Talk to Ashiel About Anything Mark II

[Bartmanhomer]

I wonder if Ash even checks this thread still...

I'm sure he does.

[TOZ]

My presence online has gotten so scattered over too many communication apps. So many forums to check. I should really cut back...

[Rynjin]

My presence online has gotten so scattered over too many communication apps. So many forums to check. I should really cut back...

I feel ya. I basically just use this site for general stuff, Discord for personal communications, and Paiz strictly for PbPs now. Keeps my tabs light and each site has a distinct purpose so there's no weird mixups. I used to be on like 10 different forums and it suuuuucked in hindsight.

[TOZ]

I used to be a one forum kind of guy, used AIM and YIM for real time communication. Then I branched out to a whole slew of them, and new chat programs kept popping up among my acquaintances. I should spend some time reducing down, but that would require cutting off some people who I only communicate with on specific channels. :/

[137beth]

Pathfinder 2 is released today. I looked through aonprd to see if it hits one of my pet peeves: the "core rules" of a game should be self-contained, without references to rules in another book. If the "core rules" require the use of rules in another book, then that book should also be part of the core rules.

D&D does a pretty good job with this. There are three core rulebooks. All three make references to the other two, but you can use all of them without having to refer to any rules outside of those three books. Some other, simpler systems manage with just one core rulebook which is entirely self contained.

Pathfinder 1e has two core books. The issue is that the name of one of the two core rulebooks is a lie. The name "Core Rulebook" makes it sound like that one book contains the full core rules of Pathfinder, with everything you need to play included. Except, it isn't actually self-contained. The so-called "core rulebook" includes the druid class, which gets an animal companion. But where are the stats for animal companions? They are in another book. If you want to play a druid in Pathfinder, you either need the bestiary, or you need to refer to the online rules. Either way, the so-called "Core Rulebook" isn't a self-contained set of rules.

There are other examples. The Summon Monster spells are in the Core Rulebook, but the stats for all the creatures you can summon are in the Bestiary. With calling spells it is even worse: not only does the CRB not give stats for the outsiders you can call with Planar Binding, it doesn't even provide a list of what you can call in the first place. That, too, requires referencing the bestiary or another source with the same information.

For Pathfinder 2, Paizo has again opted to have books with the titles "Core Rulebook" and "Bestiary." I tried to figure out, based on AoN, whether the title of the new "core rulebook" is misleading like the 1e version. I.e., is the 2e Core Rulebook actually self-contained, or does it refer to rules in the Bestiary (or some other book)?

While there may be some discrepencies between the website and the actual books, it appears to me that 2e has the same issue as 1e. The 2e Core Rulebook contains summoning spells, including Summon Animal. The new PRD seems to indicate that the Core Rulebook doesn't even include a list of what animals are summonable, let alone their stats. The Paizo store page for the Bestiary also says that it contains stats for summonable monsters.

To be clear, I am not saying that having two separate core rulebooks is a bad thing, I am just bothered by the fact that one of the two core books is advertised as "the" core rulebook, when the other one is necessary to play.

I don't yet have an opinion on the actual rules of Pathfinder 2e. I read some of the preview blogs from early 2019, but I completely avoided the playtest and I haven't read any of the new preview blogs from this summer. In the brief time I looked at the online rules today, there is one change that I was able to form an opinion on: the distinction between Summoning and Calling has been eliminated. I think that that is a good change, as the difference is needlessly confusing for new players.

Since this is a Paizo product, I'm not going to really dive into the rules until it has had one or two rounds of errata, unless Paizo clearly indicates that they are changing their errata policy (e.g., if they sell or otherwise make available PDFs of old printings, then I'd be willing to just ignore any errata that comes out).

[Razade]

Pathfinder 2 is released today. I looked through aonprd to see if it hits one of my pet peeves: the "core rules" of a game should be self-contained, without references to rules in another book. If the "core rules" require the use of rules in another book, then that book should also be part of the core rules.

D&D does a pretty good job with this. There are three core rulebooks. All three make references to the other two, but you can use all of them without having to refer to any rules outside of those three books. Some other, simpler systems manage with just one core rulebook which is entirely self contained.

Pathfinder 1e has two core books. The issue is that the name of one of the two core rulebooks is a lie. The name "Core Rulebook" makes it sound like that one book contains the full core rules of Pathfinder, with everything you need to play included. Except, it isn't actually self-contained. The so-called "core rulebook" includes the druid class, which gets an animal companion. But where are the stats for animal companions? They are in another book. If you want to play a druid in Pathfinder, you either need the bestiary, or you need to refer to the online rules. Either way, the so-called "Core Rulebook" isn't a self-contained set of rules.

There are other examples. The Summon Monster spells are in the Core Rulebook, but the stats for all the creatures you can summon are in the Bestiary. With calling spells it is even worse: not only does the CRB not give stats for the outsiders you can call with Planar Binding, it doesn't even provide a list of what you can call in the first place. That, too, requires referencing the bestiary or another source with the same information.

For Pathfinder 2, Paizo has again opted to have books with the titles "Core Rulebook" and "Bestiary." I tried to figure out, based on AoN, whether the title of the new "core rulebook" is misleading like the 1e version. I.e., is the 2e Core Rulebook actually self-contained, or does it refer to rules in the Bestiary (or some other book)?

While there may be some discrepencies between the website and the actual books, it appears to me that 2e has the same issue as 1e. The 2e Core Rulebook contains summoning spells, including Summon Animal. The new PRD seems to indicate that the Core Rulebook doesn't even include a list of what animals are summonable, let alone their stats. The Paizo store page for the Bestiary also says that it contains stats for summonable monsters.

To be clear, I am not saying that having two separate core rulebooks is a bad thing, I am just bothered by the fact that one of the two core books is advertised as "the" core rulebook, when the other one is necessary to play.

I don't yet have an opinion on the actual rules of Pathfinder 2e. I read some of the preview blogs from early 2019, but I completely avoided the playtest and I haven't read any of the new preview blogs from this summer. In the brief time I looked at the online rules today, there is one change that I was able to form an opinion on: the distinction between Summoning and Calling has been eliminated. I think that that is a good change, as the difference is needlessly confusing for new players.

Since this is a Paizo product, I'm not going to really dive into the rules until it has had one or two rounds of errata, unless Paizo clearly indicates that they are changing their errata policy (e.g., if they sell or otherwise make available PDFs of old printings, then I'd be willing to just ignore any errata that comes out).

This all seems...really pedantic though doesn't it? Just because a book calls itself "core" doesn't mean there aren't other "Core" books. Dungeons and Dragons, which you reference as doing more or less the same thing, suffers the same problems. 3.5 has the "Core" book, in the Player's Guide. It just indicates it is Core Book 1. With the Monster Manual and Dungeon Master's Guide as 2 and three. Paizo is clearly doing the same thing, as you can't really play the game without the Bestiary. So...what's the problem here? Paizo is just doing what D&D and other systems have always done. Split the rules up to sell more books. If you can't play the game without it, it's core. No matter what it says on the cover.

I should note as well that 3.5 D&D also has the animal companion rules but not the actual animals. You need the Monster Manuel for that.

[Ashiel]

Hey Ashiel. What's your favorite Dragon from D&D and Pathfinder?

It's kind of a toss up between the black, white, or blue dragon, for slightly different reasons that all related (though the 3.x black dragons are just fun to look at).

All three of these dragons tend to really interesting fights. None are particularly suited for simply brute forcing their way through an encounter, all of them have a wide variety of tricks that can really make them nasty and their battles memorable.

Black Dragons

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Acid Pool (Su) An ancient or older black dragon can use its breath weapon to create an acid pool as a standard action. This acid pool has a radius of 5 feet per age category of the dragon. When an acid pool is created, anyone inside its area takes an amount of damage equal to the dragon's breath weapon (Reflex half). Any creature that starts its turn touching this pool takes damage, but can make a Reflex save for half. Each round, the total damage dice of the pool is halved until the result would be less than 1d6. The acid pool floats on water, and deals damage to anything on the surface.

Acidic Bite (Su) At old age, a black dragon's bite deals an additional 2d6 points of acid damage. An ancient dragon's damage increases to 4d6, and a great wrym's to 6d6.

Charm Reptiles (Sp) A great wyrm black dragon can use this ability three times per day. It works as a mass charm monster spell that affects only reptilian animals. This ability is the equivalent of an 8th-level spell.

Corrupt Water (Sp) Once per day an adult or older black dragon can stagnate 10 cubic feet of still water, making it foul and unable to support water-breathing life. The ability spoils liquids containing water. Liquid-based magic items (such as potions) and items in a creature's possession must succeed on a Will save (DC equal to the dragon's frightful presence) or become ruined. This ability is the equivalent of a 1st-level spell. Its range is equal to that of the dragon's frightful presence.

Speak with Reptiles (Sp) A young or older black dragon gains the constant spell-like ability to speak with reptiles. This functions as speak with animals, but only with reptilian animals.

Spell-Like Abilities (Sp) A black dragon gains the following spell-like abilities, usable at will upon reaching the listed age category. Juvenile—darkness (radius 10 feet per age category); Old—plant growth; Ancient—insect plague.

Swamp Stride (Ex) A very young or older black dragon can move through bogs and quicksand without penalty at its normal speed.

Water Breathing (Ex) A black dragon can breathe underwater indefinitely and can freely use its breath weapon, spells, and other abilities while submerged.

Black dragons are really wild because they're extremely fast dragons. They have a base move and swim speed of 60 ft. and can move through bogs and quicksand without any penalties. That's a pretty significant deal when you get right down to it, because here's what the core rules environment chapter has to say about marsh terrain.

Spoiler: Marshes

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Bogs: If a square is part of a shallow bog, it has deep mud or standing water of about 1 foot in depth. It costs 2 squares of movement to move into a square with a shallow bog, and the DC of Acrobatics checks in such a square increases by 2.

A square that is part of a deep bog has roughly 4 feet of standing water. It costs Medium or larger creatures 4 squares of movement to move into a square with a deep bog, or characters can swim if they wish. Small or smaller creatures must swim to move through a deep bog. Tumbling is impossible in a deep bog.

The water in a deep bog provides cover for Medium or larger creatures. Smaller creatures gain improved cover (+8 bonus to AC, +4 bonus on Reflex saves). Medium or larger creatures can crouch as a move action to gain this improved cover. Creatures with this improved cover take a –10 penalty on attacks against creatures that aren't underwater.

Deep bog squares are usually clustered together and surrounded by an irregular ring of shallow bog squares.

Both shallow and deep bogs increase the DC of Stealth checks by 2.

Undergrowth: The bushes, rushes, and other tall grasses in marshes function as undergrowth does in a forest. A square that is part of a bog does not also have undergrowth.

Quicksand: Patches of quicksand present a deceptively solid appearance (appearing as undergrowth or open land) that might trap careless characters. A character approaching a patch of quicksand at a normal pace is entitled to a DC 8 Survival check to spot the danger before stepping in, but charging or running characters don't have a chance to detect a hidden patch before blundering into it. A typical patch of quicksand is 20 feet in diameter; the momentum of a charging or running character carries him 1d2 × 5 feet into the quicksand.

Effects of Quicksand: Characters in quicksand must make a DC 10 Swim check every round to simply tread water in place, or a DC 15 Swim check to move 5 feet in whatever direction is desired. If a trapped character fails this check by 5 or more, he sinks below the surface and begins to drown whenever he can no longer hold his breath (see the Swim skill description in Using Skills).

Characters below the surface of quicksand may swim back to the surface with a successful Swim check (DC 15, +1 per consecutive round of being under the surface).

Rescue: Pulling out a character trapped in quicksand can be difficult. A rescuer needs a branch, spear haft, rope, or similar tool that enables him to reach the victim with one end of it. Then he must make a DC 15 Strength check to successfully pull the victim, and the victim must make a DC 10 Strength check to hold onto the branch, pole, or rope. If both checks succeed, the victim is pulled 5 feet closer to safety. If the victim fails to hold on, he must make a DC 15 Swim check immediately to stay above the surface.

Hedgerows: Common in moors, hedgerows are tangles of stones, soil, and thorny bushes. Narrow hedgerows function as low walls, and it takes 3 squares of movement to cross them. Wide hedgerows are more than 5 feet tall and take up entire squares. They provide total cover, just as a wall does. It takes 4 squares of movement to move through a square with a wide hedgerow; creatures that succeed on a DC 10 Climb check need only 2 squares of movement to move through the square.

Other Marsh Terrain Elements: Some marshes, particularly swamps, have trees just as forests do, usually clustered in small stands. Paths lead across many marshes, winding to avoid bog areas. As in forests, paths allow normal movement and don't provide the concealment that undergrowth does.

Stealth and Detection in a Marsh: In a marsh, the maximum distance at which a Perception check for detecting the nearby presence of others can succeed is 6d6 × 10 feet. In a swamp, this distance is 2d8 × 10 feet.

Undergrowth and deep bogs provide plentiful concealment, so it's easy to use Stealth in a marsh.

You're literally fighting nature as much as you are fighting a black dragon. The very environment they dwell in as an awful place to be, with sinking bogs, quicksand that makes charging or running super hazardous, and even in mid level environments it's possible for a PC to accidentally biff a DC 8 Perception check in the heat of battle and stumble right into a patch of quicksand (which can be the "GG" for a heavily armored fellow). Mix in the fact the dragon can use its breath weapon underwater and has an amazing Stealth modifier (coupled with the regular benefits of using Stealth in its environment) and you have a truly nightmarish encounter as the black dragon zips around the swamp, dropping acid breaths, and having its reptilian minions (such as vipers, alligators, or even types of dinosaurs) harass the party as well. That's not even getting into their elder options like at-will insect plague (which is a delightful spell to have at-will in this environment).

Blue Dragon

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Desert Thirst (Su) A blue dragon can cast create water at will (CL equals its HD). Alternatively, it can destroy an equal amount of liquid in a 10-foot burst. Unattended liquids are instantly reduced to sand. Liquid-based magic items (such as potions) and items in a creature's possession must succeed on a Will save or be destroyed. The save DC is Charisma-based.

Electricity Aura (Su) An adult blue dragon is surrounded by an aura of electricity. Creatures within 5 feet take 1d6 points of electricity damage at the beginning of the dragon's turn. An old dragon's aura extends to 10 feet. An ancient dragon's damage increases to 2d6.

Mirage (Su) An old or older blue dragon can make itself appear to be in two places at once as a free action for a number of rounds per day equal to its Hit Dice. This ability functions as project image but the dragon can use its breath weapon through the mirage.

Sandstorm (Su) As a standard action, a great wyrm blue dragon can create a sandstorm centered on itself with a radius of 1,200 feet. Creatures other than the dragon inside the storm take 2d6 points of damage per round in addition to the normal sandstorm penalties (Pathfinder RPG Core Rulebook 431). This sandstorm lasts for up to 1 hour, but can be dismissed by the dragon as a free action.

Sound Imitation (Ex) A very young or older blue dragon can mimic any voice or sound it has heard by making a successful Bluff check against a listener's Sense Motive check.

Spell-Like Abilities (Sp) A blue dragon gains the following spell-like abilities, usable at will upon reaching the listed age category. Young—ghost sound; Juvenile—minor image; Adult—ventriloquism; Old—hallucinatory terrain; Ancient—veil; Great wyrm—mirage arcana.

Storm Breath (Su) An ancient or older blue dragon can use its breath weapon to create a storm of lightning. This functions as call lightning storm, but the damage is equal to the dragon's breath weapon. The dragon can call down 1 bolt per round as a free action for 1d6 rounds. The save DC is equal to the dragon's breath weapon DC. Additional uses of this ability extend the duration by an additional 1d6 rounds.

Blue dragons are in a similar boat with black and white dragons. They are primarily opportunistic trickster type dragons. Their natural environment is pretty cruel to intruders as well, with hard limits on how far you can perceive hiding creatures, and is usually accompanied by extreme heat since they are in warm deserts. With a burrow speed of 20 ft. and a variety of at-will illusion spells, a blue dragon that has caught its prey within its domain may be a multi-day long encounter while the party struggles to escape them.

Spoiler: Desert Terrain

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Desert terrain exists in warm, temperate, and cold climates, but all deserts share one common trait: little rain. The three categories of desert terrain are tundra (cold desert), rocky deserts (often temperate), and sandy deserts (often warm).

Tundra differs from the other desert categories in two important ways. Because snow and ice cover much of the landscape, it's easy to find water. During the height of summer, the permafrost thaws to a depth of a foot or so, turning the landscape into a vast field of mud. The muddy tundra affects movement and skill use as the shallow bogs described in Marsh Terrain, although there's little standing water.

The table below describes terrain elements found in each of the three desert categories. The terrain elements on this table are mutually exclusive; for instance, a square of tundra might contain either light undergrowth or an ice sheet, but not both.
Desert Category
Tundra Rocky Sandy
Light undergrowth 15% 5% 5%
Ice sheet 25% — —
Light rubble 5% 30% 10%
Dense rubble — 30% 5%
Sand dunes — — 50%

Light Undergrowth: Consisting of scrubby, hardy bushes and cacti, light undergrowth functions as described for other terrain types.

Ice Sheet: The ground is covered with slippery ice. It costs 2 squares of movement to enter a square covered by an ice sheet, and the DC of Acrobatics checks there increases by 5. A DC 10 Acrobatics check is required to run or charge across an ice sheet.

Light Rubble: Small rocks are strewn across the ground, making nimble movement more difficult. The DC of Acrobatics checks increases by 2.

Dense Rubble: This terrain feature consists of more and larger stones. It costs 2 squares of movement to enter a square with dense rubble. The DC of Acrobatics checks increases by 5, and the DC of Stealth checks increases by 2.

Sand Dunes: Created by the action of wind on sand, dunes function as hills that move. If the wind is strong and consistent, a sand dune can move several hundred feet in a week's time. Sand dunes can cover hundreds of squares. They always have a gentle slope pointing in the direction of the prevailing wind and a steep slope on the leeward side.

Other Desert Terrain Features: Tundra is sometimes bordered by forests, and the occasional tree isn't out of place in the cold wastes. Rocky deserts have towers and mesas consisting of flat ground surrounded on all sides by cliffs and steep slopes (as described in Mountain Terrain). Sandy deserts sometimes have quicksand; this functions as described in Marsh Terrain, although desert quicksand is a waterless mixture of fine sand and dust. All desert terrain is crisscrossed with dry streambeds (treat as trenches 5 to 15 feet wide) that fill with water on the rare occasions when rain falls.

Stealth and Detection in the Desert: In general, the maximum distance in desert terrain at which a Perception check for detecting the nearby presence of others can succeed is 6d6 × 20 feet; beyond this distance, elevation changes and heat distortion in warm deserts makes sight-based Perception impossible. The presence of dunes in sandy deserts limits spotting distance to 6d6 × 10 feet. The scarcity of undergrowth or other elements that offer concealment or cover makes using Stealth more difficult.

Sandstorms
A sandstorm reduces visibility to 1d10 × 5 feet and provides a –4 penalty on Perception checks. A sandstorm deals 1d3 points of nonlethal damage per hour to any creatures caught in the open, and leaves a thin coating of sand in its wake. Driving sand creeps in through all but the most secure seals and seams, chafing skin and contaminating carried gear.

Spoiler: Heat Dangers

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Heat Dangers

Heat deals nonlethal damage that cannot be recovered from until the character gets cooled off (reaches shade, survives until nightfall, gets doused in water, is targeted by endure elements, and so forth). Once a character has taken an amount of nonlethal damage equal to her total hit points, any further damage from a hot environment is lethal damage.

A character in very hot conditions (above 90° F) must make a Fortitude saving throw each hour (DC 15, +1 for each previous check) or take 1d4 points of nonlethal damage. Characters wearing heavy clothing or armor of any sort take a –4 penalty on their saves. A character with the Survival skill may receive a bonus on this saving throw and might be able to apply this bonus to other characters as well (see the skill description). Characters reduced to unconsciousness begin taking lethal damage (1d4 points per hour).

In severe heat (above 110° F), a character must make a Fortitude save once every 10 minutes (DC 15, +1 for each previous check) or take 1d4 points of nonlethal damage. Characters wearing heavy clothing or armor of any sort take a –4 penalty on their saves. A character with the Survival skill may receive a bonus on this saving throw and might be able to apply this bonus to other characters as well (see the Survival skill in Using Skills). Characters reduced to unconsciousness begin taking lethal damage (1d4 points per each 10-minute period).

A character who takes any nonlethal damage from heat exposure now suffers from heatstroke and is fatigued. These penalties end when the character recovers from the nonlethal damage she took from the heat.

Extreme heat (air temperature over 140° F, fire, boiling water, lava) deals lethal damage. Breathing air in these temperatures deals 1d6 points of fire damage per minute (no save). In addition, a character must make a Fortitude save every 5 minutes (DC 15, +1 per previous check) or take 1d4 points of nonlethal damage. Those wearing heavy clothing or any sort of armor take a –4 penalty on their saves.

Boiling water deals 1d6 points of scalding damage, unless the character is fully immersed, in which case it deals 10d6 points of damage per round of exposure.

Most warm deserts where the the blue dragon resides are likely to be very hot (90o+) and thus creatures have to make Fortitude saves every hour to avoid some nonlethal damage and fatigue, and wearing armor makes this harder to pass. Also, many deserts get very cold at night, which can invite its own set of problems.

The blue dragon has a line breath weapon so it tends to have a pretty good maximum range. A blue dragon stalking a party is a terrible thing to behold as the party is regularly making Fortitude saves to avoid becoming fatigued during the day, possibly suffering the opposite problem at night, and the wyrm can regularly mess with them using a series of illusions, burrow, and its breath weapon. It's generally difficult to rest when a dragon appears every few hours to drop a bolt of lightning through your camp before burrowing back into the earth. God help you if it's an older or older dragon as it can very comfortably fight a proxy-war with intruders using it's project image power that it can use its breath weapon through. The range on the spell is 100 ft. + 10 ft. / HD), which it can use as a free action, which means it very well may be fighting the party while invisible in the sky or something.

Heaven help you if the wyrm is ancient, because you're going to be dealing with hyper lightning and sandstorms amidst everything else. Truly a creature of terrible horror.

White Dragon

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Blizzard (Su) An ancient white dragon can use its breath weapon to create a blizzard in the area around it as a standard action. This creates heavy snow conditions in a 50-foot radius for 1 minute, centered on the dragon. This snow slows movement (4 squares of movement per square entered) and limits vision as fog does.

Cold Aura (Su) An adult white dragon radiates an aura of cold. All creatures within 5 feet of the dragon take 1d6 points of cold damage at the beginning of the dragon's turn. An old dragon's aura extends to 10 feet. An ancient dragon's damage increases to 2d6.

Freezing Fog (Sp) An old white dragon can use this ability three times per day. It is similar to an acid fog spell but deals cold damage instead of acid damage. It also causes a rime of slippery ice to form on any surface the fog touches, creating the effect of a grease spell. The dragon is immune to the grease effect because of its icewalking ability. This ability is the equivalent of a 6th-level spell.

Ice Shape (Su) A young white dragon can shape ice and snow at will. This ability functions as stone shape, but only targeting ice and snow, not stone. A white dragon's caster level for this effect is equal to its Hit Dice.

Ice Tomb (Sp) A great wyrm can, as a standard action, cause a creature to sink into ice. This works as imprisonment, but only while the target is touching an icy surface. A white dragon can use this ability once per day (CL equals dragon's HD). Targets entombed by this ability can be freed by casting freedom or by physically freeing the creature from the ice (Hardness 0, 360 hit points). The save DC is Charisma-based.

Icewalking (Ex) This ability works like the spider climb spell, but the surfaces the dragon climbs must be icy. The dragon can move across icy surfaces without penalty and does not need to make Acrobatics checks to run or charge on ice.

Snow Vision (Ex) A very young white dragon learns to see perfectly well in snowy conditions. A white dragon does not suffer any penalties to Perception checks while in snow.

Spell-Like Abilities (Sp) A white dragon gains the following spell-like abilities usable at will upon reaching the listed age category. Juvenile—fog cloud; Young adult—gust of wind; Ancient—wall of ice; Great wyrm—control weather.

Spoiler: Cold Weather, Snow, Fog

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Cold Dangers

Cold and exposure deal nonlethal damage to the victim. A character cannot recover from the damage dealt by a cold environment until she gets out of the cold and warms up again. Once a character has taken an amount of nonlethal damage equal to her total hit points, any further damage from a cold environment is lethal damage.

An unprotected character in cold weather (below 40° F) must make a Fortitude save each hour (DC 15, +1 per previous check) or take 1d6 points of nonlethal damage. A character who has the Survival skill may receive a bonus on this saving throw and might be able to apply this bonus to other characters as well (see the skill description).

In conditions of severe cold or exposure (below 0° F), an unprotected character must make a Fortitude save once every 10 minutes (DC 15, +1 per previous check), taking 1d6 points of nonlethal damage on each failed save. A character who has the Survival skill may receive a bonus on this saving throw and might be able to apply this bonus to other characters as well. Characters wearing a cold weather outfit only need check once per hour for cold and exposure damage.

A character who takes any nonlethal damage from cold or exposure is beset by frostbite or hypothermia (treat her as fatigued). These penalties end when the character recovers the nonlethal damage she took from the cold and exposure.

Extreme cold (below –20° F) deals 1d6 points of lethal damage per minute (no save). In addition, a character must make a Fortitude save (DC 15, +1 per previous check) or take 1d4 points of nonlethal damage.



Snow: Falling snow has the same effects on visibility, ranged weapon attacks, and skill checks as rain, and it costs 2 squares of movement to enter a snow-covered square. A day of snowfall leaves 1d6 inches of snow on the ground.

Heavy Snow: Heavy snow has the same effects as normal snowfall but also restricts visibility as fog does (see Fog). A day of heavy snow leaves 1d4 feet of snow on the ground, and it costs 4 squares of movement to enter a square covered with heavy snow. Heavy snow accompanied by strong or severe winds might result in snowdrifts 1d4 × 5 feet deep, especially in and around objects big enough to deflect the wind—a cabin or a large tent, for instance. There is a 10% chance that a heavy snowfall is accompanied by lightning (see Thunderstorm). Snow has the same effect on flames as moderate wind.

Sleet: Essentially frozen rain, sleet has the same effect as rain while falling (except that its chance to extinguish protected flames is 75%) and the same effect as snow once on the ground.

Hail: Hail does not reduce visibility, but the sound of falling hail makes sound-based Perception checks more difficult (–4 penalty). Sometimes (5% chance) hail can become large enough to deal 1 point of lethal damage (per storm) to anything in the open. Once on the ground, hail has the same effect on movement as snow.

The mighty if often underestimated white wyrm is like a sick combination of black and blue dragons together into one package. They are the most mobile of all the dragons, sporting a 60 ft. land, 60 ft. swim, 30 ft. burrow, and typical dragon fly speeds, there is no terrain or environment on earth the white wyrm will not happily speed about it. Combine this with their almost certain footing in their home environments where it is nice and frosty.

Much like with blue and black dragons, white dragons reside in an environment that is generally hostile to life, have many advantages when it comes to visibility and movement. With a plethora of at-will abilities that make seeing even with true seeing all but hopeless (fog, hail, and snow obscure vision the old fashioned way). This combined with their movement forms, and options like Fly-By-Attack or God forbid Village Burner and you have a long and cold uphill battle on your hands, as retaliating against the wyrm is incredibly difficult as it zips into and out of walls, floors, water, ice, blasting you with deadly cold while you're surrounded by the dark, fog, and quite possibly snow.

Fighting a white dragon can very comfortably go in several phases. One of my favorites is for white dragons to lair in caves with underground lakes and rivers, which are frozen. Until the wyrm has suffered some damage and decides to crash through the ice, shattering the slippery footing and bringing the party crashing into the dark and frigid waters for phase 2 or 3 of the encounter. Now they must content with the biting cold of a freezing underground river as they are whipped beneath the frozen ice packs by the underwater currents, while the most nightmarish apex predator is hunting them in the dark expanse (and can both see, swim, and use their breath weapon underwater).

[Ashiel]

Also, I want to apologize for my absence. Life has been pretty crazy the past few months. I've not really done any forum hopping, be it this one or others. Most of my online time has been pretty solely spent on my Discord (which Zilrax joined, which was neat). If you're curious, here's a general rundown of what's been going on in Ashiel-land.

• Brother was in a car accident. Melted his car, he survived. Spent a few weeks going back and forth to the hospital to stay with him. Now semi-babysittng him in recovery phases while the bones in his leg heal.
• Grandma died. Also extended family gets kinda trashy sometimes, as they scrambled to claim everything they could from a woman who died with nothing.
• Been working as a delivery girl for Dominos which has been a pretty nice gig honestly. You meet all kinds of people.
• Been participating in the Discord server where we play D&D and trying to run games when I have a free moment.
• Playing / Modding Darkest Dungeon
• Learning about the world, history, philosophy, and politics. That dry pipe-smoking sort of stuffy stuff. :P

However, I'm going to make a point to visit this page (and by proxy this site) at least once a week if not once per day. I miss all you guys.

[Roland St. Jude]

Sheriff: I'm not sure how this has slipped through the cracks for so long, but we generally prefer topic-specific, rather than poster-specific threads. We've generally closed "ask me anything" or "here's all my stuff" threads.

This one has also been thread necromancied recently, which is further cause to close it.