Cold Dangers

Cold and exposure deal nonlethal damage to the victim. A character can’t recover from the damage dealt by a cold environment until she gets out of the cold and warms up again. An unprotected character in cold weather (below 40° F) must succeed at a Fortitude save each hour (DC = 15 + 1 per previous check) or take 1d6 nonlethal cold damage. A character can attempt Survival skill checks to gain a bonus to this saving throw and might be able to apply this bonus to other characters as well (see page 148).

In conditions of severe cold (below 0° F), an unprotected character must succeed at a Fortitude save every 10 minutes (DC = 15 + 1 per previous check) or take 1d6 nonlethal cold damage. A character can attempt Survival skill checks to gain a bonus to this saving throw and might be able to apply this bonus to other characters as well.

Extreme cold (below –20° F) deals 1d6 lethal cold damage per minute (no saving throw). In addition, a character must succeed at a Fortitude save (DC = 15 + 1 per previous check) each minute or take 1d4 nonlethal cold damage. Colder environments can deal more damage at the GM’s discretion.

A character who takes any damage from cold or exposure is beset by frostbite or hypothermia (same as fatigued). These penalties end when the character recovers the nonlethal damage she took from the cold and exposure.