Weather In Gaming

by James Jones

I. Introduction

"Under the greenwood tree
Who loves to lie with me
And turn his merry note
Unto the sweet bird's throat
Come hither, come hither, come hither:
Here shall he see
No enemy
But winter and rough weather."
 -- As You Like It, William Shakespeare

As anyone who spends much time outside knows, the weather can make or break outdoor activities. This article is all about using weather successfully -- and realistically -- in your game. Weather doesn't have to follow realistic patterns, of course, and many times a GM needs a particular kind of weather. But when you want to have some random weather, it's good to know what makes sense for a given climate and season, and that is the focus of this article.

This article also focusing on Earth climates and weather, simply because those are the only ones we know about -- so far -- that apply to habitable places. Most fictional worlds conform closely enough to Earthly climates that the descriptions here should apply to them as well. For example, if you want your Elf Kingdom to be set in a sequoia forest, you might check the climate map of Earth, below, see that northern California is along the border of the B1 and C1 climate types, and use weather appropriate to those types. Putting the forest on the western margin of a continent (or eastern side if your fictional world spins the opposite direction) would just add that much more realism to the game world.

II. Climate . . .

This article originally appeared in the second volume of Pyramid. See the current Pyramid website for more information.



Article publication date: August 24, 2001

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