Frostpunk in Pathfinder

[Slavezero]

as the thread name says i'm curious how frostpunk would play out using pathfinder. so far my thoughts are either something low magic or whatever is making the ice age is screwing with weather magics so you can't just cast a spell and not need to worry about that blizzard coming your way. another worry is the fact that the new normal temperature is -30 degrees Celsius or -22 Fahrenheit so you can't just cast a normal endure elements and be done with it you need to either have better magic or have some way to keep warm and make those fort saves.

I figure adapting the rules of frostburn from DnD 3.5 could help but i'm interested in what others think on how to rule this and any changes this has on the world. what races would live, die or thrive in the new world they have to deal with and other things of that nature. spheres of power could be an interesting thing to factor in as well since even if it's not allowed or changed the rules for the weather sphere could help us figure out whats going to happen if you get hit with a frosty hurricane straight out of the 9 hell's or other weather based hazards that might show up

[BowStreetRunner]

A normal Endure Elements (https://www.d20pfsrd.com/magic/all-spells/e/endure-elements/) will keep you protected "between -50 and 140 degrees Fahrenheit (-45 and 60 degrees Celsius)". If you alter conditions to sub-arctic (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Subarctic_climate) norms, you will have averages that are still within the range for Endure Elements to be useful, but Lows that can plummet below the -50 F/-45 C boundaries of this spell. That makes Endure Elements a staple for survival, as it will help get by most of the time, but still gives the DM room to force the party to come up with other ways to stay warm in inclement weather.

[zlefin]

as with many things; how it plays out for generic commoners is very different than for adventurers with a few levels; i.e. there's a big difference between maintaining the populace at large, and maintaining a much smaller subset.

While I've read about the game, I haven't played it myself, so I'm not too familiar with the particulars of how it affects the world.

in general dnd doesn't model ecology well; so it's hard to assess how food chain collapse would happen. I do'nt know how the seasons work in that game; but the basic question is where are the plants grown?

It's quite possible for humans to survive outdoor temperatures that cold if properly equipped; the hard part would be if you don' thave suhc equipment handy; and the issue of food supply.

as a transition there'd be a massive population shrinkage by starvation until it settles to whatever can accommodate the new normal.

The underground areas work a bit different in dnd games; it's possible they'd be largely unaffected by surface weather changes (depending on how much they depend on the overworld for food).

note that anything which gets any amount of cold resist tends to ignore all the cold temperature problems. which includes some classes if they've taken certain bloodlines/domains/etc once they level up a bit.

[Saintheart]

As far as which races would do well, assuming that the food chain is stable, races tend to adapt their diets. Inuit, for example, have a heavily coastal diet: seal, whale, fish, birds and eggs, then large land mammals like caribou and bear. And even if the climate is arctic and you can't grow crops, you likely still will find enough plant life hardy enough to survive icy conditions and which provide some dietary elements that a high-protein, heavy-on-organs diet doesn't. Crowberry, cloudberry, fireweed, and so on. And then you basically have to be nomadic in order to follow the herds that keep you alive.

White dragons do extremely well because there's nowhere near as many apex predators like men hunting them and they don't need food to survive, but can live off their own greed for their hoards.

Anything that is good at conserving heat does well or at least doesn't have to run as hard or as frequently to eat. Maybe settlements exist around volcanic vents or hot springs, places where the people don't have to generate their own heat and instead get very good at conduction mechanisms, but the problem is still where the food sources are.

[legomaster00156]

While not particularly good at the crunchy side of things, I find that the Winter Eternal (http://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/221889/Winter-Eternal-Pathfinder) setting is pretty fun for such a campaign.

[robgrayert]

I seem to recall some parts of the Reign of Winter adventure path having actual rulesets for this kind of stuff:

https://pathfinderwiki.com/wiki/Reign_of_Winter

... and probably flora/fauna and survival stuff too.

[Talverin]

There's an old homebrew world out there called Fall from Heaven. In FFH, there was a thousand year age of ice caused by the God of Winter slaying the Goddess of Summer, and then taking up personal residence on the material plane. He traded away the 'immunities' of his Godhood to instead become far and away the most powerful 'mortal' on the plane, but retained his portfolio, including his mastery over Ice.

So, you ended up with a thousand years of magically-enforced Ice Age, and, trust me - you won't be beating the CL check enough to dispel winter and bring back summer. Slow or deflect blizzards? Most certainly, with a little DM fiat.

It gives you the world, and the constant winter, as well as the 'sentience' necessary for that winter to become an actual opposition force.

Hope that helps!

[Goaty14]

Slow or deflect blizzards? Most certainly, with a little DM fiat.

It's not DM fiat if it's the setting :smallwink: