As an example of what I'm thinking of, let's take something Niccodaemus mentioned: elevation. I'm thinking of something like this: get 3d4 of one color and 3d4 of another color (let's say "light" and "dark".) Roll them right on a sheet of paper. The light dice represent higher elevations than the default, while the dark dice represent lower elevations. Draw contour lines around the location of each die; if two or three dice of the same color are close together (one die width or less,) it's one hill or pit, possibly with different elevations at different parts. If a dark die is almost touching a light die, the dark die represents a cave.
The numbers 1 to 4 on the dice represent different slopes:
- Light Slope: 10% to 25% grade (steep enough to be noticeable.)
- Medium Slope: up to about 50% grade (possible risks based on surface, but still walkable.)
- Steep Slope: up to about 100% grade (more of a scramble, requires use of hands)
- Cliff: 150% or more (definitely climbing rather than walking now...)
Essentially, the dice establish various layers, which will be important in a future post.
6 comments:
Good idea.
But, I don't think those grades come in equal distribution. d6 1-3 flat, 4 slope, 5 steep, 6 special clift/ruin/cave/etc
"Flat" is wherever the dice don't land, so you don't want to include that in your die results... there's already a bias towards flat terrain.
Please allow me to apologize for the following comment: slope is one of my OCD topics and I've been off the meds for a while.
By way of comparison, if you were building a sidewalk, 5% is the maximum slope allowed before you need a handrail, 8.33% is the max slope for an access ramp even with a handrail. Probably the steepest paved roads/sidewalks you'll find are around 15% (boat ramps are in the 12-15% range) and you're definitely going to be exercising caution if you find yourself walking down them on an icy morning, though they're great for sledding. I'd scale light slope back to 5-10%, and medium slope to 33%.
Also, did I mention that this is a really cool idea? Thanks as always.
@Timrod: There's probably a big difference between the maximum grade city planners would allow and what you can actually negotiate in a wilderness setting, though. I had no hard facts to go on when I wrote this up, so I just looked at the grade chart in the Wikipedia article and compared it to stuff completely unathletic me has as actually done.
There's a street/sidewalk near where I am that is between 10% and 20% grade; people jog it all the time, and I occasionally walk it, but it leaves me winded and I hate it. But I *can* walk it, so it gets the low end.
I recall walking up steeper slopes, including getting out of ditches, but anything over 50% is about where I'd be balancing or pushing myself forward with my hands at least part of the way. That helps define the second and third slope categories; the fourth category is everything above that up to a true vertical climb.
I'd agree that my low end numbers (5-10%) should for your purposes just be considered flat--hardy heroes are not likely to alter their trajectory for slopes like this. But even though easily managed, even a 5% slope is definitely going to be "noticeable" which was your stated criterium for light slope.
As for that 10-20% street/sidewalk near you; if it were a talus slope or covered in slick ice would it qualify as "possible risks based on surface, but still walkable"? At the "subhex" level, even a strapping adventurer would probably walk around such a slope if there was a reasonable alternative.
Sorry, I'll shut up now.
@Timrod: I didn't really go into the mechanical side, but basically the Light Slope and Medium Slope are distinguished by a movement penalty, at the very least. Either could be risky, but Light Slope is only risky under unusual circumstances like ice, whereas the Medium Slope almost always has a risk of something happening (but what the risk is depends on the surface; if dealing with loose dirt or rocks, the risk might only be "slip back a bit", which can be assumed as part of the movement penalty.)
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