Environment

[ This article is currently in development. ]

Throughout all Viridian, different biomes and terrain can affect how adventurers navigate environments, and it's important to know any special properties and dangers present within to maximize survival chances. Environmental properties affect both local and overworld navigation, you can use this page as a player and a Game-Master to know what happens in unusual environments.

Temperature Effects

Whether natural or artificially created, environments with high and low temperatures can negatively impact Player-Characters if they are not equipped for it or lack resistances towards temperature effects. Outfits can be modified to grant a degree of temperature protection effects, allowing the wearer to exist inside a high/low temperature environment without suffering its effects. Temperature scales by tier in both polarities, the higher the tier the more severe the penalties when lacking protection and the higher protection is needed to avoid taking damage or enduring penalties. Although there is a difference in high and low temperatures elementally, the penalties for not resisting either effect is very similar, the penalties are listed below.

Tier 1 penalties
• -20% AP recovery rate (40% base MaxAP at start and end of turn)

Tier 2 penalties
• -40% AP recovery rate (30% base MaxAP at start and end of turn)
• Damage over time: 2% of user's MaxHP per hour, or per round in battle. Amount doubles after one day of exposure, resets after half-day of non-exposure.

Tier 3 penalties
• -60% AP recovery rate (20% base MaxAP at start and end of turn)
• Damage over time: 5% of user's MaxHP per round. Amount doubles each minute of exposure until KO'd or reset. Resets after half-day of non-exposure.

Direct Contact penalties
"Unless a Player-Character resists Direct-Contact effects, these penalties apply if they are directly exposed to the source of heat, such as Lava or bodies of Freezing Water. These penalties STACK on top of the above penalty tiers."
• -60% AP recovery rate (20% base MaxAP at start and end of turn)
• Damage over time: 20% of user's MaxHP per round. Amount doubles each round of exposure until KO'd or reset. Resets after half-day of non-exposure.

High Temperature

Tier 1: Hot Day

Areas with higher than average temperatures or temperate locales experiencing a particularly sunny day can fall under Tier 1 Heat effects. Relatively safe for most people, those without resistances may find themselves overheating from direct exposure from the sun and can find their stamina sapped by the high heat.

Most Player-Characters can avoid Tier 1 Heat effects by hydrating themselves, cooling themselves off infrequently and staying in the shade if the source of the warmth is natural.

Tier 2: Sizzling Desert

In very hot places such as deserts and equatorial tropics and savannahs, the temperature rises above that of a warm day and can feel like being cooked alive in direct exposure to the sun. Even natural terrain itself can be subject to burning hot temperatures, which can harm unprepared individuals navigating its environments.

Tier 2 Heat requires legitimate resistances and cooling items in order to stay alive in such environments, as at this tier, unprotected PCs can find their health draining the longer they stay exposed without reprieve. If PCs can reduce heat effects to Tier 1 or lower they can survive Tier 2 environments to some success.

Tier 3: Volcanic Convection

The hottest places on the planet that a non-resistant creature can approach would be that of volcanos and lava rivers. However, this is putting it loosely as such areas are regarded as Tier 3 Heat zones that can deal a lot of damage to individuals without protection even if they avoid touching deadly pools of molten rock. If a Player-Character is unfortunate enough to actually fall into a pool of lava, the source of the heat in this environment, they will suffer Tier MAX Heat effects, which can become increasingly deadly the longer they are exposed.

Player-Characters must have some kind of Heat protection in order to survive Tier 3 Heat effects, damage increments tick in rounds, not hours. No amount of Heat Protection will protect against Tier MAX Heat effects from being immersed in lava or direct contact with it, unless the Player-Character's resistances state it can specifically resist direct exposure.

Low Temperature

Tier 1: Cold Day

Much like its counterpart, Areas with lower temperatures or even just a wet or cloudy day can reduce temperatures of an environment enough to affect Player-Characters. Relatively safe although it may hinder a Player-Character's movements and actions unless they are equipped to handle the cold or have a resistance to cold environments.

Unlike Hot environments, most Outfits tend to ward off lower temperatures on their own, however when the weather and temperature is specifically cold, outfits with Cold protection are required to negate penalties.

Tier 2: Snowdrifts

Whether it's in high up mountains or regions far to the north or south, areas covered in snow are often regarded as Tier 2 Cold areas. In these environments, it's not ideal to navigate its terrain without an outfit with Cold protection or natural resistances to the cold. Freezing cold Player-Characters will not survive very long in a vast snowy plain otherwise. Unlike with Hot environments, bodies of water in Tier 2 Cold areas are considered Direct Cold Exposure and will rapidly freeze an unwilling Player-Character if they do not vacate the waters as soon as possible.

Tier 2 Cold areas can be handled with outfits modified for Cold environments or exposing one's self to a source of heat from time to time.

Tier 3: Freezing Blizzard

A degree beyond snowy lands is one under the effects of the freezing winds of a blizzard. The added windchill and rapid snowfall can not only be detrimental to navigation such environments but drastically lowers the temperature even further as not even the sun can offset the cold temperatures. Even with significant protection against cold, it can be possible to still suffer greatly in a Tier 3 Cold area.

Even with proper protection and resistances, it's advised to avoid direct exposure to Tier 3 Cold areas and Blizzard. Seek shelter if possible.

Overworld Biomes

Plains / Hills

The Plains biome features generally flat lands of grass of varying length, with some fruit bearing flora and fauna roaming the great open spaces confidently. The Hills biome is similar, although line of sight across the horizon may be broken up by raised land masses with gentle inclines. Adventurers will have very little trouble navigating the Plains or Hill biomes, they would only have to worry about the fauna present in such areas, which can vary from place to place. Some smaller races may get lost in the tall grass, but this is not a big deal if one sticks to the main roads.

           Danger Level: Low (Wild Animals)
  Navigation Difficulty: None (1.0x)
Resource Acquisition Rate: Regular (Wood, Misc. Flora, Fruit, Animal Meat)
              Other Notes: Littlefolk slowed by tall grass.

Forest / Deep-Forest

Forest biomes feature a build up of trees, shrubs and grasses in increasing densities relative to how many resources are taken from settlements, road through forests are usually safer near settlements but can be subject to ambush from organized criminals or monsters under specific conditions. One is typically able to find paths through the woods and signs if they are commonly used by those of civilization, veering off the path can potentially lead one to getting lost. In Deep-Forests the density of trees is even higher and reduces potential visibility of landmarks and can become troublesome for some giants to fit through less forgiving tree placement, as a rule, Deep-Forests tend to be just as difficult to traverse as off-road Forests and only get more dense from there, so they lack an on-road component even when 'roads' and paths are present.

                                           Forest
             Danger Level: Regular (Wild Animals, Criminals, Monsters, Dangerous Flora)
    Navigation Difficulty: Low (1.0x on roads, 0.5x off-road. Reduced visibility.)
Resource Acquisition Rate: Regular (Wood, Misc. Flora, Fruit, Animal (Prey), Animal (Predator))
              Other Notes: Littlefolk slowed by Forest debris (off-road), Giants hindered slightly by tree placement.

                                           Deep-Forest
             Danger Level: Above Average (Wild Animals, Criminals, Monsters, Dangerous Flora)
    Navigation Difficulty: Above Average (0.4x off-road only)
Resource Acquisition Rate: Regular (Wood, Misc. Flora, Fruit, Animal (Prey), Animal (Predator))
              Other Notes: Littlefolk greatly slowed by Forest debris (on and off-road), Giants greatly hindered by densely packed trees.