Extreme Conditions

Desert terrain exists in cold, temperate, and warm climates, but all deserts share one common trait: very little precipitation. The three categories of desert terrain are tundra (cold desert), rocky deserts (often temperate), and sandy deserts (often warm). The most common rules sections to reference for adventures in these areas are Cold Dangers (see page 400), Heat Dangers (see page 402), Starvation and Thirst (see page 404), and Weather (see page 398).

Stealth and Detection in the Desert

In general, the maximum distance in desert terrain at which a creature can succeed at a Perception check to detect the presence of others is 6d6×20 feet; beyond this distance, elevation changes and heat distortion in warm deserts makes sight-based Perception checks 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.

Survival

Endure Severe Weather

You can use Survival to better withstand the effects of severe weather. Typically, one check determines the success of your efforts for a single day. If you succeed at the check, you gain a +2 bonus to Fortitude saving throws against severe weather while moving up to half your overland speed, or a +4 bonus if you remain stationary and build a temporary shelter. You can grant this bonus to one other creature for every 1 point by which your result exceeds the DC. You can’t take 20 on Survival checks to endure severe weather.

Live Off the Land

You can use Survival to keep yourself and others fed in the wild by hunting and foraging, enabling you to move up to half your overland speed without needing food and water supplies. Typically, one check determines the success of your efforts for a single day. You can provide food and water for one other character for every 2 points by which the result of your check exceeds 10. In some cases, an environment may be so inhospitable (such as an airless asteroid) that it is impossible to live off the land. You can’t take 20 on Survival checks to live off the land.

Orienteering

Once each hour while traveling through unfamiliar terrain and each time you move close to a natural hazard such as quicksand or patches of poisonous atmosphere, you can use Survival to keep from getting lost or to notice or avoid the hazard.

Predict Weather

You can use Survival to predict the weather up to 24 hours in advance. You must spend at least 1 minute observing the surrounding area and its current weather patterns. You can predict the weather an additional day in advance for every 5 points by which your result exceeds 15. You can’t take 20 on Survival checks to predict weather.

Travel

Desert Modifiers:

• Highway: x1
  
• Road/Trail: x1/2
• Trackless: x1/2

Forced March

In a day of normal walking, you walk for 8 hours, and then you spend the rest of your daylight time making and breaking camp, resting, and eating. However, you can walk for more than 8 hours in a day by making a forced march. For each hour of marching beyond 8 hours, you must succeed at a Constitution check (DC = 10 + 2 per extra hour) or you take 1d6 nonlethal damage. If you take any nonlethal damage from a forced march, you become fatigued (see page 276). When you recover from this nonlethal damage, you also eliminate the fatigued condition. Still, it’s quite possible to march yourself into unconsciousness by pushing yourself too hard.

Fatigued: You cannot run or charge; you take a –1 penalty to AC, attack rolls, melee damage rolls, Reflex saves, initiative checks, and Str- and Dex-based skill and ability checks; and you reduce your encumbered limit by 1 bulk.

Cold

Cold and exposure deal nonlethal damage to the victim. A character can’t recover from the damage dealt by a cold environment until she gets out of the cold and warms up again.

An unprotected character in cold weather (below 40° F) must succeed at a Fortitude save each hour (DC = 15 + 1 per previous check) or take 1d6 nonlethal cold damage. A character can attempt Survival skill checks to gain a bonus to this saving throw and might be able to apply this bonus to other characters as well (see page 148).

In conditions of severe cold (below 0° F), an unprotected character must succeed at a Fortitude save every 10 minutes (DC = 15 + 1 per previous check) or take 1d6 nonlethal cold damage. A character can attempt Survival skill checks to gain a bonus to this saving throw and might be able to apply this bonus to other characters as well.

Extreme cold (below –20° F) deals 1d6 lethal cold damage per minute (no saving throw). In addition, a character must succeed at a Fortitude save (DC = 15 + 1 per previous check) each minute or take 1d4 nonlethal cold damage. Colder environments can deal more damage at the GM’s discretion.

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

Heat

Heat deals nonlethal damage to the victim. A character can’t recover from the damage dealt by a hot environment until she gets out of the heat and cools off.

A character in very hot conditions (above 90° F) must attempt a Fortitude saving throw each hour (DC = 15 + 1 per previous check) or take 1d4 nonlethal fire damage. Characters wearing heavy clothing or armor of any sort take a –4 penalty to their saving throws. A character can attempt a Survival check to receive a bonus to this saving throw, and might be able to apply this bonus to other characters as well (see page 148).

In severe heat (above 110° F), a character must attempt a Fortitude saving throw once every 10 minutes (DC = 15 + 1 per previous check) or take 1d4 nonlethal fire damage. Characters wearing heavy clothing or armor of any sort take a –4 penalty to their saves. A character can attempt a Survival check to receive a bonus to this saving throw and might be able to apply this bonus to other characters as well (see page 148).

Extreme heat (air temperature over 140° F, boiling water, fire, and lava) deals lethal fire damage. Breathing air in extreme heat deals 1d6 fire damage per minute (no saving throw). In addition, a character must attempt a Fortitude saving throw every 5 minutes (DC = 15 + 1 per previous check) or take 1d4 nonlethal fire damage. Hotter environments can deal more damage at the GM’s discretion.

A character who takes any damage from heat exposure suffers from heatstroke (same as the fatigued condition; see page 276). These penalties end when the character recovers from the nonlethal damage she took from the heat.

Boiling water deals anywhere from 1d6 to 10d6 fire damage per round of exposure, depending on water temperature and level of immersion.

Storms

The combined effects of precipitation (or dust) and wind that accompany storms reduce visibility ranges by three-quarters, imposing a –8 penalty to Perception checks. Storms make aiming with ranged weapons difficult, imposing a –2 penalty to attack rolls, and archaic ranged weapons can’t be fired at all. Storms automatically extinguish unprotected flames. Storms commonly appear in three types: dust, snow, or thunder.

Dust Storm

These desert storms differ from other storms in that they have no precipitation. Instead, a dust storm blows fine grains of sand that obscure vision, smother unprotected flames, and can even choke protected flames (50% chance). Most dust storms are accompanied by severe winds and leave behind a deposit of 1d6 inches of sand. There is a 10% chance for a dust storm to be accompanied by windstorm-magnitude winds (see Table 11–6: Wind Effects on page 400); this greater dust storm deals 1d3 nonlethal damage each round to anyone caught out in the open without shelter and also poses a choking hazard (see Suffocation and Drowning on page 404). A greater dust storm leaves 2d3–1 feet of fine sand in its wake.

Severe Wind (31–50 mph)

Nonenergy ranged weapon attack rolls take a –4 penalty.

Windstorm (51–74 mph)

Powerful enough to bring down branches, if not whole trees. Nonenergy ranged weapon attack rolls take a –4 penalty, while attacks with archaic ranged weapons are impossible. Perception checks that rely on sound take a –8 penalty due to the howling of the wind. Small characters might be knocked down.

Thunderstorm

In addition to wind and precipitation, a thunderstorm is accompanied by lightning that can pose a hazard to characters who don’t have proper shelter (especially those in metal armor). As a rule of thumb, assume one bolt per minute for a 1-hour period at the center of the storm (GM rolls to hit). Each bolt deals between 4d8 and 10d8 electricity damage. One in 10 thunderstorms is accompanied by a tornado.

Thick

A nonacclimated creature operating in a thick atmosphere treats it as somewhat harmful, due to the extra chemical compounds in the air and the increased atmospheric pressure. Every hour, such a creature must succeed at a Fortitude save (DC = 15 + 1 per previous check) or become sickened. This condition ends when the creature returns to a normal atmosphere. Conversely, the increased weight of the air grants a +4 circumstance bonus to Acrobatics checks to fly or Piloting checks to keep an aircraft in flight.

Severely thick atmospheres are far more dangerous. Every minute, a creature in such an atmosphere must succeed at a Fortitude save (DC = 15 + 1 per previous check) or begin to suffocate (see Suffocation and Drowning on page 404) as its lungs cease coping with the density of the oxygen inhaled and lose the strength to keep pumping air into its bloodstream.

Thin

Thinner atmospheres tend to cause a nonacclimated creature to have difficulty breathing and become extremely tired. A typical thin atmosphere requires such a creature to succeed at a Fortitude save each hour (DC = 15 +1 per previous check) or become fatigued. The fatigue ends when the creature returns to a normal atmosphere.

Severely thin atmospheres can cause long-term oxygen deprivation to those affected in addition to the effects of a standard thin atmosphere. The first time a creature in a severely thin atmosphere fails its Fortitude save, it must succeed at a DC 25 Fortitude save or take 1 damage to all ability scores. A creature acclimated to high altitude (see Hill and Mountain Terrain on page 397) gains a +4 insight bonus to its saving throw to resist this effect.

Space can be an inhospitable place, with countless dangerous worlds within it. Unless otherwise specified, all armors protect you from a range of hazards to ensure that you can survive for at least a few days if you must make emergency repairs to the hull of a starship, explore an alien world, or endure exposure to an environmental breach in a space station. Some armors do this through an environmental field (a minor force field specially attuned to pressure and temperature that does not reduce damage from attacks), while others can be closed with helmets and airtight seals. The most common environmental dangers are detailed in Environment beginning on page 394.

Activation and Duration

A suit of armor’s environmental protections last for a number of days equal to its item level. Activating or deactivating these environmental protections takes a standard action if you are wearing the suit (assuming the armor was properly donned). If you have access to a suit that is unattended or worn by a helpless creature, you can turn on its environmental protection as a full action, but turning it off requires a Computers check to hack the system, treating the suit as a computer with a tier equal to half the suit’s item level (the base DC to hack a computer is equal to 13 + 4 per tier).

The duration of a suit’s environmental protections does not need to be expended all at once, but it must be expended in 1-hour increments. Recharging this duration requires access to a functioning starship or an environment recharging station (publicly available in most technologically advanced or average settlements) and takes 1 minute per day recharged. Most of the recharging stations that replenish devices, such as batteries and power cells (see page 234), also recharge armor’s environmental protections, and using them to recharge suits is typically free of price. All other functions on a suit of armor with no duration remaining still work normally.