Weather in D&D | What Can You Do About It? | Wandering DMs S05 E23

Wandering DMs

Dan & Paul chat about different weather systems for D&D they've seen over the years. Do you prefer yours simple, or very detailed? Dice-based or DM narrative fiat? And why is it so important for wilderness adventures and wargaming?

Numerical weather prediction (NWP) uses mathematical models of the atmosphere and oceans to predict the weather based on current weather conditions. Though first attempted in the 1920s, it was not until the advent of computer simulation in the 1950s that numerical weather predictions produced realistic results. A number of global and regional forecast models are run in different countries worldwide, using current weather observations relayed from radiosondes, weather satellites and other observing systems as inputs.

Mathematical models based on the same physical principles can be used to generate either short-term weather forecasts or longer-term climate predictions; the latter are widely applied for understanding and projecting climate change. The improvements made to regional models have allowed for significant improvements in tropical cyclone track and air quality forecasts; however, atmospheric models perform poorly at handling processes that occur in a relatively constricted area, such as wildfires.

• Try a web version of the AD&D Greyhawk Weather system here
• Watch Book of War Men vs. Monster Round 1 (cloudy weather) here
• Watch Book of War Men vs. Monster Round 2 (rainy weather) here

This description uses material from the Wikipedia article "Numerical weather prediction", which is released under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share-Alike License 3.0.