Choking Smoke
A massive forest fire, volcanic ash, hellish fumaroles, steaming waters, or a burning city have covered the landscape in a thick suffocating cloud.
Choking Smog. At the end of every hour in this area, creatures make a DC 17 Constitution saving throw or take 14 (4d6) poison damage. A creature that is immune to poison damage or does not need to breathe automatically succeeds on this save. Any creature that takes a 40 or more poison damage from the smog becomes poisoned , and a poisoned creature that fails its saving throw suffers one level of fatigue . A poisoned creature that critically fails its saving throw falls unconscious for 60 (1d12 × 10) minutes.
Face Coverings. The use of 1 Supply worth of water adequately wets a cloth or face-covering for 2 (1d4) hours, granting a creature wearing it advantage on Constitution saving throws against the smog’s effects.
Hazy Vision. The maximum range of any sight-based senses is 30 feet. In addition, Perception checks are made with disadvantage , and all passive scores (including passive Perception) are reduced by 5.
Keep Low. An adventurer can make an Investigation check to find areas free of smog to get re-oriented and help navigate the area. On a success, the party gains an expertise die on ability checks made against this challenge.
- Make a group Survival check to safely traverse the area.
- The smoke can be temporarily blown away by the casting of a gust of wind spell, giving the adventurers advantage on checks and saving throws made against it.
Potential Outcomes
Critical Failure: The winds shift and the smog seems to follow the adventurers like a hungry predator. Navigating away from it takes 5 (2d4) hours of travel time.
Failure: The adventurers lose 2 (1d4) hours of travel time navigating through the smog.
Success: The adventurers make it through a thin bank of the smog and are only exposed to it for 1 hour.
Critical Success: A confluence of timing and luck sees the weather take a turn for the better and the adventurers are not slowed at all by the smog. Roll on the Boons and Discoveries table.
Leave It Be
Bypassing the choking smoke is possible but difficult as the air currents and raging fires can spread if unmonitored and controlled, so safely traveling around it costs an extra 3 (1d4+1) days of travel time.