Waterdeep Weather

As the year progresses, the weather in Waterdeep takes on the tone of the seasons. Some types of weather have D&D game effects. These are explained below.

Arctic Gale	Blizzard	Clear	Drizzle	Hailstorm	Heavy Fog	Heavy Rain	Heavy Snow
Light Fog	Light Rain	Light Snow	Overcast	Partly Cloudy	Sea Gale	Sleetstorm	Thunderstorm

Arctic Gale

Severe Winds (31-50 mph): Automatically extinguishes small, unprotected flames; 50% chance to extinguish protected flames (lanterns, for example); no ranged attacks/-4 penalty siege weapons; -8 penalty to Listen, Search, and Spot checks; Tiny creatures and Small flying creatures blown away unless Fortitude save (DC 15) made, Small creatures and Medium-size flying creatures knocked down unless Fortitude save (DC 15) made, Medium-size creatures and Large flying creatures checked unless Fortitude save (DC 15) made.

Heavy Snow: Movement reduced to half normal.

Cold: Unprotected characters must make a Fortitude save (DC 15, +1 per previous check) every 10 minutes or sustain 1d6 points of subdual damage. A character who has the Wilderness Lore skill may receive a bonus to this saving throw and may be able to apply this bonus to other characters as well (see the skill description on page 76 of the Player's Handbook).

Blizzard

Windstorm Winds (51-74 mph): Automatically extinguishes small, unprotected flames; 75% chance to extinguish protected flames (lanterns, for example); no ranged attacks of any kind; Listen, Search, and Spot checks impossible; Small or smaller creatures and Medium-size flying creatures blown away unless Fortitude save (DC 18) made; Medium-size creatures and Large flying creatures knocked down unless Fortitude save (DC 18) made; Large or Huge creatures and Gargantuan flying creatures checked unless Fortitude save (DC 18) made.

Heavy Snow: Movement reduced to half normal.

Cold: Unprotected characters must make a Fortitude save (DC 15, +1 per previous check) every 10 minutes or sustain 1d6 points of subdual damage. A character who has the Wilderness Lore skill may receive a bonus to this saving throw and may be able to apply this bonus to other characters as well (see the skill description on page 76 of the Player's Handbook).

Clear

No adverse weather effects.

Drizzle

Light Precipitation: Spot and Search checks suffer a -2 penalty.

Hailstorm

Hail Effects: Listen checks suffer a -4 penalty. Chance (5%) for hail to be large enough to deal 1 point of damage to anything in the open. Once on the ground, it has the same effect as snow (reduces movement to half normal).

Heavy Fog

Fog Conditions: All sight (including darkvision) obscured beyond 5 feet.

Heavy Rain

Heavy Precipitation: Spot and Search checks suffer a -4 penalty.

Heavy Snow

Heavy Precipitation: Spot and Search checks suffer a -4 penalty. Movement reduced to half normal.

Light Fog

Fog Conditions: All sight (including darkvision) obscured beyond 20 feet.

Light Rain

Light Precipitation: Spot and Search checks suffer a -2 penalty.

Light Snow

Light Precipitation: Spot and Search checks suffer a -2 penalty.

Overcast

No adverse weather effects.

Partly Cloudy

No adverse weather effects.

Sea Gale

Severe Winds (31-50 mph): Automatically extinguishes small, unprotected flames; 50% chance to extinguish protected flames (lanterns, for example); no ranged attacks/-4 penalty siege weapons; -8 penalty to Listen, Search, and Spot checks; Tiny creatures and Small flying creatures blown away unless Fortitude save (DC 15) made, Small creatures and Medium-size flying creatures knocked down unless Fortitude save (DC 15) made, Medium-size creatures and Large flying creatures checked unless Fortitude save (DC 15) made.

Sleetstorm

Sleet Effects: Spot and Search checks suffer a -4 penalty. Chance (75%) to extinguish small, unprotected flames. Once on the ground, it reduces movement to half normal.

Thunderstorm

Thunderstorm Effects (31-50 mph): Automatically extinguishes small, unprotected flames; 50% chance to extinguish protected flames (lanterns, for example); no ranged attacks/-4 penalty siege weapons; -8 penalty to Listen, Search, and Spot checks; Tiny creatures and Small flying creatures blown away unless Fortitude save (DC 15) made, Small creatures and Medium-size flying creatures knocked down unless Fortitude save (DC 15) made, Medium-size creatures and Large flying creatures checked unless Fortitude save (DC 15) made.

Lightning: For characters without shelter (and especially for those in metal armor), lightning is a real threat. Assume one bolt per minute for a 1-hour period at the center of the storm. Each bolt causes electrical damage equal to 1d10 eight-sided dice.

Tornado: One in ten thunderstorms is accompanied by a tornado (175-300 mph). All flames are extinguished. All ranged attacks are impossible. All Listen checks are impossible. Instead of being blown away, characters in close proximity to a tornado who fail their Fortitude saves are sucked toward the tornado. Those who come in contact with the actual funnel cloud are picked up and whirled around for 1d10 rounds, taking 6d6 points of damage per round, before being violently expelled (falling damage may apply). Large or smaller creatures, or Huge flying creatures, are blown away unless Fortitude save (DC 30) made; Huge creatures, or Gargantuan flying creatures, are knocked down unless Fortitude save (DC 30) made; Gargantuan or Colossal creatures, or Colossal flying creatures, are checked unless Fortitude save (DC 30) made.