DnD Desert Raiders Campaign Natural Hazards
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Contents
SUN DANGERS
In the clear, dry air of the waste, nothing blocks the sun's rays, which can pose dangers of their own.
Glare
The sun can be extremely dangerous to unprotected eyes, drying and irritating the tissue. Areas of white sand, salt, gypsum, or similarly light-colored material reflect the sun's glare into the eyes even when not looked at directly. Sun glare is doubly dangerous during winter months, when the sun is low on the horizon and thus difficult to avoid looking at. Characters traveling in such conditions must cover their eyes with a veil, dark lenses, or a similar eye covering. Those whose eyes are unprotected in such conditions are automatically dazzled. Such characters take a -1 penalty on attack rolls, Search checks, and Spot checks. These penalties are doubled for creatures that have light sensitivity (such as drow or orcs). Characters who take the precaution of covering or shielding their eyes automatically eliminate the risk of being dazzled by sun glare and take no penalties. Glare-induced blindness lasts as long as characters remain in an area of sun glare and for td4 hours thereafter, or for 1 hour thereafter if the character enters a shadowed or enclosed area. The dazzling effect of sun glare can be negated by a remove blindness spell, but an unprotected character still in an area of sun glare immediately becomes dazzled again when the spell's duration expires.
Sunburn
Sunburn is a serious hazard when traveling in the waste. A mild sunburn is merely distracting, but more severe burns can be life-threatening. Avoiding sunburn requires covering up exposed skin, wearing hats or robes, or carrying a parasol. Protective lotions also keep the skin safe, and beings native to torrid climates have developed dark skin pigmentation to protect against the sun. Of course, wearing heavy clothing carries its own risks (increasing the likelihood of succumbing to heatstroke), and sunlight reflected from light-colored surfaces can still reach beneath a hat or shade. Characters who take even minimal care to protect their skin from direct sunlight (a hat, a cloak, or other body-covering garment will do) are not subject to sunburn. Wearing the desert outfit described on page 101 is sufficient to prevent sunburn, In addition, several other items described in Chapter 4 can protect against the effects of sunburn. If a character is caught out in the sun and completely unprotected, serious consequences can result, After 3 hours of such exposure, the character is mildly sunburned and takes 1 point of nonlethal damage. After 3 hours more exposure, the character develops severe sunburn and immediately takes 2d6 points of nonlethal damage and a -2 penalty on Fortitude saves to avoid damage or fatigue from heat dangers until the nonlethal damage is healed. Characters or creatures with naturally dark (or tanned) skin pigmentation are naturally resistant to sunburn. Such individuals can remain in the sun unprotected for 6 hours before becoming mildly sunburned, and for 12 hours before becoming severely sunburned.
OTHER DANGERS
Even without the threat of dehydration, heatstroke, or sandstorms, waste terrain can be deadly.
Flash Floods
Storms or spring runoff from nearby mountains can send deadly walls of water through ravines or along low desert gullies. A flash flood can suddenly raise the water level of an area, filling a dry gulch to the top of its walls. A flood raises the water level by 1d10+10 feet within a matter of minutes. Water washes through affected squares, traveling at a speed of 60 feet or more, unless impeded by slopes or solid barriers. Treat a flash flood as stormy water (Swim DC 20 to avoid being swept away). An additional DC 20 Swim check is required each round to keep the head above water. Characters who stay below the surface might drown (as described on page 304 of the Dungeon Master's Guide), See Aquatic Terrain, page 92 of The Dungeon Master’s Guide, for more about the effects of being swept away. Along with the hazards of fast-flowing water, the flow uproots trees and rolls enormous boulders with deadly impact. Characters struck by a wall of water during a flash flood must make a successful DC 15 Reflex save or take 3d6 points of bludgeoning damage. A flash flood passes through an area in 3d4 hours.
Mirages
As air heats up over the desert floor, shimmering convection currents appear. These currents blur and distort features behind them and can even produce optical illusions called mirages. A mirage is formed at the boundary between hot air at ground level and a cooler layer higher up, which acts as a lens to refract light and reflect images of more distant objects. Mirages can disorient travelers in the waste by obscuring landmarks or making distances seem shorter than they actually are. One can reduce the effect of a mirage by getting to higher elevation, which minimizes the amount of refraction. Of course, this requires not only a place to climb (or a fly spell) but also the ability to recognize what you are looking at. An observer can make a DC 12 will save to disbelieve the apparent image. A character who suspects a mirage gets a +4 circumstance bonus on this save. Once the existence of a mirage is revealed, disbelief is automatic.
Getting Lost
As discussed in Wilderness Adventures in Chapter 3 of the Dungeon Master’s Guide, adventurers might become lost when traversing various sorts of terrain. Refer to that chapter for more information regarding the chances and effects of becoming lost as well as regaining one's bearings, Additionally, sandstorms, steam clouds, mirages, trackless lava flows, and glaring sand can easily confuse and disorient characters. Disorientation or even hallucinations from heatstroke can also cause a character to become lost.
TABLE 1-6: SURVIVAL DC’s TO AVOID GETTINC LOST
Terrain Survival Check DC
- Badlands 12
- Barren waste 12
- Evaporated sea 10
- Glass sea 15
- Petrified forest 17
TABLE 1-7: SURVIVAL DC MODIFERS TO AVOID GETTINC LOST
Condition Survival Check DC Modifier
- Duststorm +4
- Sandstorm +6
- Map -4
- Mist or steam +2
- Heat shimmer +2
- Glare +2
- Mirage +4
- Trackless* +2
- See Overland Movement, page 164 of the Player's Handbook.
Steam and Mist
Although the waste is usually dry, circumstances can combine to produce thick clouds of mist or even steam. Some creatures living in such regions adapt and become able recover the precious moisture from the atmosphere. Deserts that border coastal areas do not themselves receive much precipitation, but when cooler, moist ocean air encounters the superheated air over the land, water condenses out into a thick mist. During the day, this mist is uncomfortably hot, while al night it is more tolerably warm until it is dispersed by strong winds that kick up as the land cools. In active volcanic regions, hot springs and fissures vent scalding stearn. Lava flowing into a body of water throws up huge clouds of hot mist, as well as showers of stone fragments and ash. Areas of hot mist increase the effective temperature band by one (see Table 1-1, page 12), as humidity combines with high temperature to keep the body from cooling during the day and conversely moderates the cold of the desert night. Steam erupting directly from a hot spring, lava flow, or other fiery source is much more dangerous, dealing 1d6 points of lethal damage per round to a creature within (no save). Such steam does cool rapidly in the air, however, and only deals such damage within a 30-foot radius of its fiery source. Beyond 30 feet from the source, the steam is just a warm mist. Mist or steam obscures vision, providing concealment. If it contains dust, powdered salt, and similar noxious substances, mist also poses the risk of suffocation (see page 304 of the Dungeon Master’s Guide), Toxic vapors mixed with fog acts as an inhaled poison.
SIDEBAR - MAGICAL DESSICATION DAMAGE
Sandstorm introduces desiccation damage, a new category of damage that spells, and in some cases, the attacks of creatures, can deal. Desiccation is not an energy type, but certain spells and effects can provide enhanced protection against desiccation damage. Plants and elemental creatures of the water subtype are especially vulnerable to desiccation damage, and they often take extra damage from such effects.
Sometimes, but not always, spells that deal desiccation damage can render a victim dehydrated (a new condition; see above). Other spells and special abililles can render a creature dehydrated without dealing magical desiccation damage. Essentially, dealing magical desiccation damage does not automatically make a creature dehydrated, and becoming dehydrated does not mean a creature automatically lakes desiccation damage.
The magical defenses against desiccation damage described in this book apply to the effects of the horrid willing spell.
