Rain and temperature

[Michael Lewis]

How does rain effect(affect?) temperature? I'm trying to add some more challenges to the party by using weather.
The rules call for more frequent HT checks, but I think that's all.

Can rain effect a persons temperature? By how much?

How do you use weather to challenge your PC's.

Michael

[Braun]

temperatures could be at or just above freezing. With rain soaking the PCs clothing, they would soon be subject to hypothermia. Fine motor skills will go down as their bodies shiver to stay warm.

[Crakkerjakk]

Basically, rain should make HT checks for cold more frequent. If it's warm out, getting rained on is just like standing in the shower. No big deal. If it's cold out, it's a whole lot harder to stay warm.

Also, high humidity areas have a lot smaller magnitude temperature swings from day to night. Deserts swing from blazing hot to freezing cold. Rain forests not so much.

[PK]

Here are some actual GURPS rules that may help you out:

GENERAL: Inclement weather should cause a penalty to the party's daily Survival roll; this should generally range from -1 (raining all day) to -5 (pea-soup fog interspersed with torrential sleet).

RAIN, HAIL, SNOW, ETC.: Any weather that involves stuff falling from the sky (or winds whipping up dirt, etc., from the ground) will cause a penalty to Vision. This affects all attack (combat) rolls as well.

HAIL: This isn't really detailed in the Basic Set, but normal hail will do about 1d-5(0.2) crushing damage per minute. Really big hailstones will do 1d-4(0.2) and immense ones (the kind that actually crack windshields) will do 1d-3(0.5). Even DR 1 will protect against the first two completely, though, and DR 2+ will stop even the third case.

COLD + RAIN: Below freezing, one has to make a HT roll every 30 minutes or lose 1 FP. Wet clothing changes this to HT-5, a huge difference.

THUNDER, HAIL, ETC.: Any loud weather (or any bad weather if the party is forced to sleep under open skies!) will reduce the quality of sleep (p. B427). Those with Light Sleeper may only get 1-2 hours of effective sleep out of an 8-hour night, while others get only 4-6 hours' worth. (Those with Deep Sleeper are fine, of course.) Once FP drops to half from this, PCs have to start making Will rolls during inactive times to avoid falling asleep involuntarily, and suffer penalties otherwise.

[Bruno]

Whether to USE the survival rules or not on your players is a campaign style decision. How cinematic are you running things?

Personally, I'm inclined to use the survival rules because I was a girl scout, I'm from Canada, and I think people who go out into the wilderness without a tent anywhere except the most idyllic of settings should be made to SUFFER - it also means the folks who raised HT, or bought temperature tolerance and various other advantages get to gloat about how they're enduring it all while everyone else is miserable (ie get value for their points).

[Anthony]

Originally Posted by Michael Lewis

How does rain effect(affect?) temperature?

Rain often moderates outdoor temperature; the major problem is wet clothing, because wet clothing (whether or not it's currently raining) is basically ineffective at protecting from temperature. Significant levels of rain also produce mud, which will make movement slower.

[Michael Lewis]

The cold rules only call for checks when the temperature is below freezing. At the moment, the temp here is 37 and rain. The rules say that this is above freezing so I could sleep out there naked without having to make a HT check for fatigue. I don't think so.

Could anyone suggest some rules or guidelines to go by? Such things as sleeping without a tent and marching in the rain.

[Crakkerjakk]

Originally Posted by Michael Lewis

The cold rules only call for checks when the temperature is below freezing. At the moment, the temp here is 37 and rain. The rules say that this is above freezing so I could sleep out there naked without having to make a HT check for fatigue. I don't think so.

Could anyone suggest some rules or guidelines to go by? Such things as sleeping without a tent and marching in the rain.

Getting soaked should give penalties anytime it's below ~85 or so, IMO. I think a blanket penalty for survival and hiking checks would be fine.

[Anthony]

Originally Posted by Crakkerjakk

Getting soaked should give penalties anytime it's below ~85 or so, IMO.

Not great at higher temperatures either, unless it's very dry, though having stuff growing on you is less immediately lethal than hypothermia.

[Buzzardo]

Originally Posted by Anthony

Rain often moderates outdoor temperature; the major problem is wet clothing, because wet clothing (whether or not it's currently raining) is basically ineffective at protecting from temperature. Significant levels of rain also produce mud, which will make movement slower.

Some types of clothing help, though.

I've been out hunting all day in off-and-on rain and mist and stayed warm by wearing the right clothes: woven cotton long johns, heavy denim pants, a wool sweater (I favor Irish fisherman sweaters, personally), a leather coat, a wool cap, cotton socks (a good quality cotton wicks away moisture), wool socks, and leather boots and gloves. In truth, that combination makes me sweat in any temperature above 0F, and I run around with my coat open. Below 0, I user a heavier coat. Below -20F, I add a ski mask. I've spent hours in temperatures as low as -40 (F or C, since they meet there).

Knowing the right fabrics (I favor Egyptian cotton and Irish wool, but I'm sure other combinations work) and knowing when and what to layer makes a huge difference. Is the survival penalty still present? Sure, but it's a lot lower. Or you could assert that knowing the right fabrics and layering represents a higher level of survival skill and leave the penalty unchanged, I suppose.