Topic: GM Question: Vegetation in HARP

[jasonbrisbane]

Hello,

[Sorry if this is the wrong forum, but it covers both Cyradon and HARP, so I'm posting here first.]

Something I noticed was a bit of a let down was the encounters section.
The HARP Chapter 13 is great with a good selection of monsters, but the table for encounters has a few "holes".

Example: (in Cyradon pg 147)
Vegetation: 3% chance of vegetation encounter. Example says Strangler vines and Giant venus flytraps may be an issue. I could see a shiny red thing in the center that a player may try to reach. He grabs it only to have the flytrap clamp down on him. Shiny thing is part of the plant, or there could be several things - (undigested gems or coins, etc)

Problem is, where are these encounters? (stats, description, etc)
I know the old RM had several examples of these things (a Tiger or Lamb tree or some such?) Is there a future Cyradon Gazeteer or Harpers Bazaar (or supplement) that will have Vegetation encounters with examples?

Or are these supposed to be "Chance of finding Herb", "Chance of finding Poison", "chance of being attacked by giant vegetation", (Not necessarily in that order)?

The other encounter chances, involving people (of different kinds, military, merchants, pilgrims, etc) are easy to work out. Traps can be worked out fairly easily (pit trap dug by locals to catch animal, etc; ancient Narsi or Cyrad trap reactivated since the re-awakening of the devestation, etc), but Vegetation, Terrain and weather always had me stumped.

After all, how many weather encounters can you have that are different from:
- Sandstorm
- Rainstorm
- Thunderstorm
- Previous storm clears
??
(and I dont see "Plague of Frogs" as a viable weather alternative, although it would be interesting!)

It is possible to have a few (6-12) quick one line examples (Official) of encounter types for Vegetation, Terrain and Weather for the different alternative types of each?

(ie Weather(Desert) would be sandstorm and Terrain (Desert) would be the same. Shouldn't it be decided to be in one category or should it be in both??)

Many,many thanks in advance.

[Arioch]

IMHO a vegetation encounter doesn't mean that you'll have to battle a Ent or another similar vegetal monster. Sure, it may mean that PCs have stopped to rest too near to a Strangler Vine but it could also mean that the road is blocked by dense vegetation or that they have a chance of finding a rare herb...
For weather I think that it just mean that a sudden change of weather has occurred: I make a roll, if the result is low then the weather change in a bad way (very low roll can mean dangerous weathers such as storms), if the result is high then the weather become better.

[Duskwalker]

I agree very much with what Arioch says about encounters with vegetation. I rarely place aggressive plants in their way nowadays. Most of the time, they face dense undergrowth (take your average real thicket), thorned vines (lots of berrie bushes...not yet ripe, of course), muddy or even swampy ground and so on. Something that is unpleasant or even somewhat dangerous (e.g. poison ivy) may be hidden within what appears to be unharmfull vegetation. Have them maneuver through what they believe is just a minor obstacle and let them end up hacking their way through thorned brushes at sundown.

Weather "encounters" offer an excellent excuse for making your party's lives even worse. A brightly dawning day might well turn into hot and humid hell for those adventurers in need of covering great distances, as could be the wind that whichever direction they turn to always seems to come from ahead. Finally, exhausted and sweaty they make up camp, only to find the weather changing again as the cold front now passes them with, well, cold and rain. Take the example above. Not only do they find themselves in the middle of nowhere, but suddenly the dawning sky turns pitch black and it starts to rain. Just imagine all the possibilities and consequences...

Weather itself is probably the most entertaining, simple tool offered to the GM. The list and the possibilities are almost endless, the examples above only a tiny portion of it.

Battles and even wars have been decided by weather, use it wisely!