The Weather One

9 min readNov 4, 2023

Blog #2
5E Behind the screen.

Weather

So we start with this picture of the chainmail weather table.
[Compare this to 5e weather table pg. 109 DMG]

Which is very cool, this is how weather should be run at a minimum with a chance to shift up or down based on rolls. I thought it was a touch too simple than what I wanted to do, though. So I generated a bit more of a complex weather table. The results:

With some tweaking we have a pretty solid table for roughly late spring or summer weather in a temperate region.
I also made up a winter one as well:

Use these as you will. If the game moves to a desert or a tropical climate, I could just generate tables for those as well, flavor to taste.
[Effects of extreme weather — temp, wind, heavy rain — are found on pg. 110 DMG]

Implementation

I plan to roll up weather for the week, as a base. That is, a roll for when the players enter the region or after lengths of downtime. So I’ll roll the column to see what the starting weather is and then I’ll roll 7 days out to see how it changes.
I’ll know this, but the players won’t.
A wisdom (nature) check could potentially forecast the weather or even talking to the locals could yield some sort of predictive measure.
Once I have the weekly forecast and as the players are adventuring, I can narrate the shift in the weather, especially if they ask about it.

With the actual weather implemented, we can break down potential effects on the game world. I’m not going to think of everything here, so please, leave a comment and let me know your thoughts!

Flooded regions including dungeons and caves. Though not necessarily filled with water, it would be likely that the subterranean aspects may be dripping or have a small stream flowing through. This will generate noise and may make surprises on both sides more common as players navigate these spaces.
Travel will be tougher. Slower travel speeds, increased chance of getting lost, etc.
Some creatures may be more or less active during certain seasons or inclement weather.
Some caves or dungeons may partially collapse, exposing them to the outside. This I will likely do on a case by case basis, unless someone has a suggestion for a table out there.
Maybe some creatures, perhaps nasty ones, migrate with the seasons or weather patterns.
Let me know your thoughts in the comments on how weather could be implemented!

This seems fun to me, I hope the players think so too. I think it highly encourages the use of a ranger, as it makes their Natural Explorer [pg. 91 PHB] ability incredibly useful.

If you think rangers suck in 5e, it’s probably because they’re massively under-utilized.

Sneaking will be near impossible in these conditions.

Languages

The player’s INT mod will grant bonus languages. No background languages or other bonuses (unless the language feat is taken Linguist [pg. 167 PHB]). Racial languages are exempt from this, but if the INT mod is negative I may determine the player knows one of them fluently and the other they can understand.
Thoughts?

The idea behind this is to actually utilize languages in the game and not lightly either. This is a fantasy world where the varied peoples may not trust the players, perhaps even disdain them. They’ll speak in their native tongue so the outsiders don’t understand.

Wariness and mistrust can lead to withheld information.

I’m playing around with the idea of using regional dialects or languages, just to have a larger pool than just the standard races. I think that will get more fleshed out once I get started on the world building process.

This can be especially useful while exploring ancient dungeons or former settlements to get clues about its use and even what may have caused its downfall or its abandonment.

Learning New Languages

I couldn’t find anything in the rules about the specific process for learning a new language or even a proficiency. I’m only looking through the core books, though, so if anyone can point it out to me if it exists I would appreciate it.

A character can spend 250 days of downtime and 250 gold pieces (for materials or a tutor) to learn a new language (or gain proficiency with a tool). This process is broken down over the course of the 250 days. So it won’t be the player doesn’t know the language and then when day 250 ticks over they just know it. This process is detailed below:

Language Proficiency Learning

Understanding the Language (Comprehension)

After 75 days (30% of the total time), the character can generally understand the language when it’s spoken to them. They might miss some nuances or unfamiliar vocabulary, but they get the gist of most conversations. This reflects the natural process of language learning where comprehension often precedes production.
Can’t actively engage in a conversation beyond very basic phrases.
Cannot read or write in the language.

2. Reading and Writing

After another 85 days (bringing the total to 160 days or roughly 65% of the total time), the character can read and write in the language at a basic level. They can understand written texts and write simple messages, but complex documents or nuanced poetry might still be challenging. Reading and writing can be a bit more demanding than mere comprehension since it involves literacy skills and knowledge of grammar in more depth.
Still might struggle with advanced literature, specialized jargon, or ancient scripts.
Can understand spoken language with better proficiency but may still have difficulty actively conversing.

3. Speaking Fluently

After the remaining 90 days (completing the 250 days), the character can speak the language fluently. They can converse with native speakers without significant difficulty, express complex ideas, and understand cultural nuances or idioms.
Full reading and writing proficiency is included at this level.

Implementation

When characters are at the “Understanding” or “Reading and Writing” tiers, you might occasionally ask for Intelligence checks to understand complex language use, decipher idioms, or interpret written nuances. This will allow the character to glean important information, though a failed roll could lead to a misinterpretation.
Encourage players to roleplay their language proficiency tiers. Someone at the “Understanding” tier might ask other characters to translate for them during a conversation or might misunderstand an NPC’s meaning. This may also push the party to recruit a local as translator and guide, opening up new opportunities in the adventure.

Learning Modifiers

The base modifier for learning a new language is Intelligence. A positive modifier decreases the time it takes, a negative modifer increases. There are other modifers, such as tutors and learning from a book, these will use the same method listed below.

Positive Modifier: For each positive point in the Intelligence modifier, reduce the time needed. For example, for an Intelligence modifier of +2, you would reduce the time by 20 days (10 days per positive modifier), so only 230 days would be needed.
Negative Modifier: For each negative point in the Intelligence modifier, increase the time needed. Using the above logic, an Intelligence modifier of -2 might require an additional 20 days, making it 270 days total.
To calculate the new times to reach each tier, remember the first tier is 30% and the second is 65% of the total time. Round up.
Learning from a tutor adds their Intelligence modifier to the character’s learning process. This has the potential to get messy from different tutors, gaps in learning, etc. I might address this later or if anyone has thoughts on it, I welcome them.
Learning from a book can vary. A book intended to teach the language would grant a positive modifer, depending upon the quality of the book, and this could be started at the beginning of the process.
A book in the desired language could only be started in the second stage and would impose as negative modifier as the player navigates through it.

I know this section was pretty dense, it may need some work. I think it will be easy to run players through, though. I do think this will open up some fun opportunities and properly utilize languages in game.

Downtime Activities

All of the inbetween adventure activities for the players. I’ve never run them in my games, but as my games have always been sort of narrative point crawls, there’s never been the need.
With this we’re going to slow down and take a more methodical approach.

The DMG covers this really effectively [starting on pg. 127], but I’m still going to cover a couple aspects here.

Wintering. It’s not easy or very much worth the hassle of going out in the snow to find a bit of treasure. Adventurers, amongst others, would be keen to lay back in a tavern and enjoy some time off with the loot they have gathered. This also creates the opportunity to take advantage of the Lifestyle Expenses [pg. 157–158 PHB] that will chip away at player wealth, encouraging them to go out and earn more.
Training to Gain Levels [pg. 131 DMG]. I think I’m going to couple this with, the treasure has to make it back to a safe place (where the party is holed up) for it to count as XP. With that, the players must then spend a couple days of training, along with some monetary expense, to achieve their level up.
I think this is a cool idea, no level on the spot in the middle of a dungeon. The players may then consider a regroup and retreat and come back stronger. (There will be implications for a partially cleared dungeon left alone for a period of time.)
So Much Room For Activities. There are some activities listed, though, I think I’ll end up making up activities for the players as options and also see where they take it.
This will also be a good opportunity for them to see how the world is moving. Events, people, rumors, etc. are going to be churning whether the players are in town or not. They may come back to town to find something big has gone down somewhere and that might pull them.
I think running it this way will make the return to town an exciting prospect rather than a dull happenstance.

As an aside to this, the rumors that initially draw the players to the town or village in which the adventure begins will also draw others. Good or bad, people will show up to take advantage of what they’ve heard or leave deciding it’s not worth it.
Regardless, this will be another aspect of the adventure in which the players can engage. Perhaps they will make friends or enemies of these people, maybe hire them to join them in their pursuits.
People will be flowing in and out of this location bringing rumors and opportunities. I think it will make for a fun time.

Correction

From the first blog post I had said that 5e doesn’t have a hexcrawl mechanic, it does [pg. 108 DMG].

“I will say, though, the DMG has rules for wilderness exploration, chases, and even an encounter table to use as an example. It just has no way to tie these tools together.
Effectively, the DMG offers a bunch of tools but lacks a cohesive toolbox.”

I guess I need to read through the book again. (No one pointed this out to me, I found it through the course of finding information for this blog.)
The 5e DMG really does give you all of the tools to make an adventure, I would recommend for anyone to read it who DMs or makes content.

BONUS: Here’s an umbrella for your weather-filled travels!