Weather (3.5e Variant Rule)

Create a new weather effect! Full list at the 3.5e Other page.

Weather
Summary::The sun is shining, the birds are singing. Everything is looking good.  Oh wait, I lied.  There is actually a typhoon coming this way.  The winds are picking up, and it looks like a mage just called acid rain upon us.  How does this affect the world? Well, to answer, we define weather effects as a list of properties, just like spells and martial maneuvers.

The realms that Dungeons and Dragons takes place in assume that people will either be on the overworld, in a cave system, or on another plane. Weather can play a vital piece in all of these places. Nothing stops the underdark from having fantastic weather systems that are quite normal to the everyday denizens. Nothing stops hellfire storms in hell. And ocean currents provide their own patterns.

And in the end, all of these are weather. They can be described the same way. As such, a template was created for weather effects. Actually, it is still in creation. Any ideas you have for what it should have or how to integrate everything properly is useful. Wind effects, fast-moving-water, and more still needs to be properly described. And of course, the common weathers need to be described alongside the fantastic ones.

Reading a Weather Block
A weather block looks like this:

It starts with a name followed by a bit of flavor text. These should be self-evident.

Challenge Rating
Some weather effects have a set challenge rating. If so, it will state it. As long as the effect is not easily ignored by a ''Control Weather spell or other similar effect, grant experience for overcoming it.

Type
Weathers may either be mundane, magical, or psionic.

Mundane effects occur naturally somewhere within the multiverse without drawing on the power of magic or psionics. They may not necessarily take place on the material plane. They may take place on other planes, such as the Abyss, but such weathers are still claimed as mundane.

Magical and psionic weathers are special in the fact that a spell calls the weather, and that the duration and area of effect are determined by the spell. Solid Fog is an example of a spell that produces a magical weather. Usually the caster or manifester level of the creator of the weather effect is important in determining duration and damage.

Descriptors
Descriptors are hooks from which other game rules may interact with weather. Some of these descriptors have transparency with the spell descriptors of the same name. What this means is that abilities that are based on the spell descriptors also apply to these descriptors. For example, if a creature has a +2 bonus against Fire effects for saving throws, it also applies to these effects.


 * Extraplanar: Any weather that does not normally occur on the plane you are on.  Only supernatural abilities or extraordinary auras of powerful creatures may cause a weather effect to have an Extraplanar descriptor.  Only mundane weather effects may have this descriptor.
 * Acid, Fire, Cold, Electricity, Force, Positive, Negative energy types: Weather effects that deal these types of damage gain these descriptors.  It has transparency with the equivalent spell descriptors.  Spells or powers that call in a weather effect with one of these descriptors also has the same descriptor.
 * Water, Earth, Air, and Fire: It has transparency with the equivalent spell descriptors.  Spells or powers that call in a weather effect with one of these descriptors also has the same descriptor.
 * Mind-affecting: Any weather that affects the mental state of living creatures receives this descriptor.  It has transparency with the spell descriptor of the same name.
 * Fear: These weather effects cause a creature to either become Shaken, Frightened, or Panicked.  It is suggested that you use the Revised Fear Effects in combination with this variant, but it is not required.  This descriptor has transparency with the spell descriptor of the same name.

Area of Effect
The area that the weather effect usually takes over. Be descriptive enough for dungeon masters to understand what you are saying.

Cause
If the effect is mundane, giving the environments it forms from and the reason that it forms is useful.

If the effect is magical or psionic, merely write the spell that can create the effect.

Removal
If the weather effect dissipates, how long does it take? Can spells remove these?

Control Weather (SRD) will gradually remove the weather effects currently around and replace it with the weather effect that is possible. The only caveat is, is that this spell only works on the material plane.

Wish and Miracle may remove any weather effect without costing any experience. Expect the abrupt change to cause some disorder for Wish, and the deity's favored weather (use rule zero here) to replace the weather with Miracle.

Homebrew spells for changing mundane weather should be made at some point.

Effects
Sensory effects explain how this effects spot checks, listen checks, darkvision, blind-fighting, invisibility, and more.

Ranged modifiers explain how this weather effect grants or removes cover and the penalties it adds to ranged attacks.

Damaging effects explain what conditions and what damage this weather effect causes. The following are a few examples of damaging effects:


 * Creatures inside take 1 point of nonlethal cold damage and have the Dazzled condition.


 * Creatures inside take 1d6 points of fire damage per caster level. A successful reflex save halves this.

Any other effect goes after it, shown as plain text.

Creating Weather Effects
Basically follow the template. The information of this page gives information not only on the weather effects themselves but also their usual constraints for homebrewing.

If your effects section has a table in it, leave the |effects= line blank and after the end of the template, but before the, write the effects there. Make sure to start each paragraph with a colon to indent it.