Keeping D&D Varying: Weather

Last week, I was running my small group campaign and they were going to cross a desert over the course of 3-4 days. Instead of the typical hot days and cool nights, I figured I would use Donjon's weather generator to add a new element to the travel. This way there could be a new element to the journey. Their Druid rolled a natural 20 on his Survival check to do the weather forecast, and while they didn't get all that odd of weather for a desert, one of the generated nights brought in "luminous clouds" which meant they could see as if it were dim light during the nighttime, which gave the desert kind of an eerie feel to it.


The weather generator was useful because instead of a party's standard traveling time where they don't see anything for most days, it forced the group to consider how they wanted to travel. It was just as likely that there may have been one day that the weather could have cause them to lose a day's travel and there was even a chance that they could gain some time due to some favorable weather. It's just another element that you can put your players into.


While I don't think I'll generate weather all the time, it may factor into combat, plans, strategies, and could be utilized by your players to take a mission you've given them to the next level. For example, fighting a horde of Orc Elf-Hunters in a thunderstorm allows magic users to cast "Call Lightning" and have it be more effective. Perhaps, your party is plotting to invade a castle, if they don't consider the weather, they may find themselves trying to be stealthy in a luminous cloud situation, effectively harming their chance to be stealthy.


While the weather is such a minor detail, it can affect your campaign a decent amount and it may enhance your players immersion because they have to consider if their travels will require them to stock up on different equipment rather than stockpiling gold for that next best weapon.