Cold and exposure deal
nonlethal damage to the victim. This
nonlethal damage cannot be recovered until the character gets out of the cold and warms up again. Once a character is rendered unconscious through the accumulation of
nonlethal damage, the cold and exposure begins to deal lethal damage at the same rate.
An unprotected character in cold
weather (below 40° F) must make a Fortitude save each hour (DC 15, + 1 per previous check) or take 1d6 points of
nonlethal damage. A character who has the
Survival skill may receive a bonus on this
saving throw and may be able to apply this bonus to other characters as well (see the
skill Description).
In
conditions of severe cold or exposure (below 0° F), an unprotected character must make a Fortitude save once every 10 minutes (DC 15, +1 per previous check), taking 1d6 points of
nonlethal damage on each failed save. A character who has the
Survival skill may receive a bonus on this
saving throw and may be able to apply this bonus to other characters as well (see the
skill description). Characters wearing winter clothing only need check once per hour for cold and exposure damage.
A character who takes any
nonlethal damage from cold or exposure is beset by frostbite or hypothermia (treat her as fatigued). These penalties end when the character recovers the
nonlethal damage she took from the cold and exposure.
Extreme cold (below -20° F) deals 1d6 points of lethal
damage per minute (no save). In addition, a character must make a Fortitude save (DC 15, +1 per previous check) or take 1d4 points of
nonlethal damage. Those wearing metal armor or coming into contact with very cold metal are affected as if by a
chill metal spell.
Characters walking on ice must spend 2 squares of
movement to enter a square covered by ice, and the DC for
Balance and
Tumble checks increases by +5. Characters in prolonged contact with ice may
run the risk of taking
damage from severe cold (see above).