Welcome back to the weekly Tabletop Games thread! This thread is where we can talk about all kinds of RPGs, card games, board games, etc. Whether you gather around a physical table in the real world, or use a virtual space to play with friends who may live far away from you, this is where you can discuss your favorites, ask for and/or receive recommendations, recap your recent adventures, or even find some people to play games with!
Discussion Prompt: With the recent Snow-pocalypse, I’m thinking about the role that extreme weather can play in tabletop games. D&D has rules for weather extremes, of course, but in 5e at least, they mostly come down Exhaustion. Spend too long in the freezing cold or oppressive heat, and your character will have to make CON saves or start accumulating levels of Exhaustion. Build up enough Exhaustion, and your PC is dead. Heavy precipitation can reduce visibility and increase your chances of getting lost, and strong winds can impose disadvantage on ranged attack rolls or make it more difficult to fly. But these are generally mild setbacks in the life of a D&D adventurer, and it’s really up to the DM to make them really impactful to the game.
Overall, weather effects in D&D are mechanical simple and easy to ignore or handwave away if you choose to. But if you want the weather to matter in your game, what mechanics or homebrew systems do you use to bring them to life? How do other TTRPGs handle weather effects, for better or worse?
Bonus prompt: What are some of your favorite tabletop games that feature extreme winter weather in their themes, settings, or mechanics?
If you would like to suggest a prompt or contribute a write-up or discussion topic of your own, let me know in the comments!