Party is crossing the Calim Desert - It is Flamerule in Calimshan. Among the hottest months of the year. Water supplies have been lost along the way to marauders. A quest to cross the desert becomes a quest to find water.
How might you DM this scenario? Any creative ideas I can build off of?
Out of the Abyss has some good rules that can be adjusted for your scenario. Out of the Abyss is set in the under dark but at the start the players have broken out of a prison and may have little to none of their starting equipment. The way this is handled is that the players decide how fast to travel, this then impacts how well they can scavenge for food and water. You also roll to not get lost or walk in circles, if one player takes to making a map and navigating this roll is easier to make.
There are also a number of random events that include terrain etc.
Is worth having a read if you can and then tweaking the rulea to lift it from the deep under dark to your dessert :)
I will check out the ideas from Out of the Abyss! Thanks :)
No clerics or druids... the loss of water supplies wouldn't have been much of a challenge/conflict if there were. :)
At least one is proficient in Survival... I was thinking about creating a handout for the the proficient player only with some basic Desert Survival tips... like how to track animal movements to find water, how to locate underground wells, etc.
I also thought about introducing a magic item which had the power of Dowsing - but that may be overmuch...
I will check out the ideas from Out of the Abyss! Thanks :)
No clerics or druids... the loss of water supplies wouldn't have been much of a challenge/conflict if there were. :)
At least one is proficient in Survival... I was thinking about creating a handout for the the proficient player only with some basic Desert Survival tips... like how to track animal movements to find water, how to locate underground wells, etc.
I also thought about introducing a magic item which had the power of Dowsing - but that may be overmuch...
If you want to write this up, go ahead, it will be quite flavorful. But really, you don't need to write it up. Have the person make the roll. If they succeed, you can narrate a bit about how they notice the tracks and follow some animals to a watering hole. The player doesn't need to know the stuff, the character does, and that's represented by how well they roll. Though, I'd also be careful with it. If they roll badly a couple times in a row, will you let the party just die of thirst?
I also had another idea. They could come upon another group which has water. Then it turns into a kind of challenge. Can they persuade the group to share? Will they start a fight for it? Maybe throw some innocent civilians in the group, and make them nice people willing to help, but also make it clear that the more the party drinks, the less the others will have, and the supply could get dangerously low, so will they save themselves, or the others?
Party is crossing the Calim Desert - It is Flamerule in Calimshan. Among the hottest months of the year. Water supplies have been lost along the way to marauders. A quest to cross the desert becomes a quest to find water.
How might you DM this scenario? Any creative ideas I can build off of?
Out of the Abyss has some good rules that can be adjusted for your scenario. Out of the Abyss is set in the under dark but at the start the players have broken out of a prison and may have little to none of their starting equipment. The way this is handled is that the players decide how fast to travel, this then impacts how well they can scavenge for food and water. You also roll to not get lost or walk in circles, if one player takes to making a map and navigating this roll is easier to make.
There are also a number of random events that include terrain etc.
Is worth having a read if you can and then tweaking the rulea to lift it from the deep under dark to your dessert :)
Create water is a level 1 spell, so if there’s a cleric or Druid in the party, problem solved.
I will check out the ideas from Out of the Abyss! Thanks :)
No clerics or druids... the loss of water supplies wouldn't have been much of a challenge/conflict if there were. :)
At least one is proficient in Survival... I was thinking about creating a handout for the the proficient player only with some basic Desert Survival tips... like how to track animal movements to find water, how to locate underground wells, etc.
I also thought about introducing a magic item which had the power of Dowsing - but that may be overmuch...
Yeah, most survival challenges become meaningless unless dealing with supernatural weather at very low levels.
Have the party meet a mummy lord. They offer a decanter of endless water in exchange for a task.
My only good homebrews: Races, Subclasses.
An aspiring DM and Homebrewer. Ask me if you need anything.
If you want to write this up, go ahead, it will be quite flavorful. But really, you don't need to write it up. Have the person make the roll. If they succeed, you can narrate a bit about how they notice the tracks and follow some animals to a watering hole. The player doesn't need to know the stuff, the character does, and that's represented by how well they roll. Though, I'd also be careful with it. If they roll badly a couple times in a row, will you let the party just die of thirst?
I also had another idea. They could come upon another group which has water. Then it turns into a kind of challenge. Can they persuade the group to share? Will they start a fight for it? Maybe throw some innocent civilians in the group, and make them nice people willing to help, but also make it clear that the more the party drinks, the less the others will have, and the supply could get dangerously low, so will they save themselves, or the others?
I like that idea!
The party has no murderhobos... but the prospect of dying of thirst might change ones alignment ... :)
The Army actually publishes some interesting facts about water requirements... I assume the Calim Desert in summertime might require even more...
Even if they find water... it might make things worse...
Found some cool ideas here
5E Optional Rules on Heat and Exhaustion