I've got a planned avalanche for the group I'm running RotFM for, but after reading (and rereading) the rules outlining this environmental hazard, I've got to say, I'm left feeling like it's all a little half baked. The main description of an avalanche in the opening chapter of the book offers suggestions for the size (a typical avalanche is 300 feet wide, 150 feet long, and 30 feet thick), details the danger of them (1d10 bludgeoning damage on a failed strength save, and etc), and it does describe how fast (and often) they move in relation to the initiative count (on count 10 and 0). There is precious little else offered, and the finer details of it all are a little confusing too. It describes anyone caught as moving with the avalanche until it comes to a stop, but there is not any details on if players take the damage every round they spend moving in the snow, or for how long the avalanche should be moving for (though I understand that depends on how high up they are, or if it comes off a cliff).
I'm not sure where I saw it, but I believe that a suggested starting position for an avalanche above a party is 2d6*100 feet. For this example, in a 'best case scenario', that is 1200 feet above the party. If it moves 600 feet per round (once on count 10, and once on count 0), the party has two rounds to clear its width before they are buried. Assuming they start in the middle of its path and are sprinting in snow shoes (if you would even allow that..?), they have two rounds to clear 150 feet. If you're generous, the fastest most characters could could move is 120 feet. As exciting as this would be, I'd like my players to stand something more of a chance than this.
In one more detailed example an an avalanche, one can turn to the Targos quest in part one of the adventure to get a description on how far above the party an avalanche begins (500 feet). This particular avalanche is 200 feet wide, and starts above the player at the end of the marching order, thus they need to move 100 feet in one round. Outside of magic effects, I can't imagine how this could be achieved, and if the group is clustered together then that's very likely a TPK to a very cheap mechanic.
Obviously every rule is a guideline, so I was wondering how other DMs are planning to run these encounters in a more enjoyable way that players will feel is fair and consistent. I've come up with the following thoughts:
The starting point of the avalanche should allow a chance for the player in the worst position to escape, so use (2d6*100 + 500) feet above the player in the middle of the marching order. Assuming there is a reasonable spread, this should allow the players on either side of them to run out of its way, and can assist in looking for the middle player in the event they are caught.
Players caught in the avalanche are only moved up to the length of the avalanche before they stop moving with it, and are buried as far as its depth. They take the damage once, unless the length they are moved brings them over a cliff (in which case, that's probably it for them). This eliminates the need to worry about how far the avalanche will travel for before it comes to a stop.
If I've missed something obvious, or anyone has better, simpler mechanics, I'd really appreciate it. In the mean time, I'm going to stick to the 'Avalanche Calculator' I made in Google Sheets to help me track them.
I've got a planned avalanche for the group I'm running RotFM for, but after reading (and rereading) the rules outlining this environmental hazard, I've got to say, I'm left feeling like it's all a little half baked. The main description of an avalanche in the opening chapter of the book offers suggestions for the size (a typical avalanche is 300 feet wide, 150 feet long, and 30 feet thick), details the danger of them (1d10 bludgeoning damage on a failed strength save, and etc), and it does describe how fast (and often) they move in relation to the initiative count (on count 10 and 0). There is precious little else offered, and the finer details of it all are a little confusing too. It describes anyone caught as moving with the avalanche until it comes to a stop, but there is not any details on if players take the damage every round they spend moving in the snow, or for how long the avalanche should be moving for (though I understand that depends on how high up they are, or if it comes off a cliff).
I'm not sure where I saw it, but I believe that a suggested starting position for an avalanche above a party is 2d6*100 feet. For this example, in a 'best case scenario', that is 1200 feet above the party. If it moves 600 feet per round (once on count 10, and once on count 0), the party has two rounds to clear its width before they are buried. Assuming they start in the middle of its path and are sprinting in snow shoes (if you would even allow that..?), they have two rounds to clear 150 feet. If you're generous, the fastest most characters could could move is 120 feet. As exciting as this would be, I'd like my players to stand something more of a chance than this.
In one more detailed example an an avalanche, one can turn to the Targos quest in part one of the adventure to get a description on how far above the party an avalanche begins (500 feet). This particular avalanche is 200 feet wide, and starts above the player at the end of the marching order, thus they need to move 100 feet in one round. Outside of magic effects, I can't imagine how this could be achieved, and if the group is clustered together then that's very likely a TPK to a very cheap mechanic.
Obviously every rule is a guideline, so I was wondering how other DMs are planning to run these encounters in a more enjoyable way that players will feel is fair and consistent. I've come up with the following thoughts:
If I've missed something obvious, or anyone has better, simpler mechanics, I'd really appreciate it. In the mean time, I'm going to stick to the 'Avalanche Calculator' I made in Google Sheets to help me track them.
I'm planning to run them as published. I'll leave it up to the players' ingenuity to try and avoid or cope with them in whatever fashion they like.
I don't see an avalanche as necessarily a major encounter, just an annoying situation that the PCs will learn to definitely avoid causing again!