The human body is not conditioned to withstand extreme heat, cold, air pressure, and other weather. These harsh conditions hinder and endanger unprepared characters.
When exposed to a harsh environment, the Storyteller assigns a level to the environment, using the chart below as a guideline. Survival gear can reduce the effective environment level.
While characters are exposed to these conditions, they suffer the level of the environment as a penalty to all actions. After a number of hours equal to the character’s Stamina, he takes bashing damage equal to the environment’s level once per hour.
In the case of a Level 3 exposure, the damage is lethal instead of bashing. Fourth-level environments cause lethal damage each turn after a number of turns equal to the character’s Stamina.
Any damage caused by levels 2–4 exposure leaves lasting marks, scars, and tissue damage. Damage caused by Extreme Environments cannot be healed until the character is back in a safe environment.
| Level | Example Environments |
|---|---|
| 0 | Safe Environment |
| 1 | Light snow, heavy storms; too cold to sleep safely; air pressure causes shortness of breath; sweltering sun can cause first-degree burns |
| 2 | Heavy snow; cold causes physical pain and potential hypothermia; sun quickly causes first degree burns, can cause second degree burns with time; minor radiation poisoning |
| 3 | Desert exposure; heat rapidly causing second-degree burns; moderate radiation exposure |
| 4 | Desert sandstorm, severe hurricane, tornado, tsunami |