Strictly off the beaten track, non official rules but... bow use, and particularly composite bow use becomes a problem - composite bows can fall apart in prolonged adverse weather conditions ( not just rain ), strings weaken, arrows warp, wood changes.
Depending how mean you wish to be, and fun spoiling aside for bow using characters, you could place heavy penalties on bow use - and for fumbles have a chance of weapon failure - increased for composite bows.Traditional pre modern glues for composite bows do not react well to water...
I had a heavy prolonged storm in my campaign and I imposed the harsh penalties above to bow users, cut maximum range down. One of the characters had a composite bow, and chose to sit inside buildings firing out rather than running about in the rain. Later they dared the rain, fumbled, failed a custom break test, I gave them a warning about the bow beginning to fail - rather than outright break it on the spot.
Bards would particularly hate it, as lutes and other stringed instruments are even more sensitive to rain. In fact, there are very few instruments really well suited to getting wet.
I suppose plastic vuvuzela sales would be up, another reason for people to hate you.
Hey all, thanks for all the feedback. That campaign is taking a break for a short while but when it resumes the party are going to wish they lived underground with the dark elves, illithids and aboleth rather than put up with the constant rain. LOL.
Thanks again.
FDM
Just a few questions...
Is the storm just a "static" down pour?
Any wind effects?
Any lightening?
Downpour: Treat as rain (see Precipitation, below), but conceals as fog. Can create floods.Powerful Storm (Windstorm/Blizzard/Hurricane/Tornado): Wind speeds are over 50 mph (see Table: Wind Effects). In addition, blizzards are accompanied by heavy snow (1d3 feet), and hurricanes are accompanied by downpours. Windstorms last for 1d6 hours. Blizzards last for 1d3 days. Hurricanes can last for up to a week, but their major impact on characters comes in a 24-to-48-hour period when the center of the storm moves through their area. Tornadoes are very short-lived (1d6 × 10 minutes), typically forming as part of a thunderstorm system.
Precipitation: Roll d% to determine whether the precipitation is fog (01–30), rain/snow (31–90), or sleet/hail (91–00). Snow and sleet occur only when the temperature is 30° Fahrenheit or below. Most precipitation lasts for 2d4 hours. By contrast, hail lasts for only 1d20 minutes but usually accompanies 1d4 hours of rain.
Storm (Duststorm/Snowstorm/Thunderstorm): Wind speeds are severe (30 to 50 mph) and visibility is cut by three-quarters. Storms last for 2d4–1 hours. See Storms, below, for more details.
My suggestion is to really study the Weather section in the rules, it'll help provide some rules answers to game effects.
A interesting idea might be to have the storm change depending on region/climate and possibly change in intensity from day to day. Nothing like waking up to a tornado overhead!
By broadening the storm from just a downpour to a storm that changes on climate you'll also keep the storm from becoming a positive thing and helping it remain a curse.
Wow.... why the bow user hate? :-/
I like mixing things up - and this wasn't a no bows for you event, it was more of a, how do I get round this limitation. Sure its no fun if you spoil everyones party, but this wasn't an outright hate fest, just a problem to be overcome. Environmental colour. Plus I wanted an impending attack to sneak up out of the dark with little trading of yawnifying ranged combat and skirmishing - I wanted it quick close and brutal. The heavy rain gave me a perfect excuse to nerf bow fire - from both sides. And it is realistic, albeit to make it more interesting I vastly sped up the deterioating effects of the weather.
Sometimes I feel like 3.5-esque stuff carries an abstraction too far with things like damage, wear and tear, effects and the like, and I like to inject a bit of colour into events. I tend towards being pragmatic and narrative rather than every single rule correctly in its place...
Living in Florida and doing the whole boy scout/camping thing as a kid has given me some small experience with rain... :p
1-As others have pointed out, you'll need to worry about rust on any metal equipment.
2-Leather, cloth, paper, or wooden equipment that is not weatherproofed will absorb and retain water. This can possibly damage said items or at the very least increase their weight. (Spellbooks and Spell Components for example)
3-The rain itself will hinder perception on both visual and audible levels. This may prevent line of sight, create concealment conditions, and possibly even reduce the range of bardic music effects.
4-Wet clothing can chaff and grow increasingly uncomfortable.
5-Even if you find shelter, if you are in a warm climate, having a constantly high humidity level can make it hard to keep cool. As your bodies natural means of cooling itself is to sweat and have the sweat evaporate, a high humidity prevents this. Thus, it may become hard to get comfortable enough to sleep well. Fatigue then becomes a issue.
6-In a cold climate, being constantly drenched can lead to catching a cold or worse, possibly leading to death.
7-It can be very difficult to light a fire without dry tender and wood or a dry surface on which to light your fire in the first place.
8-As the rules mention, a Downpour can cause flooding.
9-It may have been mentioned, but having water everywhere is going to cause difficult terrain. Either because of mud, standing pools of water, or just slippery floors.
10-As was mentioned up thread, attacks with ranged weapons will be difficult indeed. Bows, crossbows, firearms, and more all may be vulnerable to being wet.
Now... all this said...magic such as Endure Elements can help prevent discomfort due to temperature. Prestidigitation can be used to clean and dry. Alchemist fire can be used to start a fire. A good supply of oil can be used to keep metal rust free. Spells such as Mending or Make Whole can repair sodden water damaged equipment.
The question in my mind is... just how long would that curse last? Possibly beyond the character's death? I have this weird image in my head of another campaign, centuries down the world's timestream, where a party gets hired to find and destroy the legendary "Rainskull" that is causing storms and massive overflow damage throughout the floodplains of the Riverlands, just by being held somewhere upcountry. *wicked grin*
That said, yeah, being out in downpours all day are just going to make your character's life suck. Hell, that kind of plot hook could even be used from the other side -- "No one has been able to figure out why it has been raining for the past two weeks, but the city's council is beginning to worry. Investigate it and, if possible, stop it."
Undead and other strange creatures could involve themselves in this.
I picture some poor slob entering the ethereal, only to discover hundreds of restless souls gathering wherever the accursed character remains. Scores of spectres draw closer every day, the angry souls of those who drowned, froze to death, or fell to disease.
Fungal horrors seldom seen in civilized lands suddenly begin to spread... They grow in attics and sodden basements, their spores filling the air. Without the sunlight that normally checks their growth, nothing stops their propagation.
wala
voilà