I’ve been reading about environmental challenges in tabletop roleplaying games and started thinking what examples I could come up with from this genre. I’m talking here of ways in which a combat encounter or character’s progress can be made more difficult by the elements around them.

Water

Always bring a waterbreathing item

In Dungeons & Dragons Online, water features in quite a few overland zones and dungeons. It can be a real danger to characters in heavy armour, in particular if they haven’t invested skill points in the swim skill. Drowning in this game is perfectly possible, so having a magical spell or item for waterbreathing can be a real boon on any character.

Water can also hide things. Whether it’s a sea cave that gives access to a dungeon portal, a waterfall hiding a tunnel or a sunken ship on the seabed – there can be a lot of…