Experimental Meta-Weather Rules

Weather. I've wanted a weather system that possesses the following qualities: is simple enough to be memorable, allows for the weather to be naturally and randomly changeable AND stay the same for long stretches, to show weather patterns/trends within a season and most importantly allow for the weather to become 'weird' so that the players can experience wild or dramatic weather phenomena (but not too often) and to try to do all this with as little die rolling as possible. With these criteria in mind, I tried to make a weather system that could achieve them. I don't feel entirely satisfied or successful with the result, the system is more complicated than I would like and janky at times. I am sharing for posterity as I think it's kind of interesting and for the RPG Blog Carnival. I'd love suggestions on how to make the idea that little bit more workable while retaining those design goals. There is a summary of the system at the end of this post.

(All shall be explained)

Find the other season lists here

The system works off of seasonal weather lists. They are 2.?D as opposed to hex-flower weather systems that are 6D.  This system is both more and less predictable than hex-flower weather systems. The weathers are arranged on the table from colder and wetter weathers to hotter and dryer ones. In hot/dry seasons like summer, the wet/cold weathers may not be particularly wet or cold and vice versa. Each weather should logically flow into the next, and the most common weathers will be found in the middle of the table. I have not strived for realism. Adjacent to each weather is a type of weird weather phenomena that could reasonably emerge from the mundane weather it is twinned with.

But how does it work? Place a marker on the current weather in your game (I used a matchstick) and, when you are asked to make a weather check, roll a d12. There are a number of possible results. On a result of 1-2 or 11-12 the current weather will remain the same. On a roll of  3, 4, 5 or 6 the weather will move one increment toward the wetter/colder end of the table, moving from a 10 to a 9 for instance. On a roll of 7, 8, 9 or 10, the opposite effect will occur and the current weather will move one step toward the warmer/dryer end of the table, IE from a 7 to an 8. If the weather cannot move up or down, i.e. is at 3 or 10, then the weather remains the same. 

Should the number that matches the current in-game weather be rolled, it indicates a sudden change. Roll the d12 again and change the weather to that result. If the new roll results in either 1, 2, 11 or 12 OR the same number as the current weather, then the weather will become weird. If the weather becomes weird, move the marker on the current weather one column to the right onto its matching weird weather. Once the weather becomes weird, roll weather checks as normal. Rolls of 1, 2, 11 and 12 results continue the weird weather. Weird weather is detailed a little more later in the post. 

But wait! There's more! In real life, over the course of a season there can be several periods of high and low temperature and dry/wet humidity. In order to replicate these kinds of weather trends I have once again gone META or more accurately (I think) extra-diegetic. Real world weather is taken into account when making weather checks using this system. The real-world weather the day of your game is used to modify the results of your in-game weather checks. The wetter, hotter, dryer or colder a day is compared to the average day of the season you are in, the wetter, hotter, dryer or colder your in-game weather will become. If a weather the day of your game is wetter/colder than usual; apply a -1 or -2 to your weather check, if the day is hotter/dryer than usual apply a +1 or +2. These positive/negative modifiers give the feeling of weather patterns. As a reminder, unmodified rolls of 1, 2, 11 or 12 always result in the weather remaining the same, but rolls that are modified into these ranges do not cause the weather to remain the same, simply changing one step in the relevant direction. Optionally, such rolls can cause the weather to change by 2 steps in the relevant direction. If the campaign is happening during the winter but being played in summer, this is fine. You can have hotter/dryer spells and wetter/colder spells relative to whatever season you are in in-game. 

But, what happens on game days where the weather is weird? When you have sessions on during heatwaves, cold snaps, hail, Saharan dust clouds, unexpected snow, eclipses? On such days the the probability of your in-game weather becoming weird increases dramatically. On 'weird' days, (until a weird weather results is procured) weather checks have the following results - on the roll of d12, a 1, 2, 11 and 12 do not result in the weather remaining the same but becoming weird, as does rolling the number that matches the current weather. As above, when making weather weird, move from the current weather to the right, onto the matching weird weather phenomena. On 'weird' days, the chance of the weather becoming wild or weird becomes 5/12. On normal days it is something like 5/144 (but I'm really not sure about the math for this). Once the weather has become weird, make weather checks as normal and is detailed above. 

How does weather stop being weird? Whenever the weather changes - moves up or down as a result of 3-6 or 7-10. Usually, the weather moves diagonally, up or down, to the mundane weather column. Many weird weathers will have lasting after-effects - such as flooding and wildfires.

I think that's everything. Here are the example seasonal weather tables. I haven't come up with mechanical effects for the different weathers as I am not sure of the viability of this system yet. I have rolled up a month's worth of summer weather using real-world weather data. I assumed one game session a week, rolling for three in-game days of weather per session. As you can see there are three different trends in this 30 period, a warm beginning followed by hot and humid weather in the middle of the month and then a dramatic week of thunderstorms. The bold days are when the weather changed as a result of a reroll and the Lightning Storm phenomena came about as the result of the influence of real world weird weather. 

Summer:

Here are some additional thoughts and optional rules:

• Seasonal weather tables can easily be turned into regional weather tables. Weather might be worse in the mountains, very different in a coastal deserts and rather peculiar in the worm-wastes.  
• It may be worth having a 'weather-master' or 'forecaster' player who is responsible for the tracking and rolling for the weather, just as you might have a mapper and caller. This would help to reduce your mental load. Some players enjoy such rolls and are all are motivated by a 100xp reward for doing them. It would also encourage the players to learn the weather system and become more experienced at forecasting like their characters would. 
• Mundanity is often necessary in fantasy role-playing games. Nothing seems as weird or special if the everyday baseline is already so foreign and removed from the player's lived experience. This applies to weather. Instead of a sun, having a neon-pink, glowing ball of tendrils might sound cool, but unless you mention it a tedious amount your players will forget about it. If the sun turns into something abominable for a week, that's cool and memorable. As a player, one of my best and most evocative memories of weather was when the party got lost in heavy rain in the middle of the night without any shelter. 
• Being very experimental, I would consider a weather phase during combat. Just as some rules have phases for magic, missiles, movement and melee there could be a phase for weather. This phase would see combatants deal with the weather and allow for the weather to act on and in the scene. For example; repeatedly prompting saves against heat exhaustion, seeing snow devils move around the combat map, see if a rain shower starts, how high the flood waters rise or where the lightning strikes. There are many options for weather to take more of an active and present role in combat encounters and the game as a whole.
• When to roll weather checks? That is up to you. Some roll them once per day, others integrate it into their wilderness encounter rolls/checks. I would have weather checks made at regularly times of the day - dawn, midday and dusk and once per day during downtime.
• The 'meta' aspect need not be limited to how hot/dry or wet/cold a day was. It can be linked to anything; windiness, amount of bugs you saw, how well you are feeling, how cloudy the day was. Having it solely based on comparative temperature/humidity limits excludes game-masters who live in equatorial countries. 
• These weather lists make for good rumour and spell fodder.

Summary:

Weather check:

• Roll a d12, considering the real-world weather, if hotter/dryer than usual add +1 or +2 to the result, if colder/wetter than usual -1 or -2 to the result. 
• Unmodified results of 1, 2, 11 or 12 result in the weather remaining the same. If modified into these ranges, treat the result as below;
• If the roll results in 6 or less the current weather decreases by 1 step. 
• If the roll results in 7 or more the current weather increases by 1 step.
• If the weather cannot move up or down, then it will remain the same.  
• If the roll results in a roll matching the current weather, roll the d12 again: 
• If 1, 2, 11 or 12 the weather stays the same.
• If the roll matches the current weather a second time then that weather becomes weird, moving to the right onto the adjacent weather on weird weather column. 
• If the d12 results in any other number, the current weather changes to the weather that matches that number.
• Once 'weird', the weather remains weird until a weather check moves the weather up or down the table. At which point the weather moves diagonally left, up or down, onto the mundane weather column. 

If the current real-world weather is unusual:

• Roll a weather check as normal. Results of 1, 2, 11 or 12 do not result in the weather remaining the same but becoming instantly weird. Likewise, rolling the number of the current weather causes it to become instantly weird.
• Once the weather has become weird, make all subsequent weather checks as is detailed above, even if the weather in the real world remains unusual. 

EXAMPLE SEASONS HERE

Meta-Illness and Extra-Diegetic Disease in RPGs

This is a tangent on my meta-narcotics post and only really half, or the start of, a mad, little idea. Sickness, illness - having your character contract and deal with a disease in a game is rarely very exciting from a mechanical or roleplay perspective. It could be... much goofier. Having your character take one-off or cumulative stat damage is dull and forgettable, we could make it more engaging and present in everyday play - we could make it META. So;

A disease is made of three different components; a symptom, one or more triggers and an effect. I will show this with the following example: 

--

Oh no! The adventurer, Gorto Gold-Groveler, has contracted Dungeon Lung! Now Gorto's player (not Gorto the character) must pretend to wheeze before they try to speak to an NPC. Each time Gorto's player does not wheeze or forgets to do so, Gorto will lose 1 HP permanently until his sickness is cured. When cured, Gorto will regain any lost HP. If uncured, Dungeon Lung becomes progressively worse and soon Gorto's player will have to pretend to wheeze whenever they make an ability check. The Dungeon Lung may even progress to a final stage, where the player must wheeze if they are making Gorto do anything other than lay prone. If another player tries to remind Gorto's player to wheeze whenever there is a trigger, that player has opened themselves to risk of contagion and must make a save against becoming infected with Dungeon Lung themselves. 

--

Does that make sense? While the symptom, trigger(s) and effect can be remixed and swapped out entirely, the core of the idea is - the illness's symptom must be performed the afflicted player whenever a trigger is encountered during play, if not, the afflicted character suffers from the disease's effect. This way, disease becomes more interactive and present for the afflicted player and the rest of the table. With this method, a disease has no other effects than when those caused by a trigger - either the player acting out the illness's symptom or forgetting to do so and suffering an effect. For me, it simply simulates the experiences and feel of actually being unwell - and it is funny and a little gross. Be weird, try it.

The Failed Careers of Tetragrammatown - or - Failed Careers as Worldbuilding

Failed Careers are great. PC's get a random failed career at character creation along with the items someone of that career would have possessed. It doesn't need to be said that they are wonderful mediums for implied world-building that immediately involve and inform players in and about the world.  

When making failed career tables, I try to keep two things in mind. First, I try to make the careers so specific that a player can immediately grasp the concept - take ownership of, or define the career themselves. The world, however weird should be understandable and implied only, if a concept is too weird, prepscriptive or requires too much meta-knowledge to understand it shouldn't be available as a failed career for your players. Secondly, the weapon and item need to be interesting. It's ok to play fast and loose with the definition of 'weapon' and 'item' - especially if it's something a player wouldn't pick for their character off of an equipment list or something that isn't even on a equipment list. Interesting can mean strangely useful, something that produces new or odd situations - something that can be used for more than its intended purpose or even provides a narrative, character or adventure hook. You can fit a lot of flavour into the [name], [weapon], [item] format.  

While demographically unsound, failed career tables can make for useful encounter tables. I like an exploding d4 to determine numbers of an encountered career. 

Below is an example failed career list for a city called Tetragrammatown. Read it and you will get a good feel for the setting via failed careers only. 

UPDATE: I've been using this table for one-shot episodic play and slowly over the last year or so this table has expanded along with the setting itself. I think it started as a d66 table, then d68, then d88 and know a full d100. It's been really useful for supporting and expanding the setting and it's feel and has grown to reflect the play that has taken place. It's been a lot of fun. The 

Failed Careers of Tetragrammatown

Roll 1d100 to determine your character's backstory. The format is; [Failed Career/Backstory Name], [Weapon], [Item(s)]

1. Whipping-Boy, whip, a wooden sign listing the ways you've been a naught boy/girl.
2. Trench-Brother, sharpened shovel (as axe), permanently muddy military uniform.
3. Dare-to-Die Duelist, pistol with no bullets, black coat with white 'duel me' painted on it.
4. Riot Police, tear-gas grenade, plastic see-through shield.
5. Reluctant Zealot, cat o' nine tails, prescription rage-juice.
6. Living-Book, tattooing needle, an entire book tattooed onto body.
7. Satirist/Polemicist, razor sharp wit (0 damage), head and arms locked in a pillory/stocks.
8. Faerie-Realm Polluter, oil drum full of chemical by-products, map of local fairy rings.
9. Elf-Hater, elf-basher (as club), 'hate' and 'elfs' tattooed on knuckles.
10. Puddle-Prophet, lead rod, electric pouring crucible.
11. Vehicularist, a pike (to prod people out of your way), a slow and primitive iron car.
12. Amateur Aeronaut, a helmet with a big spike on the top, a heavy wood and canvas gliding-suit.
13. Natural Philosopher, poisonous bug/plant/element (single use), specialist's tools.
14. Gruel-Giver, heavy ladle, keg of gruel (20 rations).
15. Noir Detective, twin knuckle-dusters, chainmail-lined trenchcoat (+2 AC)
16. Gladiatorial Vampire-Baiter, wooden stake gauntlets, wooden plate armour painted with crucifixes (+3 AC).
17. Veteran-Brother, beam-rifle in a locked box (no key), a pocketful of medals.
18. Clerical Assassin (official), crucifix with concealed dagger, mitre hat with pistol stitched inside.
19. Clerical Assassin (unofficial), poisoned needle, shabby imitation vestments.
20. Most-Wanted Warlock, pet anaconda, edgy eldritch tattoos.
21. Ratman Exterminator, rat-poison, vicious tunnel dog.
22. Puritan-Procuress, spanking-paddle, trunk of spare puritan clothing.
23. Puritan-Bothering Pacifist Revolutionary, fruity trombone, book of jokes.
24. Dissolute Paladin, bejewelled knightly longsword, plastic bag full of laughing gas canisters and naughty printing-press pamphlets.
25. Demon-Fumigator, hand-pump sprayer, holy-water.
26. Rocket Smuggler, pocket-rocket, fistful of solid rocket-fuel.
27. Prostitute Gangster, switchblade, fish-net stockings.
28. Old-Town Rioter, bag of bricks, knitted balaclava.
29. Wicked Noble, thumbscrew, flamboyant feather hat.
30. Atomic Fisherman, glowing harpoon, radioactive fish.
31. One Man Speakeasy, blinding bath-tub gin, backpack distillery.
32. Involuntary Rocket Tester, molten weathervane, exhaust-blackened parachute.
33. Paramilitary Goon, percussion cap rifle, camouflage tunic and cap (camouflage gives stealth bonus in matching environment).
34. Political Congregant, swagger stick, a pamphlet listing the benefits of the new ideology you've invented.
35. Industrial Congregant, huge and consecrated spanner (as a mildly holy, two-handed club), sackcloth gasmask.
36. Itinerant Explosives Workman, big shard of shrapnel (as dagger), huge hand-cranked iron bomb that explodes instantly after three cranks.
37. Agrarian Congregant, ploughshare, emergency ploughshare weaponization kit and manual.
38. Book-Burner, single-use spray canister of napalm, slightly singed book (rolled randomly).
39. Creature-Collector, Cattle prod (target saves vs paralysis or becomes slowed and loses 1pt of hp), vicious and toothsome creature in a small cage strapped to your back.
40. Penal Legionary, metal-pipe arquebus with 2 shots, black and white striped fatigues.
41. Quadruple Agent, garotte, d4+1 fake identity papers
42. Scientific Congregant, two vials of unstable chemicals, badly repaired spectacles.
43. Latest Technology Inquisitor, electric cattle prod (target saves Vs paralysis or becomes slowed and loses 1pt of hp), EZ-lite bonfire with portable stake.
44. Authoritarian Thug, heavy hobnail jackboots for stamping, an imposing black uniform.
45. Industrialiser, single-use glue gun, furnace-powered engine (to glue onto something).
46. Morality Play Thespian, false metal god marionette (as flail), black renaissance theatrical costume and morph-suit.
47. Satellite-Botherer, laser pointer, tinfoil hat.
48. Indentured Window-Washer, 100-foot pole, bucket of caustic soaps.
49. Self-Abusing Flagellant (get it?), stinging-nettle cat o’ nine tails, medieval smut.
50. Computational Congregant, soldering iron, huge and humming electronic calculator carried on the back.
51. Hypno-Pressganger, hose with bricks in the feet, a paper spinning black and white spiral on a stick.
52. Sixteenth-Story Man, clawed gloves, 500 feet of rope
53. Clerical Congregant, spiked processional cross, aspergillum of holy water.
54. Out-Of-Town Gangster, a crude weapon wrapped in barbed wire, helmet with your gang's motif.
55. Expeditionary Brother, long-rifle, wearable waterproof black bivvy-onesie
56. Radicalised Protester, disposable rocket launcher with 1 HEAT round, placard
57. Gutter Groveller, sharpened spoon, tattered blanket
58. Fugitive, pocket pistol, roll a second failed career- gain their items - this is your cover identity or why you are wanted
59. Puritan Black Ops, silenced caplock pistol, perfectly boring disguise with belt-buckle-balaclava in the back-pocket.
60. Proxy Doxy, concealable single-use blackpowder SMG, pre-contact licence
61. Reconstruction Congregant, wrecking bar, hardened cement-stained overalls and shroud, (+2 AC)
62. Assembly-Line Congregant, a handful of screws and bolts, stimulant pills (roll a second failed career, this was your second job)
63. Folk Hero, ancient acid-stained longsword, soot-covered white stallion.  
64. Overworked Peon, roll twice and take both failed careers.
65. Psalm Singer, you needed no weapon, entire bible memorized.
66. Gunpowder Cultist, dodgy hand-gonne (crits you on a critical failure), singed robe
67. Corporate Stooge, long-arm stapler, demotivational poster
68. Corporate Enforcer, concealable whip-sword belt with factory logo belt-buckle, factory branded sunglasses 
69. Proto-CEO, a pistol next to a half empty bottle of gin in a desk drawer somewhere, a big cigar
70. Lone Gunman (for hire), scoped takedown arquebus in a case, keys to a fancy apartment 
71. Theocratic Commando, your choice of any pre-1830 firearm, your specific faith's paramilitary uniform. 
72. Warmachine Welder, Blowtorch, d4+1 armour plates.
73. Chain-Ganger, rusty pickaxe, a convict you remain chained to by the ankle.
74. Factory 'Hand', a fistful of nuts and bolts you pulled from industrial machinery, d4+1 severed fingers that you keep in a jar (if 5 is rolled you can have a hook hand)
75. Alleywayman, two flintlock pistols, masked ratman accomplice/occasional steed
76. Soldier of the Sex Worker's Battalion of Death, any historical pre-1815 personal weapon of your choosing, an imperious black military uniform with silver crucifix
77. Dragoon Brother, prototype lever-action rifle (breaks irreparably on a roll of 1 damage), cloned horse
78. Dogmatic Vigilante, a small non-lethal weapon of your choosing, thematic dress-up, roll a second career for your unassuming alter ego.
79. Motorbike Knight, lance, crude poison/goblin powered motorbike
80. Deforestation Congregant, crude poison-powered chainsaw, sharpened grappling hook and chain
81. Cull Girl, your choice of any historical sword type, skimpy bloodstained clothing 
82. Snake Handling Acolyte, two snakes with woozifying venom (if swung as a weapon will die), vial of anti-venom 
83. Law Brother, hand-gonne truncheon, insta-pillory kit (flatpack, probably takes 10 minutes to assemble)
84. Logistics Congregant, multitool, iron dolly 
85. Snail Farmer, snail hammer, very large snail
86. Boschian Hell Muralist, large paint encrusted palette knife, rejected proposal sketch of Hell
87. Goblin Smasher, really big rock, a glass jar of green slurry
88. Keeper of Cursed Books, attack book on chain (d6 reach weapon, knows only to bite) random book - cursed (flipped information as if from evil alternate dimension)
89. Tragedian, fencing foil, sad mask with dark and dramatic cape
90. Exorcist, heavy chain and padlock, demonic voice in the back of your head
91. 'The Free Press' (hahahaha), crutch, a black eye and a broken leg in cast +1 additional broken limb of your choice.
92. Polluted River Pirate, acid stained cutlass, NBC resistant coracle
93. Bunker Buster, d4+1 stinky sticks of sweaty tnt (d6 impact explosive), a crowbar with flint and steel keyring
94. Conscript Brother, pike, iron puritan hat shaped helmet 
95. Landlord's Retainer, fancy looking musket (tiny calibre, d4 damage), tabard with landlord's symbol (and/or face) on it
96. God-playing Scientist - Biologist (or) Engineer, mostly dead human arm (or) haywire automaton arm, reanimated head that babbles madness (or) schizophrenic AI skull.
97. Slum-Knight, length of pipe with crossguard, corrugated steel armour
98. Anarchic Bomb-Thrower, 2 grenades, get-away mule robed in a punk caparison.
99. Weapons Maintenance Congregant, large vat of atramental lubricant, ballistic-weave NBC suit and sackcloth gasmask.  
100. Underworked Punk, roll two careers, this is your parent's stuff that you’ve borrowed.