Extreme Climate
We continue our look into what Dark Sun can do for Greyhawk. Today's topics are climate and travel.
What can I say? Athas is the result of what climate change (kick started by magic) can do to a world. It is an ecological devastation that influenced all life on the planet. The extreme heat, flash storms, sand storms and cold nights gave rise to all kinds of species and most are out to eat the flesh from your bones or drink in the blood from your veins. The climate has given rise to a desert wasteland that is sun-scorched, wind-scoured and endless. Besides Stony barrens and Rocky Badlands, a sea of dust suffocates those that travel near it and salt flats and salt marshes dehydrate creatures in mere hours.
Greyhawk opportunities:
That was just one paragraph and we could write a book about climate and travel. Darksun is the champion in making climate the star player in any campaign. Where realism borders fantasy so closely that we are keen to accept it as a part of our imaginary world.
Let's look into some opportunities of introducing Darksun into Greyhawk. You will quickly realise that 'Survival Mode' is the only mode in extreme climate.
Create unique environments that might have been created by previously extreme climate events. In these environments, travel will be difficult and extremely slow. For example, moving through a sandy wasteland with a backpack full of equipment.
Teleporting your knights on horseback (with barding) in such a terrain quickly shows how stupid you were.
Travelling should feel like a struggle and the main adversary should be nature and the climate. Think of knee-high grass that is strong and cuts any who travel through it. In effect, feeding of the blood of creatures that get cut. A day travelling through this terrain will kill any medium-sized creature not sufficiently protected. Players will be challenged in a different way and will start buying, simple and unique, equipment that will help them travel more safely and quickly.
Food can be sparse and finite, forcing species to either share food or compete for it. It causes an intricate weaving of plants and creatures needing each other to survive, even if that means getting eaten. 'Survival of the fittest' rules here and creatures tend to be a lot more intelligent than a typical hero might think. A cactus that shoots needles, still attached with cords to the plant, into a nearby creature and slowly sucks it dry, also gives the opportunity for vultures to get a nice feed. There are many examples where fauna and flora work together to survive and the player characters can be a part of that food chain. It can be horrifying when, for example, a creature lays eggs into a sleeping character.
Creatures can rely on tremor sense, instead of normal means, to locate a character and predators might burrow under their prey unaware. A very scary situation when the ground you walk on and the sky above harbours danger as well anything.
I would not overdo the following, but some insects might not need to sleep and can trail the characters until they collapse from exhaustion. The creature(s) might not be strong but when you need to sleep and they do not.... You might never reach your destination.
The heat itself is often the greatest adversary. How do the characters stay cool? What happens when your waters runs out and you still need to travel for days in weather that can boil an egg? Do you even have a map? Do you realise the cost of drinkable water? When heat is involved it is important to use exhaustion / fatigue and punish those that keep wearing metal or heavy armor. They will consume water at double the rate and that can prove to be very dangerous.
How do people travel in harsh environments where civilization is quite different? Using insect creatures as mounts, using sails on a cart instead of horses or through magically powered crafts to cross the Dust bowl. You can make up anything but have a peek at what they introduced in the Dark Sun world setting.
These are but a few examples to get your brain thinking. Have a look at Dark Sun rules concerning these topics to bring a little oomph to your jaunt in a harsh environment. For a deeper learning, page through this Net Libram.