Differences

This shows you the differences between two versions of the page.

--- legacy:rules:environment [2025/02/28 20:54] – created tailkinker
+++ legacy:rules:environment [2025/09/08 14:50] (current) – [Suffocation] tailkinker
@@ Line 7: / Line 7: @@
 The most fundamental tasks of adventuring---noticing danger, finding hidden objects, or hitting an enemy in combat---rely heavily on a character's ability to see.  Darkness and other effects that obscure vision can prove a significant hindrance.
-A given area might be lightly or heavily obscured.  When they are trying to see something in a lightly obscured area, such as dim light, patchy fog, or moderate foliage, creatures suffer slight on Perception checks that rely on sight.
+Darkness is rated from 1 to 5, in the same manner as [[legacy:rules:cover_and_concealment|Cover and Concealment]], and is treated as the appropriate level of concealment.
-A heavily obscured area---such as darkness, opaque fog, or dense foliage---blocks vision entirely.  A creature automatically fails Perception checks when trying to see something in that area, or if the line of their vision passes through such an area.
+^  Level  ^  Description  ^Example Sources  ^
+|  1  |  Minor shadows   |Sunlight filtered through trees, single torch or lantern in a small room  |
+|  2  |  Dim light       |Sunset or sunrise, moonlit outdoors on a clear night, room with a single candle  |
+|  3  |  Poor light      |Cloudy night outdoors, room with one small candle or fireplace glow  |
+|  4  |  Very dark       |Interior unlit rooms, deep forest at night with moonlight, eclipse or stormy night  |
+|  5  |  Total darkness  |Underground caves without torches, sealed rooms, pitch-black night with no moon  |
+Note that cover, concealment, darkness and any other such modifiers only apply the //worst// modifier.  A character who is kneeling behind a boulder (Cover 2) on a foggy (Concealment 1) night (Darkness 3) has a total Cover and Concealment number of 3---the highest amount among those that apply.
 ===== Light =====
-The presence or absence of light in an environment creates three categories of illumination: bright light, dim light, and darkness.
+A character who brings artificial light into an environment can push back the darkness, but only to a certain degree.  Every light source is rated for Brightness and Radius.
-**Bright light** lets most creatures see normally. Even gloomy days provide bright light, as do torches, lanterns, fires, and other sources of illumination within a specific radius.
+  * Within the light source’s Radius: Subtract the light source’s Brightness from the Darkness value, to a minimum of zero.
+  * Out to twice the light source’s Radius: Subtract half the light source’s Brightness (rounded down) from the Darkness value.
+  * Beyond twice the Radius: The light does not penetrate; the Darkness value remains unchanged.
-**Dim light**, also called shadows, creates a lightly obscured area. An area of dim light is usually a boundary between a source of bright light, such as a lamp, and surrounding darkness. The soft light of twilight and dawn also counts as dim light. A particularly brilliant full moon might bathe the land in dim light.  Characters in dim light or shadows are considered [[unbound:conditions:Dazzled]].
+<WRAP 80% box center>
+Zek find himself in an underground tomb, only a trickle of light coming in from the entranceway (Darkness 4).  He pulls out and lights a torch (Brightness 3, Radius 10m.)  Out to ten meters, the Darkness is reduced to 1;  out to twenty meters, the Darkness is reduced to 3 (half the torch's Brightness of 3, rounded down, is 1, subtracted from 4 is 3).  Beyond twenty meters, the shadows reclaim the rest of the tomb.
-**Darkness** creates a heavily obscured area. Characters face darkness outdoors at night (even on most moonlit nights), within the confines of an unlit dungeon or a subterranean vault, or in an area of magical darkness.  When in darkness, characters are considered [[unbound:conditions:blinded|Blind]].
+</WRAP>
-Of course, a character who is [[unbound:conditions:Dazzled]] or [[unbound:conditions:blinded|Blinded]] by light conditions cannot remove that status condition until such time as they return to normal lighting conditions.
 ===== Hazards =====
@@ Line 29: / Line 35: @@
 ==== Falling ====
-While a character can brace themselves to drop down even as far as six meters, an accidental fall leaves the character no time to prepare.
+While a character can brace themselves to drop down even as far as six meters, an accidental fall leaves no time to prepare.
-The damage inflicted on a fall depends on the distance fallen;  the farther a character falls, the higher their velocity on impact.
+The damage inflicted on a fall depends on the distance fallen;  the farther a character falls, the higher their velocity on impact.  Consult the table below to determine damage.
-Find the distance fallen by the character on the table below in order to find the damage.  If the character was prepared for the fall, and the fall was under thirty meters total, drop the three lowest dice from the damage roll.
+  * If the character was prepared for the fall and the total distance fallen is under thirty meters, drop the three lowest dice from the damage roll.
+  * Damage from a fall is Vital damage and automatically bypasses all Resistance.
-Damage inflicted by a fall is Vital damage, and automatically bypasses all Resistance.
+  * A character who falls farther than 140 meters reaches terminal velocity and takes no additional damage.
+  * After falling, the character is Prone, unless they fell less than six meters and were prepared for the fall.
-A character who falls farther than 140 meters will reach terminal velocity, and cannot take more damage.  After the fall, the character will be Prone.
 ^Distance  |  1m  |  2m  |  3-6m  |  7-10m  |  11-16m  |  17-22m  |  23-30m  |  31-40m  |  41-50m  |  >50m  |
 ^Damage  |  1d8  |  2d8  |  3d8  |  4d8  |  5d8  |  6d8  |  7d8  |  4d8x2  |  3d8x3  |  5d8x2  |
+<WRAP 80% box center>
+Elyra missteps on the slick stone stairs and plunges down a six-meter drop. The GM consults the table: a 3–6 m fall inflicts 3d8 Vital damage. Elyra was unprepared, so all three dice count. She rolls 3d8 and takes the total damage, bypassing any Resistance. After hitting the ground, she is Prone, struggling to regain her footing before the next action.
+</WRAP>
 === Rocks Fall, Party Dies ===
-Any reasonably-sized object that falls onto a character will inflict falling damage on that character.  The Director is permitted to consider the sizes of objects to determine if something might inflict differing damage.  Very large objects might inflict d10s or d12s of damage, whereas smaller objects might inflict d6s or d4s.
+Any reasonably-sized object that falls onto a character will inflict falling damage on that character, in a similar manner to falling damage inflicted upon a character.  The Director is permitted to consider the sizes of objects to determine if something might inflict differing damage.  Very large objects might inflict d10s or d12s of damage, whereas smaller objects might inflict d6s or d4s.
 In addition, things that fall do not inflict Vital damage, but inflict a damage of a sort that would make sense, with Blunt damage being the most likely.
@@ Line 50: / Line 59: @@
 ===== Suffocation =====
-Air is very important to creatures that can breathe, but most adventuring happens in places where air is sufficiently common that the characters won't need to consider it.  This is not always the case, however.  Flooded underground tunnels, caves filled with toxic gasses, or swamps with patches of miasma are all places where the air supply might not be as easily available.
+Air is vital to creatures that can breathe, but most adventuring takes place in environments where air is plentiful. Exceptions include flooded tunnels, caves filled with toxic gases, or swamps with patches of miasma—situations where breathing may be restricted.
-A creature has a number of Breath Points equal to four plus their Body score.  You won't typically record this, because it only really matters when suffocation is a possibility.  Only when you are deprived of air will your Breath Points be less than full.
-At the start of each turn, a character who cannot breathe must expend one Breath Point, or else take 2d6 Vital damage.
-At the start of each turn, if a character //can// breathe, they recover one Breath Point, up to their maximum.
+A creature has a number of Breath Points equal to 4 + their Body modifier. Typically, this is not tracked unless suffocation is a possibility; only when a creature is deprived of air will their Breath Points fall below the maximum.
+  * **Deprived of Air**: At the start of each turn, a character who cannot breathe loses 1 Breath Point. If they have no Breath Points remaining, they instead take 2d6 Vital damage.
+  * **Breathing Normally**: At the start of each turn, a character who can breathe recovers 1 Breath Point, up to their maximum.
 ===== Temperature =====