The Simulacrum Overland system (discussed in this post) imposes a number of modifiers on travelling depending on the weather, so I've built myself a little d6 table for that.
Poor Weather = +1 to exploration cost
Nice Weather = no change in cost
Extreme Temperature = +1 to exploration cost. Only rolled for in the winter.
Major Storm = additional +1 to exploration cost (this is not part of Simulacrum Overland, but I wanted the dramatic effect of a massive storm occasionally making everything all dramatic and inconvenient).
In addition, I've decided that unless roads are Roman quality or well maintained, they only reduce travel/ exploration cost by -1 in summer. The rest of the year they're deep tracks of mud - they'll help you find your route, but will be very slow going.
Wouldn't want to try to cross that stream in a heavy downpour (Simeon Larson) |
Notes
The table implies a temperate kind of climate. It doesn't get extremely warm even in summer but winters can get significantly cold (sometimes enough to impact travel) in the winter. I think I might make more weather tables for various regions to further differentiate regions, but this will do as a starting point.
Summer is obviously the best time to campaign and explore, while the other seasons are more dicey, which hits my preference for pseudo-historical RealLife(tm) flavour. Spring, on the other hand is both muddy and with unpredictable weather.
You'll also note that the table is not concerned with specifics of temperature or what exactly is going on to impede travel or what degree of rain counts as "Poor" vs "Nice". That's something I'll determine at the table, just like I'll interpret reaction roll results based on context.
Finally, I think I'll probably roll the weather a day or two in advance to give a bit of foreshadowing and possible allow appropriate PCs and NPCs a chance at predicting the weather where appropriate.
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