It's simple, i read the druid spell (Call Lightning) for a quick rule, roll a random player, hit his character once with a bolt so they realize it's dangerous. And soon they are all seeking shelter.
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Well, its definitely not to each character. One bolt per minute is one bolt per minute, and each bolt will only target one thing.
To inject a little realism, lighting tries to follow the path of least resistance to earth, with pointy things being more likely than flat things, and conductive materials being more likely than resistive things. Fear wearing spiked armour. But trees, being taller, are more likely to get hit.
Give a weighted chance for being struck, and modify the chance upwards for being larger in size, and for carrying metal. Once you nuke a tree or two, they'll find shelter pretty damn quick.
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First, it would be a good idea to put this post in the section of the forum about the specific module, maybe someone has already resolved your problem. We lack too many information about the module, supposed PC level and so on to reply with some accuracy, and if you give the needed information your posts and the replies would require spoilers.
Second can pose a hazard to characters without proper shelter isn't the same thing as will unerringly strike characters without proper shelter.
The PC are in the center of the thunderstorm?
Can't move away?
Can't find shelter? (i.e. they are in a featureless plain? Even crouching into a ditch can give a modicum of protection against lighting strikes. Not being the tallest item in the area help)
No one can make a survival roll to reduce the hazard?
What is the DC of the reflex save to halve the damage? (You or the module should give one, it is an area attack as all others)
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To inject a little realism, lighting tries to follow the path of least resistance to earth, with pointy things being more likely than flat things, and conductive materials being more likely than resistive things. Fear wearing spiked armour. But trees, being taller, are more likely to get hit.
Not a big expert, but isolated trees or trees that are noticeably taller that the others are more likely to be hit.
Isolated cypress? It a lighting magnet.
In the middle of a deciduous forest, possibly in a depression and away from the tallest trees? Relatively safe.
What is the name of the module and what is the length of time involved?
You can
... if you want.
Copy/paste:
[ spoiler=title your spoiler here ] type the name of the module here [ /spoiler ]
and replace the "title your spoiler here" with something obliqe and "type the name of the module here" with the name of the module; delete any spaces between the brackets. That will make it look like this:
Also, Call Lightning - 3rd level spell, 3d6 damage -; and Call Lightning Storm - 5th level spell, 5d6 damage -; thus, you've a 4d6 damage, but similar idea, I'd recommend a 4th level effect, meaning a DC of 14+presumed modifier, which would be +2 (14 is the ability score needed to cast a 4th level spell, and comes with a +2 modifier, which makes the DC 10+spell level+modifier, or 10+4+2 or DC 16). Just going at a rough rule-of-thumb.
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This is one of those places where you need to relax and ask yourself if this adds to the adventure or just makes it a pain for your characters.
Essentially if you follow the 1 bolt per minute and hit pc's with bolts the entire time no single player I know will think that's fun or cool - even if there was a wizard or cleric controlling the storm I'd expect forewarning.
Have the storm build up - hit a tree - if they don't try to find shelter have their hair start to stand on end... etc. if you really want to push it.
As to advice:
1) Modules aren't a bible - modify things that don't make sense or you don't like.
2) Rules aren't a bible - modify things that don't make sense or you don't like.
3) Generally if you play the storm like above it'd be the same as having a super volcano open under them - it's just silly and not really fair to the players. Heck the rules let them swim in lava for less damage.
Ask yourself if you would enjoy playing a game where the party died to a random storm, and what is heroic about that, and why you'd take the time to buy books, make a character, find motivation, and gather with other people so that time you've put into the character is snuffed out because 'the rules say 1 bolt per minute'.
Metal armors could attract lightnings but at least heavier types should protect at least partially. Because lightning follows the path of least resistance the majority would travel through the metal, not through the body. A set of full plate could even work as a Faraday cage, making the wearer immune to electricity.
But for simplicity's sake it might be best to ignore both the higher hit probability and the protection.
A Faraday cage operates because an external static electrical field causes the electric charges within the cage's conducting material to be distributed such that they cancel the field's effect in the cage's interior. This phenomenon is used, for example, to protect electronic equipment from lightning strikes and electrostatic discharges.
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Can you give me the module name? I have most of them and maybe can see it at home to get a better idea of the situation.
If it is the one I think
As a minimum, I would allow a survival roll with a DC of 15 (avoiding an hazard) to halve the chances of being struck for all the party members and a reflex save to halve the damage, with the DC based on call lighting storm (from memory, DC 17).
Base chance of a single character being struck every minute: 100% if taking no precautions.
To divide the risk between the party members: tall (human, elf, etc.) guy in metal armor or with a lot of metal 4, tall guy with little metal 2; short guy (Halfling, gnome) in metal armor 2, short guy with little metal 1; dwarf in metal 3, dwarf without a metal armor (really?) 1.
Add all together and roll the nearest dice to see who is struck.
More or less it should work.
Edit: strength of the bolt:
(2+2d4)d10. Average 7d10.
Further edit:
1st level?
Ouch.
I don't think the writer was thinking at all about the thunderstorm rules in the CRB. Probably an oversight between the writer and the guy that did the revision before printing.
A hailstorm seem more than enough for 1st level characters.
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Ok, unless this is some kind of magical hell storm getting hit by lightning should be pretty rare. Maybe once or twice for some sort of narrative encouragement and then be done with it. For comparisons sake the Empire State Building is hit by lightning an average of 25 times a year with the record being 8 times in 24 minutes. So, unless the PCs are at the highest elevation in the area with lightings rods strapped to their backs it should be less than that.
What I would do in such a case:
Have a lightning strike a nearby tree, the tree explodes and pieces of wood hit the party. 2d4 damage reflex/half with a DC of 12. Now they should know they are in danger and try to do something about it. Which should be enough to get them back on track.
Just do not kill a pc because RPG games don't know how metal armor interacts with electricity.
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I'm actually pretty sure I know the module you're talking about now. Yes, it says the PCs find themselves in a thunderstorm if they don't go where the mod wants. This doesn't mean you have to teleport them straight into the center of the storm, even for PFS!
That seem more like: "The PC go in the wrong direction, there is a storm brewing, the PC see it at least several minutes in advance while it approach them (that is what happen, unless it is a magical storm), then they are at the edge of the storm, then the storm move over them and at the end of the hour it has moved away or dissipated."
If that is the case, I don't see any need to have them in the center of the storm at any time. Just a Guess gave some good suggestion for low level PC.
I would have them hit by an hailstorm while the edge of the storm pass over them, with them seeing the lighting bolts hitting nearby things.
The number of people killed by Thunderstorms is tiny.
Unless they are on a flat featureless plain the chance of being hit is very low. Lightning follows the path of least resistance in steps of around 60m, so if within a 60 meter sphere there is something taller than you, you should be ok. Do not get to close to a tree as the lightning can be conducted into the surrounding ground and still hurt you.
This humorous website explains it far better than I can
https://what-if.xkcd.com/16/
Summary your party will get wet, maybe scared and almost certainly not get hit by any lightning
Just do not kill a pc because RPG games don't know how metal armor interacts with electricity.I personally don't know how metal armor interacts with electricity. What happens in the real world to a person wearing breastplate in the normal fashion?
Metal armors in general are highly conductive so the electricity would flow along the armor not through the body. At least not where the armor is. So instead of having his internal organs cooked someone wearing BP would "only" have severe burns across his chest and legs.
Heavier armor like full plate would work as faraday cage, completely protecting from the electricity itself and only be affected by the heat generated within the metal of the armor.
Sadly most RPG systems only care about metal attracting electricity resulting in a higher hit probability or higher damage.
Just do not kill a pc because RPG games don't know how metal armor interacts with electricity.I personally don't know how metal armor interacts with electricity. What happens in the real world to a person wearing breastplate in the normal fashion?
Depends. If metal from the armour is touching the ground (and is thus earthed), a lightning strike will just go through the metal, into the ground, and will barely bother the wearer at all (probably some burns). This is what a Faraday Cage does, and it's one of the coolest things ever.
Equally, if the metal is perfectly insulated from the ground, nothing will happen to the person inside (and is less likely to get hit at all).
The worst case scenario (for the wearer) is if there is imperfect insulation to earth through. Lightning hits the breastplate, and tries to earth, and the easiest way to do that is through the legs of the wearer. Boom, full-on lightning strike.
It's counterintuitive, but the safest bet would be someone wearing metal armour, with metal gauntlets that are in contact with the armour, holding the blade of a metal sword which is planted in the ground. You'll get wet, sure, but lightning won't faze you at all.
Advice: if you're caught out in a lightning storm, get inside an automobile. Rubber tyres are damn good insulators and the body and chassis of the car make an effective Faraday Cage. Second best is divest yourself of metal and lie flat. Third best is create a path to earth for the electricity to go down in preference to your body.
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I'm pretty sure the module writer did not intend for you to rigorously use the Thunderstorm Hazard rules. Because if this scenario is aimed at level 1 characters, then even a single bolt is quite likely to insta-kill a PC.
More likely is that the writer hadn't read that bit of the Hazard rules, and was thinking "they'll get wet, get scared, possibly catch a cold, and just maybe get fried up a little by a Call Lightning style lightning bolt", because those are all things a level 1 character has a decent shot at surviving.
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In addition to the Survival roll suggested above, a Knowledge Engineering roll could allow one of the players to come up with the idea of making a lightning rod. They probably have some equipment that is metal and could be grounded so that the lightning would go to it. Ideal would be a piece of chain that they could elevate somehow, acceptable may be tying some dogslicers or other weapons together vertically. They should then move away from the lightning rod until the storm is over. Expect the lightning rod to sustain damage.
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Living in the middle of the US, I am quite familiar with thunderstorms.
While some storms may pop up suddenly, you usually have a few hours of warning and they are late afternoon, early evening storms. It's a hot and humid day, mid afternoon puffy clouds start forming. Around 4-6 PM, the clouds start to grow—you can actually watch them grow in real time, it's pretty cool. An hour or so later, the rain, lightning, and thunder start. These storms are relatively isolated, usually only 20-30 miles wide at most, many times smaller, though there might be a number of them throughout the area. The neatest thing is when they are near you: the sky is clear except for this one section that is a dark gray color. The storm moves by after 30 minutes or so, and then you see the backside lit by the orange and pink glow of the setting sun. It's pretty amazing.
Then there are the big lines of thunderstorms, including the fast-paced squall lines. These storms are preceded by high whispy clouds, and as the day progresses, those clouds start to thicken. You usually hear the thunder before anything else. The approaching sky is almost black, sometimes there is a greenish tint to it. Depending on how fast the storm is moving, you have about 20 mins to an hour from when you first hear the thunder to when it gets to you. The sky darkens to almost night, and the rain comes down in heavy sheets—sometimes it's difficult to see the house across the street. Bright white flashes of light pop followed by thunder that literally shakes everything. This usually lasts for about 20-30 minutes before tapering off. If it's a squall line, it's usually a one-and-done, though there might be some lingering rain for a few more hours. The frontal storms come in waves and tend to last throughout the night. These lines of storms are hundreds of miles long.
Anyways, thunderstorms shouldn't just pop out of nowhere—they shouldn't be surprised (unless there is magic involved, of course). There should be clues that give them at least a few hours of warning that if they're not going to seek shelter, they're in trouble.
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Here is for reference...
Odds of being struck by lightning in a given year (reported deaths + injuries)
1/1,190,000
Odds of being struck by lightning in a given year (estimated total deaths + injuries)
1/960,000
Odds of being struck in your lifetime (Est. 80 years)
1/12,000
So if you really want to make it real - roll 100 on a d10 around 100 times in a row - if all 100 rolls hit 100 then a character is struck.
Outside of that it's GM fiat based on the rules in the CRB which say lighting can strike but not that it must strike.
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If the module as written is unclear, it is up to you to determine what 'run as written' means.Yeah, I'm pretty sure that's what just took place in this thread. My conclusions are posted in a bulleted list a few posts above.
EDIT: HangarFlying, loved your text, and I might use some of it to describe the scene to the players. Thanks for posting.
Here is a time lapse video of a storm that hit us last June. I remember this one distinctly because I was at home and my wife called me saying she pulled off the side of the road—she couldn't see more than 10-20 yards in front of her and I could hear the car getting the holy snot beat out of it by hail. She was about 15 miles northwest of the point where this video was shot from (and probably got hit 15-20 minutes prior to when it rolled in here). So, the final moments were caught shortly after 5:30 PM—which is not nighttime during that time of the year.
EDIT: I should add that my wife made it out ok, if only a bit shaken up by the experience. Amazingly, the car made it through remarkably well: the windshield took a hit right at the seam at the top center, a handful of sizeable dents plus about a dozen small dents.