Looking if there are rules for travel on top of a mountain? Like, air being thin, or such? I know there are rules about cold weather, and such, but our DM is thinking that high mountains can not be traveled without magic assisting your breathing.
Are there spells that would help in these situations?
I disagree, as long as it's done well. Exhaustion sucks if it's used as some unavoidable penalty that only serves to make life harder for the players, but in context it can add to a campaign. Make it a tradeoff for something players want to do, so it becomes a meaningful choice. Use it as an alternative for poison. Even just make it something relatively easy to avoid, while still making it illustrate the harshness of circumstances.
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Yes, there is. See High Altitude on page 110 of the Dungeon Master's Guide.
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All stars fade. Some stars forever fall. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Homebrew (Mostly Outdated):Magic Items,Monsters,Spells,Subclasses ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- If there was no light, people wouldn't fear the dark.
And in that case, it has absolutely no effect, because if it's easy to avoid, it will be avoided easily and not illustrate anything. The effect is simply too strong and not gradual enough.
The extreme heat rules work well enough in this regard, in my experience at least. Especially if the party lacks magical means to create water.
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cut and past from 110 Traveling at altitudes of 10,000 feet or higher above sea level is taxing for a creature that needs to breathe, because of the reduced amount of oxygen in the air. Each hour such a creature spends traveling at high altitude counts as 2 hours for the purpose of determining how long that creature can travel......
Now I would not care if the DM said DC 10 Con save or exhaustion if we had a lot of combat.
And in that case, it has absolutely no effect, because if it's easy to avoid, it will be avoided easily and not illustrate anything. The effect is simply too strong and not gradual enough.
The extreme heat rules work well enough in this regard, in my experience at least. Especially if the party lacks magical means to create water.
This is a good example of what I'm talking about. Either they have the mean to create water (which most parties have at a really low level), and the rule is useless, or they don't and they players will quickly (and rightly) complain about making all their rolls with disadvantage. At least in my opinion, D&D is not an inventory game where you keep track of how much water characters carry around, its about epic adventures, not grocery shopping.
Surviving extreme circumstances isn't epic? Okay then. I mean, it's an opportunity for the low level ranger to shine at least - Mielikki knows regular survival challenges are a joke. And to me, this is no different from parties making sure they have silvered weapons, spelunking gear, healing potions or rare spell components; all of which I'm pretty sure just about every DM will never handwaive. Nine out of ten times I don't make it a problem to get those if the party makes a point of mentioning they want to make sure they have those, but that remaining one in ten is a fun opportunity to have them scramble to make do.
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well, part of my OP is to ask are there any SPELLS that help with these conditions? Specifically the air and breathing issues? It doesnt have to be for this purpose only, anything you all can come up with that would help navigate high altitude mountain top exploration? Thanks ~Mad
From as far as I've perceived D&D concerning that terrain, I've always been accustomized to the wording; if you're trying to survive/travel inside a hazardous (extremely cold, extremely hot, poor air quality, etc) environment without proper equipment (like desert clothes/warm clothes), or find yourself a day without sustainance like food or water, for each day travelling in it you need to make a Constitution Save, or suffer a level of exhaustion. Upon DM discretion depending on how severe the conditions are, that DC can be high or low.
well, part of my OP is to ask are there any SPELLS that help with these conditions? Specifically the air and breathing issues? It doesnt have to be for this purpose only, anything you all can come up with that would help navigate high altitude mountain top exploration? Thanks ~Mad
Tiny Hut et al provide a normal atmosphere inside; this means you could at least rest without having to worry about air. Bear's Endurance from the Enhance ability spell gives advantage on Constitution checks, which will help avoid fatigue; It's single target unless upcast and require concentration with a duration of only one hour though.
Personally I wouldn't have a problem with a player developing a high altitude variant of Water Breathing or rigging up a breathing apparatus with some empty bladders and a variation on Purify Food and Water, but that'd likely take time. For a campaign with lots of time spent in such an environment I might even give them easier access to such tools via a library or local sage or whatever - I'd still not give them anything that eliminates the issue at little or no cost though.
The fitness of the the adventurer in D&D range around the Olympic level. They have to have an upper limit, but the diversity of creatures and even PCs almost guarantees that it wouldn't affect everyone. Do Aarakocra suffer at high altitude?
I think it is (or should be) about establishing context. Just saying "it's really hot/cold/wet/high/whatever" doesn't quite cut the mustard. Whether it's easy to manage these adverse circumstances and/or doesn't take more than two minutes to cover in game doesn't really matter to me, I just want it to be more than inconsequential description. It's perfectly ok to not care for this too, but I don't think it'll be gamebreaking or unpleasant enough to spoil the fun for people in that boat.
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What would be a good rule to put for traveling above 10,000ft I so far have is that they make a survival check every half hour spent above it and they gain one level of exhaustion you can use bless to be safe from the thin air for the spells time.
The DMG rule is a good rule - twice the time. For spells that would help the air bubble spell from spelljammer would be ideal for high altitude. There is a non magic way to handle at least non combat conditions in the 10k to 20k region called pressure breathing: you breath in as deeply as you can to fill your lungs with as much air as possible then tighten the chest and diaphragm muscles to squeeze the lungs without breathing out initially. This pressurizes the lungs so you are breathing at something like 5-8 k lower altitude. It’s a technique I learned from folks working on top of Mona Kea and had the chance to test myself when I had to run at 14k altitude there. It’s also a part of pilot testing for high altitude/high G maneuvering as it pumps extra O2 into the body and brain. There is also an acclimation you get from extended exposure to high altitude as your body adds more red blood cells, your lungs develop stronger muscles etc. by having tourists do a 1 mile hike at 6k altitude then a second 1 mile hike at 9k the vast majority had no problem with a half to 1 mile hike at 14k when I was guiding. Above 20k I want an air bubble however 👌
Also when looking at creatures like birds and Aarakocra keep in mind that very few lowland birds actually ever fly above 10 k. Yes are birds like the Himalayan goose that have been seen flying above 20k but they are very rare. A case could be made for a few groups like the flying elves, some aarakocra etc that have been living for centuries to millenia at high altitude to have adapted to that and so have far fewer problems like the Sherpas in Tibet.
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Looking if there are rules for travel on top of a mountain?
Like, air being thin, or such?
I know there are rules about cold weather, and such, but our DM is thinking that high mountains can not be traveled without magic assisting your breathing.
Are there spells that would help in these situations?
Thanks all,
~Mad
I disagree, as long as it's done well. Exhaustion sucks if it's used as some unavoidable penalty that only serves to make life harder for the players, but in context it can add to a campaign. Make it a tradeoff for something players want to do, so it becomes a meaningful choice. Use it as an alternative for poison. Even just make it something relatively easy to avoid, while still making it illustrate the harshness of circumstances.
Want to start playing but don't have anyone to play with? You can try these options: [link].
Yes, there is. See High Altitude on page 110 of the Dungeon Master's Guide.
All stars fade. Some stars forever fall.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Homebrew (Mostly Outdated): Magic Items, Monsters, Spells, Subclasses
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
If there was no light, people wouldn't fear the dark.
The extreme heat rules work well enough in this regard, in my experience at least. Especially if the party lacks magical means to create water.
Want to start playing but don't have anyone to play with? You can try these options: [link].
And extreme cold, same page.
Want to start playing but don't have anyone to play with? You can try these options: [link].
cut and past from 110 Traveling at altitudes of 10,000 feet or higher above sea level is taxing for a creature that needs to breathe, because of the reduced amount of oxygen in the air. Each hour such a creature spends traveling at high altitude counts as 2 hours for the purpose of determining how long that creature can travel......
Now I would not care if the DM said DC 10 Con save or exhaustion if we had a lot of combat.
No Gaming is Better than Bad Gaming.
Surviving extreme circumstances isn't epic? Okay then. I mean, it's an opportunity for the low level ranger to shine at least - Mielikki knows regular survival challenges are a joke. And to me, this is no different from parties making sure they have silvered weapons, spelunking gear, healing potions or rare spell components; all of which I'm pretty sure just about every DM will never handwaive. Nine out of ten times I don't make it a problem to get those if the party makes a point of mentioning they want to make sure they have those, but that remaining one in ten is a fun opportunity to have them scramble to make do.
Want to start playing but don't have anyone to play with? You can try these options: [link].
well, part of my OP is to ask are there any SPELLS that help with these conditions? Specifically the air and breathing issues?
It doesnt have to be for this purpose only, anything you all can come up with that would help navigate high altitude mountain top exploration?
Thanks
~Mad
From as far as I've perceived D&D concerning that terrain, I've always been accustomized to the wording; if you're trying to survive/travel inside a hazardous (extremely cold, extremely hot, poor air quality, etc) environment without proper equipment (like desert clothes/warm clothes), or find yourself a day without sustainance like food or water, for each day travelling in it you need to make a Constitution Save, or suffer a level of exhaustion. Upon DM discretion depending on how severe the conditions are, that DC can be high or low.
Tiny Hut et al provide a normal atmosphere inside; this means you could at least rest without having to worry about air. Bear's Endurance from the Enhance ability spell gives advantage on Constitution checks, which will help avoid fatigue; It's single target unless upcast and require concentration with a duration of only one hour though.
Personally I wouldn't have a problem with a player developing a high altitude variant of Water Breathing or rigging up a breathing apparatus with some empty bladders and a variation on Purify Food and Water, but that'd likely take time. For a campaign with lots of time spent in such an environment I might even give them easier access to such tools via a library or local sage or whatever - I'd still not give them anything that eliminates the issue at little or no cost though.
Want to start playing but don't have anyone to play with? You can try these options: [link].
The fitness of the the adventurer in D&D range around the Olympic level. They have to have an upper limit, but the diversity of creatures and even PCs almost guarantees that it wouldn't affect everyone. Do Aarakocra suffer at high altitude?
I agree, but some people focus on realism... :(
~Mad
I think it is (or should be) about establishing context. Just saying "it's really hot/cold/wet/high/whatever" doesn't quite cut the mustard. Whether it's easy to manage these adverse circumstances and/or doesn't take more than two minutes to cover in game doesn't really matter to me, I just want it to be more than inconsequential description. It's perfectly ok to not care for this too, but I don't think it'll be gamebreaking or unpleasant enough to spoil the fun for people in that boat.
Want to start playing but don't have anyone to play with? You can try these options: [link].
What would be a good rule to put for traveling above 10,000ft I so far have is that they make a survival check every half hour spent above it and they gain one level of exhaustion you can use bless to be safe from the thin air for the spells time.
The DMG rule is a good rule - twice the time. For spells that would help the air bubble spell from spelljammer would be ideal for high altitude. There is a non magic way to handle at least non combat conditions in the 10k to 20k region called pressure breathing: you breath in as deeply as you can to fill your lungs with as much air as possible then tighten the chest and diaphragm muscles to squeeze the lungs without breathing out initially. This pressurizes the lungs so you are breathing at something like 5-8 k lower altitude. It’s a technique I learned from folks working on top of Mona Kea and had the chance to test myself when I had to run at 14k altitude there. It’s also a part of pilot testing for high altitude/high G maneuvering as it pumps extra O2 into the body and brain. There is also an acclimation you get from extended exposure to high altitude as your body adds more red blood cells, your lungs develop stronger muscles etc. by having tourists do a 1 mile hike at 6k altitude then a second 1 mile hike at 9k the vast majority had no problem with a half to 1 mile hike at 14k when I was guiding. Above 20k I want an air bubble however 👌
Wisea$$ DM and Player since 1979.
Also when looking at creatures like birds and Aarakocra keep in mind that very few lowland birds actually ever fly above 10 k. Yes are birds like the Himalayan goose that have been seen flying above 20k but they are very rare. A case could be made for a few groups like the flying elves, some aarakocra etc that have been living for centuries to millenia at high altitude to have adapted to that and so have far fewer problems like the Sherpas in Tibet.
Wisea$$ DM and Player since 1979.