Not clear for me how a storm impact overland travel. Seems normal to me that travelling through a blizzard should slow down pace, probably by half. And I wouldn't consider it difficult terrain; I understand how a ranger can travel through a marsh at a normal pace because of his knowledge of the terrain type, but if you add a tropical storm, I don't care how much you know about storms, the wind will still hinder your movements.
Keep in mind that D&D is fantasy, not a physics simulation. Wizards have magic and Barbarians can jump 60ft swinging a mountain of steel. If a character has an ability that let's them travel at speed in a hurricane, that shouldn't be a problem.
For realism, sure. A sufficiently powerful storm may as well be a wall. Not only can it physically stall a party, but it can also impose a number of physical dangers. Just be sure to give the players the benefit of the doubt.
A heavy rainstorm, even without the wind, should be considered difficult terrain - A) whether, leaves, grass, mud or bare rock with all the water on it it’s far more slippery causing you to slow down in order not to fall; B) the sheets of rain can be heavy enough to limit viewing distance to a fairly short range ( a few feet) causing you to, again, slow down just to keep track of where you are (welcome to increased chances of getting lost as well). Realistically when storms that are more than a sprinkle occur western and mideveal travelers typically stopped and waited them out rather than trying to keep going unless there was some extreme need to keep going. The nice thing about thunderstorms is that you rarely have to wait more than an hour for the storm to pass. left over Hurricanes are more problematic as they can last several days but by then the flooding is a whole new problem for your travel and the storm takes second place.
Weather and terrain are different things to me, both can mutually or seperatly alter speed on their own so i wouldn't make storms difficult terrain.
For exemple, while a snow storm can greatly impact speed, snow can be difficult terrain even in normal weather and walking in both should be even slower. Same thing for strong winds and high grass, ice, mud terrain.
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Not clear for me how a storm impact overland travel. Seems normal to me that travelling through a blizzard should slow down pace, probably by half. And I wouldn't consider it difficult terrain; I understand how a ranger can travel through a marsh at a normal pace because of his knowledge of the terrain type, but if you add a tropical storm, I don't care how much you know about storms, the wind will still hinder your movements.
Thoughts?
Keep in mind that D&D is fantasy, not a physics simulation. Wizards have magic and Barbarians can jump 60ft swinging a mountain of steel. If a character has an ability that let's them travel at speed in a hurricane, that shouldn't be a problem.
For realism, sure. A sufficiently powerful storm may as well be a wall. Not only can it physically stall a party, but it can also impose a number of physical dangers. Just be sure to give the players the benefit of the doubt.
The DM can always decide that travel pace in a storm is heavily reduced, for exemple;
X2 moving 1 foot in a storm costs 2 feet of speed--so you can cover only half the normal distance in a minute, an hour, or a day.
X3 moving 1 foot in a storm costs 3 feet of speed--so you can cover only a third the normal distance in a minute, an hour, or a day.
X4 moving 1 foot in a storm costs 4 feet of speed--so you can cover only a quarter the normal distance in a minute, an hour, or a day.
What is the actual rules question here?
Walking into a very strong head-wind would prevent you from travelling, fast.
As a DM you could shift the effects down one row on the Pace table at https://www.dndbeyond.com/sources/basic-rules/adventuring#Speed
A heavy rainstorm, even without the wind, should be considered difficult terrain - A) whether, leaves, grass, mud or bare rock with all the water on it it’s far more slippery causing you to slow down in order not to fall; B) the sheets of rain can be heavy enough to limit viewing distance to a fairly short range ( a few feet) causing you to, again, slow down just to keep track of where you are (welcome to increased chances of getting lost as well).
Realistically when storms that are more than a sprinkle occur western and mideveal travelers typically stopped and waited them out rather than trying to keep going unless there was some extreme need to keep going. The nice thing about thunderstorms is that you rarely have to wait more than an hour for the storm to pass. left over Hurricanes are more problematic as they can last several days but by then the flooding is a whole new problem for your travel and the storm takes second place.
Wisea$$ DM and Player since 1979.
Weather and terrain are different things to me, both can mutually or seperatly alter speed on their own so i wouldn't make storms difficult terrain.
For exemple, while a snow storm can greatly impact speed, snow can be difficult terrain even in normal weather and walking in both should be even slower. Same thing for strong winds and high grass, ice, mud terrain.