It’s bone-chillingly cold outside in my neck of the woods, the coldest I remember it being in almost 34 years of living here. As of writing this, the temperature is -25 degrees below zero Farenheit. But with wind chill, it actually feels like -65 (that’s -53 Celsius for you outside of the US). And tomorrow is supposed to be even worse. Schools have canceled classes, businesses are closed early, and flights are grounded (because the last thing you want is to have to hear that the battery in the vehicle you’re going to be 35,000 feet in the air in had to be jumped) and dozens of tauntauns lie dead before they reached the first marker. It’s so dangerously cold that the cities of Fargo and West Fargo have jointly declared a city emergency, closing all non-essential city offices tonight and tomorrow.
And living in this new circle of hell that was created for much of the Midwest, it got me thinking about the rules for extreme cold in the 5th Edition rules of Dungeons and Dragons. They’re relatively simple – every hour you spend in temperatures below 0 degrees Farenheit, you have to make a DC 10 Constitution check or gain a level of exhaustion. If you’re wearing adequate cold weather gear or have resistance or immunity to cold damage, you automatically succeed at the check. Creatures that are native to the environment are also immune to this effect. And that’s fine for your very basic sub-zero temperatures, but as someone who lives in a place where -30 to even 40 degree wind chills is not uncommon for this last week of January, it doesn’t capture the “reality” of it. I know, I know, we’re talking about a game where the characters have access to the awesome powers of magic and giant lizards fly while breathing out various damaging energy types, so reality isn’t paramount and the game isn’t meant to be as much of a simulation as previous editions were. Still, I feel that these can be pretty easily expanded a bit without clogging the game down too much.
We’re going to keep the core of it the same – for every hour you are out in sub-zero temperatures, you need to make a Constitution saving throw. But winter gear will only protect you so much, and that wind can cut right through even the thickest of gloves – instead of letting you automatically succeed on saving throw, it grants you advantage. Creatures with resistance to cold damage as well as those native to cold environments also get advantage on their saving throws. Creatures who have immunity to cold damage automatically succeed on their saving throws. The DC for the saving throw starts at 10. For every 10 degrees colder, the DC increases by 1. So lets take my day for example: when I woke up, it already felt like 37 degrees below zero. If I had to be outside, trekking my way through the wilderness, I would have to make a DC 13 Constitution saving throw every hour to avoid gaining a level of exhaustion. If I were to do the same right now, the DC would be 16 each hour. As long as I have cold weather gear (or a wizard or cleric friend capable of casting Protection from Energy on me), I get advantage on those saving throws.
Adequate shelter to protect you from the cold and wind will also let you automatically succeed on the saving throw. For example, the heroes are tracking a white dragon that destroyed a nearby monastery through the tundra. The sun has gone down and the wind has come up, making it dangerous for them to stay outside. Their ranger scouts ahead and finds a natural cave that is empty and protects from the way the wind is blowing. The heroes gather there, manage to get a fire going and bed down under several layers of fur. They may be a bit stiff and uncomfortable in the morning, but they are protected from the wind and the cold.
Particularly vicious DMs may wish to add cold damage that takes place each hour as well to represent things like frostbite, but I don’t see that as necessary. The exhaustion rules are plenty dangerous, with an ill-equipped character standing a good chance of freezing to death in the night, and as it only recovers by one level per day of rest, you can force the PCs to really think about their equipment and provisions before they go charging off towards a frost giant camp to get revenge.
Ben Erickson
