depends on the location/locale. drowning i have seen come up often (but to be fair, alot of places i've played in have been coastal)
cold is going to factor in a good bit of one i am working on. just all depends.
Granted, I'm running a Paizo AP but it comes up a lot in Shattered Star. I've had darkness, drowning, sound, low-light and falling conditions off the top of my head.
I'm not a killer GM, but I do use environments a ton to keep things from getting too stale. The environment doesn't have to be absolutely deadly to be interesting. Even small features such as a hedge wall or hip-deep water can add interesting dynamics that prolong even simple fights, and it seems to draw even the most rulebound tactics-head into the narrative situation to look for something they can use too.
Walls and crates provide cover, spells can cause fires, and swampwater always has leeches/snakes/crocodiles. Curtains are climbable, stairs can be fallen down, windows can be jumped through, and chandeliers are wonderful. If things are boring, you aren't paying attention to where you are.
That said, it prolongs things. I started a fight with four kobolds (reskinned as old-style water fairies- the kind that grab and drown you to eat you) on a shallow shoreline. It took ~11 turns to resolve, even though no one took damage.
I also had low-level players sent to a recent battlefield in hell. As an afterthought, I had a ton of little scavenger crabs feasting on all of the bodies. It took uncomfortably long for them to catch on that the little crabs that were carpeting the place weren't meant to be a fighting challenge and were just atmosphere.
It's only really a problem because most play sessions I'm able to have lately are about 3 hours length, and you really want people to feel like they've accomplished something. By running less-than-lethal fights a lot of the time, my combat goes by quicker (11 rounds was about 12 minutes with five people), but it's still time the players aren't doing anything else. They're usually more hooked on unraveling mysteries, big or small, than getting loot goodies.
Addendum: Even on fight-driven people, long fights don't always equate to good ones. My first really test of RPTools as a platform were driven by the novel-sounding lighting and line-of-sight engine. Tested with 5 level 2 characters and 6 1 hit dice orcs. Turned out to be absolutely obnoxious in practice, as people were spending 2-3 turns each just moving a fraction of their movement rate to check if they could see a new target or not. Realistic chaos just wasn't fun, as each person was fighting in isolation and frustrated when they were trying to help others or find something useful to do. If I hadn't turned off combat rules, a few players would still have been shuffling around long after the fight ended. I suspect it would have taken about ~4 turns running as normal, and we stopped at turn 20 if my memory serves.
Edit: We were using individual sight for players, not group sight. Will never do that again.
I use it more often at low levels, when your mundane equipment is just as important as the magic kind. Later on I use it less frequently, and mostly so they can show off how they can handle the situation with new toys.
It's always in effect for me. But, since I'm in an AP I just go by what it says generally.
I use the terrain and other environmental conditions a lot. It adds tactical variety to the encounters.
I use it a good bit. Mainly because I want my players to know that positioning is a dramatic factor in combat. (And it gives Bull-rush, reposition, drag, Ring of the Ram, etc a chance to shine)
I typically use rain and wind quite a bit. The combination makes difficult terrain as well as makes ranged attacks take a penalty.
Last session I also had the PCs be attacked by a pair of venomous snakes living inside a moderately quick moving river, which the PCs enjoyed a lot since their ranged attacks took a penalty by shooting from land into water. One of them, a physics major, made sure we all were aware about the refraction of water, and that the object you're aiming at is actually in another position than your eyes see.
That was enjoyable :)
Environments are also a chance for increasing the player's options, not just decreasing them.
Players can climb things to add a 3D effect to their movement. They can duck behind things to use cover, or hop on top of them to get the advantage of high ground (a small bonus, but also changes line of sight).
Water also protects very well from a lot of magic and breath weapons, since the surface of water breaks line of sight/line of effect for most of them. This can backfire for the players too (Lightning and Ice spells come to mind).
I'm reminded of a fight where my players were on moving wagons, fighting a Digester. The paladin bull-rushed it after its first acid squirt (which could one-shot them, and was just demonstrated on an NPC), trying to push it off of the front of the wagon so it would get run over. It worked, and everyone at the table whooped in victory.
the physical enviroment tends to screw martials far more than it ever does casters.
since the enviroment rules are so disproprtionately biased against martials. it is best to ignore the majority enviroment rules with the exception of things like ceiling height and dungeon space.
wind barely penalizes the flying wizard, but damn, it cripples the archer. which removes the primary way for martials dealing with fliers.
but it doesn't remove the benefit of ranged spells.
meaning casters aren't hindered because they are an exception to the rule.
That predicates the caster having the requisite spell available at the time, though.
Actually, anything that penalizes ranged attacks in general also interfere with rays and ranged touch attacks. I don't know where you get they wouldn't.
While casters can usually still attack unhindered, they usually don't have the stats or skills to deal with hampering conditions. Ex: an unstable ship that requires an acrobatics check each round. The martials generally have a lot less trouble.
I find that it balances out.
I agree with the always on form of play. I usually give my players a few pieces to put on the table. When it comes to camping, I give them a survival roll and give them more terrain to place for a higher roll.
I use some other skill based on the situation to determine how many pieces the players get.
OF course they don't get to choose it all. Sometimes they are ambushed with no choice. Other times they get to see the field before they enter it.
If you don't use terrain, in my opinion, you screw many characters' abilities. If there is no where to hide, you screw the rogue. If there is no terrain to jump over, you screw the monk. If there is no cover, you screw the low armored archer/caster. If you don't have a corner to fight in to stave off flanking, you screw the out numbered fighter.
I feel it really brings the world to life. Otherwise, you really don't even need a battlemat as it will just end up being a line or mob of combatants.
At my table, I've always used the environment as NPCs in the adventure-some environs are helpful and others are not. Climbing a sheer 60-foot cliff can be more daunting for many PCs than a horde of monsters. Since my players typically don't use their skill points the same way, I'm always careful to put the PCs into environments that give each of them an opportunity to shine.
I am often amused when my player respond more woefully to a cliff, a rope bridge, a river, or a swamp than they do to a group of Storm Giants.
I often use audio recordings of nature sounds in the background during my sessions - wind, rain, thunder, chirping birds, dripping water in caves, bustle of a marketplace, waves washing or crashing on a shore, the rickety creaking of a boat's hull, and so on to help establish the mood. Once while the PCs were gathered around the table - rain storm playing in the background - the characters were talking about what their plans for the next game day were when I slipped in another audio file and cranked up the volume - it was my favorite Godzilla roar - and half the table jumped crying out expletives "What the f... was that" "Holy s..." "Where did that come from?" The PCs doubled the watch in camp that night.
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I agree with the always on form of play. I usually give my players a few pieces to put on the table. When it comes to camping, I give them a survival roll and give them more terrain to place for a higher roll.
I use some other skill based on the situation to determine how many pieces the players get.
OF course they don't get to choose it all. Sometimes they are ambushed with no choice. Other times they get to see the field before they enter it.
If you don't use terrain, in my opinion, you screw many characters' abilities. If there is no where to hide, you screw the rogue. If there is no terrain to jump over, you screw the monk. If there is no cover, you screw the low armored archer/caster. If you don't have a corner to fight in to stave off flanking, you screw the out numbered fighter.
I feel it really brings the world to life. Otherwise, you really don't even need a battlemat as it will just end up being a line or mob of combatants.
That's a neat idea with the survival check to see what their camp site ends up like. If I can ask just what sort of terrain pieces do you give them, do you use terrain pieces similar to something like what is used in warhammer fantasy?
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If they feature prominently in your campaigns, I'd love to hear how. If they are just an afterthought, why is that?
The rough part is when you overdo it. Too many off-the-wall environmental factors lead to player paranoia. They'll start over-preparing and over-thinking, which leads to long boring minutiae as players start to prepare themselves for every single eventuality. Not heroic, and not fun.
A better option is to introduce single elements that don't really engender a lot of pre-battle planning, but can give players and the GM tactical options in combat.
I like using furniture, myself. It adds verisimilitude, since nobody lives in stark empty 10x10ft rooms without even a chair. Furniture can be moved, tipped over onto people, used for cover, etc. Here's an example.
I had a room that was an underground home for a long-dead wizard. This particular room was a study, so there were bookshelves, tables, etc. I figured he'd need some light and warmth, so I put a big brazier in the center of the room, and a couple candle stands around the room. I also added some heavy tapestries that the wizard used for visual aids (star charts, planar diagrams, etc).
In practice, the players had a great time with it. The ranged characters kicked the tables over to use for cover, which led the hobgoblins to kick the brazier over to ignite the table with the hot coals. Another player pulled down a tapestry to entangle three hobs, and the next player kicked a candelabra over to set the tapestry on fire. There were at least two hobgoblins that were crushed to death by a domino effect of falling bookshelves.
These are easy props to make, too. My tables were just a cut-rectangle of cardstock, and I trimmed a straw into short table legs. Glued them suckers together and hit it with a brown sharpie, and Bob's your uncle.
The bookshelves were just cardstock boxes, and the brazier and candelabras were miniatures, I believe.
It sounds like Shattered Star might be an AP I'd enjoy.
@Parka - You certainly don't have to be a killer to use the environment creatively. I got that reputation mostly because I ran an open game with a very full table and a fairly long waiting list at a local shop in which everyone was told that they were going to die if they didn't respect the environment. Several of them didn't think I was serious until they lost their characters and their seat. It isn't a reputation that troubles me, as it now attracts players who feel they're up for greater challenges.
Do you find that the prolonged fights are actually an issue? I am usually somewhat liberal with story-progression based xp, so the actual number of encounters is largely irrelevant to my campaigns. I can see how it might be a problem otherwise.
Wait players lose their spot at your table if their characters die? And you wonder why you have a negative reputation or are attracting an overly competative kind of player?
Prolonged fights are an issue in the sense that characters generally cannot survive them. More then 5 or 6 rounds in which the party is actually threatened (not a chase, but an actual fight or in the midst of a hazard) is more then most parties could survive mathematically. This has nothing to do with 'respecting the environment' and everything to do with how much damage things do in pathfinder vs how much pcs can take.
Since my first campaign was Kingmaker, environmental rules have always played a big part in my games. Wandering around Russia in February quickly informs players that winter gear and lots of supplies are important.
That's a neat idea with the survival check to see what their camp site ends up like. If I can ask just what sort of terrain pieces do you give them, do you use terrain pieces similar to something like what is used in warhammer fantasy?
Hills, trees, rivers, ponds, hedges, small ruins, sections of difficult terrain, tombstones and just plain old rocks.
Any of these things can give them cover, concealment or create bottle-necks and killing boxes against their foes. I have played with the same group for years. Usually it takes them less time to set up camp than it takes me to get the minis that are attacking them.
I like it because it gives me a challenge as the GM. One aspect of the game that GMs normally miss out on is the challenge presented when they don't know the map. I like it when the players surprise me with something they set up that I didn't notice.
Even a higher-level party can have difficulties with basic environment stuff. My 9th-level PCs in my current game were travelling cross-country (the wizard can teleport, but can't move everyone AND their cohorts AND their animal companions, so it gets saved for emergency escapes or message-carrying), and had to cross a raging river in flood. Took them a bit of fun skill checks, thinking, and teamwork to get across.
You can get them to use up spells or equipment, or think about the issue. And fights with things on the map that affect them are more fun than blank grid battles.
Plus, as a GM you can get some neat ideas for high-level NPCs by watching your PCs play ;)
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I always use the environment if appropriate. (My PCs are currently close to Golarian's north pole, so cold is a big factor.)
More subtly, environment-wise, one of the things I actually step back and force myself to do is to provide multi-sense descriptions. My goal is that every description of what the PCs are perceiving engages at least three of the five senses. (Vision and hearing are almost always in the mix, of course, then smell, with touch and taste coming into play occasionally.)
Smell is the fun one. For whatever reason, good descriptions of what the PCs' noses are picking up gets my players immersed more than anything else.
Anyway, by forcing myself to do that, I make it necessary that I'm constantly mindful of the PCs' environment, and if I'm mindful of it, I can use it if appropriate.