerts himself for four consecutive
turns. After that, the
character can rest for one turn without
becoming colder, but if he
rests for more than one turn he will lose
the 5-degree increase. By
alternately exerting himself for four
turns and then resting for one
turn, a protected character can increase
his personal temperature
by a maximum of 20 degrees. After that,
he must continue
the prescribed pattern of exertion and
rest to retain the benefit of
the increased temperature.
In an effective temperature of 0 to 30
degrees, a protected
character’s personal temperature will
rise by 5 degrees if he exerts
himself for six consecutive turns, and
it will rise by 10 degrees
(the maximum increase) if he remains active
for 12
consecutive turns. This increase can be
retained indefinitely until
the character rests for more than two
turns in a row, at which
point his personal temperature will drop
back to its normal level.
In an effective temperature of 80 degrees
or higher, an unprotected
character’s personal temperature will
rise 5 degrees for
every three consecutive turns of activity,
up to a maximum of 25
degrees. Such a character can avoid becoming
overheated if he
rests, which will cause his personal temperature
to drop 5 degrees
for every three consecutive turns of inactivity.
If he rests
andalleviates his unprotected condition
(Le., takes off his armor),
his personal temperature increase from
exertion will diminish by
10 degrees for every three consecutive
turns of inactivity. A character’s
personal temperature cannot be decreased
in this manner
to a number lower than it would be when
he is not exerting
himself.
Example: The effective temperature
is 90 degrees when a
character puts on his chain
mail. His personal temperature immediately
increases by 20 degrees
because of the armor, meaning
that he is affected as if
the temperature was 110 - and, of
course, he is unprotected
because of the armor. If he then sets
out on a hike and walks
for two and a half hours (1 5 turns), his personal
temperature increases by
another 25 degrees because of
exertion. The heat of the
day, plus the heat of the armor, plus the
heat his body is giving
off combine to make his personal temperature
a blistering 135 degrees.
If he stops and rests without taking
off his armor, his temperature
increase from exertion will be lost
at the rate of 5 degrees
per three turns, so that after an hour and a
half he has lost 15 degrees.
If he takes off his armor at the beginning
of the rest stop, he helps
himself in two ways: In addition to
immediately losing the 20
degrees accounted for by the armor,
he can lose the entire 25-degree
increase from exertion in the
same hour and a half - 10
degrees in the first three turns, 10 degrees
in the second three turns,
and the final 5 degrees in the
third three turns.
Clothing That Functions as Armor
In our real world, cold-weather clothing
can be made of thin,
lightweight synthetic fibers and manmade
insulating material.
The resulting garment can provide remarkable
protection from
cold and wind -- but it won’t keep out
a slashing sword or give its
wearer any cushion if he is clouted with
a club.
However, substances such as nylon, rayon,
and vinyl don’t ex-
ist in the game universe. Cold-weather
clothing available to characters
is bulky, cumbersome, and -- best of all
-- thick. In fact,
very cold clothing is thick enough so
that (at the DM’s
discretion) it may be considered to impart
an AC of
8 to its wearer. Similarly, cold clothing
is the equivalent of AC 9.
Obviously, this distinction is only important
to characters who
are not wearing armor over the clothing
-- and to magic-users
and illusionists, who are forbidden to
wear actual armor of any
sort. But, technically, cold-weather clothing
is not armor, even
though it does provide some protection
from physical attacks.
To balance the benefit that magic-users
and illusionists can
gain from being bundled up, the DM may
wish to
rule that the wearing of thick, bulky
clothing inhibits the character’s
ability to move freely. This could be
translated into (for instance)
a base chance of 10% that any spell requiring
a somatic
component will be miscast and thus ruined.
If the character
wants to avoid this risk of spell failure,
he can take off his coldweather
garb before beginning to cast the spell
- but that may
be easier said than done when the temperature
is 20 below zero.
