The lands
Mountain weather for your tabletop campaign
Peaks, passes and high valleys where the weather turns quickly: afternoon thunder in summer, deep snow in winter, and avalanches and rockfalls in between.
Through the year
Averages from a year of Skyscribe's weather in typical the mountains. You can set how high, how far from the sea and how far from the equator it lies, and the weather follows.
How it sounds at the table
A few days from that year, as Skyscribe describes them to read to your players. No two days read the same.
The spruce and pine wear thick white caps, and now and then a bough sheds its load in a white burst. Flakes slant across on a light northwest breeze, clinging to wool, and everyone squints a little. Under the gray cloud the snow shows no shadows, and the party stumbles over bumps nobody saw.
Under heavy cloud the cold is damp and sullen, and the party walks in a world without edges. Breath freezes white on every beard and scarf, which does nobody's looks any favors, and the pots tied to the packs clank in the southwest breeze. The snow is crusted hard on top and soft beneath, and the going is slow and exhausting.
Not one cloud has bothered to turn up over the crags today, and the sun has the whole sky to itself. A clear frosty morning gives way to a bright, cold noon, while the southwest breeze sets the cobwebs trembling. Under the moon the snow glows silver-blue, and the party walks on long after dusk.
What to watch for
The hazards that come with the mountains. When the weather makes one likely, Skyscribe shows the risk and lets you roll to see whether it strikes.
- Rockfall
- Lightning strike
- Avalanche
- Landslide
- Flash flood
- Ice breakup
Villages and cities
Put the party in a village or a city and the scene and the writing move into the streets, styled to suit the mountains.
The morning star hangs bright in the east long after the others have faded, and the sky behind it pales to a cloudless blue. Old soldiers say cold feet lose more fights than bad captains, with a sharp west breeze that makes eyes stream.
Rare sights
Keep an eye on the scenery. Now and then something unusual turns up in the picture, and a few sights are rare enough that most players will never see them.