Reisan Climate Zones

Southern Mandala Zone (Boreal Equivalent)

The Southern Mandala Zone is Reisa’s mildest subarctic region and the only zone capable of sustaining large populations over time.

It spans the southern third of the continent and includes:

• Mandala cities such as Kalorand and Bhadra

• Farmland, river valleys, and caravan routes

• Mixed forests, hills, and intensively worked land

Most surviving population centers exist here, protected by maintained infrastructure, ritual alignment, stored grain, and constant labor. Survival is not automatic. It is managed.

Average annual snowfall is heavy but manageable.

World logic: civilization survives here only through effort, coordination, and denial.

Climate effects:

• No inherent penalties beyond seasonal effects

Northern Frontier Zone (Tundra Equivalent)

The Northern Frontier Zone begins beyond reliable agriculture and sustained ritual protection. Tree lines thin, permafrost dominates, and infrastructure becomes sporadic or abandoned.

This zone includes:

• Steppe and tundra plains

• Broken hill country and escarpments

• Isolated forts, ferries, and Velkari lands

• Most wilderness adventures

Vegetation is sparse and low growing. Winds are constant and bitter. Settlements here exist out of necessity, isolation, or deliberate rejection of mandala society.

Average annual snowfall is moderate but persistent.

World logic: people live here because they must, or because they refuse to live elsewhere.

Climate effects:

• Temperature level –1 on random seasonal weather

• Hypothermia saves suffer a –2 penalty

High North and Ice Zone (Polar Equivalent)

The High North lies beyond practical settlement. It includes:

• Alpine ranges

• Glacial fields

• Ice seas and frozen coasts

• Lands erased from maps

Here, snow accumulation rarely melts. Snowfall is lighter than the south but permanent. Travel is possible only for the prepared, the desperate, or the mad.

Average annual snowfall is low but enduring.

World logic: this is where the world remembers what it used to be.

Climate effects:

• Temperature level –2 on random seasonal weather

• Hypothermia saves suffer a –4 penalty

Climate Zone Effects Summary

Arctic Temperature Levels

Reisa experiences five temperature levels throughout the year. These are influenced by season, climate zone, weather, elevation, and proximity to mandala infrastructure.

Characters without cold weather clothing must make hypothermia saves at the listed frequency.

Using Climate in Play

• Cities are always treated as Mild due to infrastructure, density, and ritual heat.

• City outskirts and patrolled roads are typically Cold.

• True wilderness defaults to Very Cold unless season or location dictates otherwise.

• Seasonal shifts may temporarily raise or lower temperature levels.

• Getting wet worsens effective temperature by one level until properly dried.

Climate is predictable enough to plan around, but harsh enough to punish complacency.

The Southern Growing Season

The Southern Mandala Zone benefits from a brief, predictable growing season. This allows limited agriculture, stored surplus, and population stability without removing danger.

Growing season length is approximately eight to ten weeks.
The harvest window is narrow and unforgiving.
Miss it, and the city starves.

Seasonal Temperatures in the Southern Zone

This mirrors real subarctic cultures. Life exists, but timing is everything.

Why Summer Does Not Remove Danger

During summer:

• Exposure pressure decreases

• Time pressure replaces it

Summer is when:

• Expeditions launch

• Church oversight intensifies

• Competition increases

• Seals are opened too quickly

• Relics are moved without understanding

Many adventures begin in summer and end in autumn or winter. Supplies dwindle, travel worsens, and retreat becomes dangerous. Winter punishes summer decisions.

Referee Guidance

• Summer enables action

• Autumn judges choices

• Winter reveals consequences

HYPOTHERMIA

In the arctic’s icy climate, explorers often face the risk of hypothermia. If weather conditions cause the referee to call for a hypothermia save, all must save vs. paralysis; anyone failing this save moves one stage down the hypothermia condition table.

First Expedition into the Northern Frontier

You leave the last watchtower at dawn.

Beyond it, the tundra stretches flat and exposed. Low stone. Frozen ground. Wind that never quite stops. The sky is pale and distant.

The cold bites, but your gear holds. You walk.

For a while, nothing happens.

Save Summary

• No saves required yet

• Movement delays consequences

• Conditions are worsening but not dangerous

The Rain

It doesn’t snow.

It rains.

Cold rain needles into your faces and runs down your collars. Cloaks darken. Gloves soak through. Boots fill with water. The wind rises and never lets up.

You keep moving because stopping feels worse.

Save Summary

• All characters become wet

• Cold weather gear becomes ineffective

• Effective temperature escalates to Extreme Cold

• Hypothermia saves will now be required hourly

Hour 3: The Cold Begins to Take Hold

An hour passes under freezing rain. Fingers stiffen. Breathing feels shallow.

Hypothermia Save (Hour 3)

Save vs Paralysis

Outcome

• Magic User enters Stage 1: Mild Hypothermia

• Others remain stable but exposed

Hour 4: Fatigue and Numbness

The rain never stops.

The wizard’s hands shake uncontrollably. The fighter stumbles once. The thief’s fingers are clumsy.

Hypothermia Save (Hour 4)

Outcome

• Fighter: Stage 1 (Mild)

• Magic User: Stage 2 (Moderate)

• Thief: Stage 1 (Mild)

• Cleric remains stable

Hour 5: Things Get Strange

The wizard starts insisting he’s overheating. He reaches for his robe clasps, muttering nonsense.

You stop him.

Hypothermia Save (Hour 5)

Outcome

• Fighter: Stage 2 (Moderate)

• Cleric: Stage 1 (Mild)

• Magic User: Stage 3 (Severe)

Magic User Confusion Roll
1d6 → 2
Attempts to undress. Party restrains him.

Hour 6: Collapse

The wizard collapses in the snow.

He is breathing.

He does not wake up.

Hypothermia Save (Hour 6)

Outcome

• Fighter: Stage 3 (Severe)
  Confusion roll: 1d6 → 4, acts normally

• Cleric: Stage 2 (Moderate)

• Thief: Stage 2 (Moderate)

• Magic User: Stage 4 (Apparent Death)

The wizard will die in minutes without warmth.

Panic and Desperation

You drag him onward. The fighter barely responds. The cleric is pale and slow. The thief scans the ground instead of the horizon.

Walking is no longer enough.

Hour 7: Shelter

You spot a collapsed stone hunting cairn pressed against a low rise.

You do not debate.

You pile inside. Shields block gaps. Packs form walls. Oil burns. Fire catches.

For the first time in hours, the wind cannot reach you.

Save Summary

• Shelter and fire established

• Effective temperature reduced by two levels

• Exposure ends

• Apparent Death stabilizes

• No hypothermia save required this hour

Hour 8: Holding On

Steam rises from soaked clothing. The fire dries you slowly.

The wizard’s breathing deepens. Color returns to his face.

No one feels good.

But no one gets worse.

Save Summary

• Wetness removed

• Effective temperature reduced to Cold

• Fire and shelter cancel hypothermia saves

Night in the Cairn

You take turns feeding the fire.

Hours later, the wizard stirs. His eyes open, unfocused. He whispers nonsense, then sleeps again.

Morning comes.

You are alive.

Final Save Summary

• No further hypothermia saves overnight

• Extended rest prevents further progression

• Recovery may begin after sustained warmth

What the Players Learn

They are never told outright, but they understand:

• Cold is a countdown, not damage

• Rain is worse than snow

• Movement buys time, not safety

• Shelter is a hard mechanical breakpoint

• Fire turns death into survival

• The wilderness is not scenery, it is pressure

This was their first real journey beyond the Mandala.

First Expedition into the Northern Frontier (with Explicit Survival Rolls)

Party Leaves the Watchtower

The tundra opens ahead of you. Flat ground, scattered stone, frozen grass bent by the wind.

The fighter studies the land for a moment longer than the others.

“Open flats are bad later in the day. Wind has nowhere to break. Let’s keep to the rises.”

Referee:
“This is familiar terrain. Fighter, make a Survival (Plains/Steppes) check to choose a safer route.”

Survival Roll 1: Route Selection

• Fighter Survival target: 10

• Roll: 7

• Success

Result in Play
The party angles toward broken ground and low stone.
No mechanical bonuses yet, but this prevents later penalties from being in fully exposed flats.

This does not negate cold. It prevents things from getting worse.

The Rain Begins (Hour 2)

Cold rain starts falling. It soaks through clothing quickly.

The fighter grimaces.

“Rain like this won’t clear soon. We’ll need stone or earth before dark.”

No Survival roll here. This is situational awareness, not a test.

Hour 3: First Hypothermia Check

The cold starts biting through wet clothes.

Hypothermia Save (Hour 3)

Outcome

• Magic User enters Mild Hypothermia

The fighter watches the wizard closely.

Hour 4: Terrain Reading Under Pressure

The wind shifts. The fighter slows and scans the ground.

“See that stone line? That’s old work. Hunters built cairns near breaks like that.”

Referee:
“Fighter, you’re actively searching for likely shelter locations while moving. Make a Survival check.”

Survival Roll 2: Identifying Shelter Direction

• Fighter Survival target: 10

• Roll: 12

• Failure

Result in Play
He is not certain. The cairns might exist, but he cannot confidently lead the party straight to shelter yet.

The party keeps moving, still exposed.

Hypothermia Save (Hour 4)

Outcome

• Fighter: Mild Hypothermia

• Magic User: Moderate

• Thief: Mild

Hour 5: Desperation and Focus

The wizard starts insisting he’s overheating, fumbling at his robes.

The fighter snaps at him to stop moving and scans the terrain again, this time more carefully.

Referee:
“You stop pushing forward and deliberately search for immediate shelter options. This will slow travel. Make another Survival check.”

Survival Roll 3: Emergency Shelter Search

• Fighter Survival target: 10

• Roll: 6

• Success

Result in Play
The fighter spots a low rise with stone collapse on its lee side. Not ideal shelter, but usable if reached quickly.

This success shortens the time to shelter by one full hour.

Hypothermia Save (Hour 5)

Outcome

• Fighter: Moderate

• Cleric: Mild

• Magic User: Severe
  Confusion roll: 2, attempts to undress

Hour 6: Collapse

The wizard collapses.

The fighter does not hesitate.

“We’re not making distance. We’re making shelter. Now.”

No Survival roll here. The shelter is already identified.

Hypothermia Save (Hour 6)

Outcome

• Fighter: Severe

• Cleric: Moderate

• Thief: Moderate

• Magic User: Apparent Death

Shelter Reached (Earlier Because of Survival)

The party reaches the collapsed cairn this hour, not the next.

Fire is built. Wind is blocked.

Mechanical Effect

• Shelter + fire reduces temperature by 2 levels

• Survival success improves shelter effectiveness by 1 additional level

• Exposure ends immediately

• Apparent Death stabilizes

The wizard lives.

What the Table Learns (Very Clearly)

• Survival is rolled, not passive

• Failure does not negate knowledge, but removes certainty

• Success buys time, not immunity

• Survival matters most before collapse, not after

• INT 10 is enough to survive if decisions are timely