Environment
Source GM Core pg. 141
The environment and terrain of a region can pose as much of a challenge to an adventuring party as any of the foes they face. The following section references the environment categories beginning under Environment.
Common Environments
Source GM Core pg. 141
The following environments are common enough that they might appear in nearly any adventure or world.
Aquatic: Oceans, seas, lakes, and other large waterways are aquatic environments.
Arctic: Arctic environments usually appear near the northern and southern extremes of a world, though extreme elevation, unusually shaped worlds, and supernatural forces could result in arctic terrain elsewhere.
Desert: Deserts can appear anywhere on a world where precipitation is scant, even along some oceans. Any large landmasses that entirely lack bodies of water are likely to be deserts.
Forest: The composition of a forest depends on the climate and the elevation, with thick jungles more common near an equator, hardwood forests in more temperate zones, and evergreens at higher latitudes and elevations. Most worlds have a tree line—an elevation above which trees can't grow.
Mountain: A world's highest peaks can stretch tens of thousands of feet above sea level. This category also includes hills, which are typically no more than 1,000 feet tall.
Plains: Mostly flat and unobstructed, plains are usually at lower elevations, but they can also be found at higher elevations on plateaus.
Swamp: Wide floodplains, shallow lakes, and marshes can appear at most latitudes.
Underground: Colonies and outposts on barren worlds are often built underground to protect from cosmic radiation and maintain livable temperatures. They can also be constructed into mountains as part of a larger settlement.
Urban: Cities and settlements are urban environments. These areas are detailed in Settlements.
Aquatic: Oceans, seas, lakes, and other large waterways are aquatic environments.
Arctic: Arctic environments usually appear near the northern and southern extremes of a world, though extreme elevation, unusually shaped worlds, and supernatural forces could result in arctic terrain elsewhere.
Desert: Deserts can appear anywhere on a world where precipitation is scant, even along some oceans. Any large landmasses that entirely lack bodies of water are likely to be deserts.
Forest: The composition of a forest depends on the climate and the elevation, with thick jungles more common near an equator, hardwood forests in more temperate zones, and evergreens at higher latitudes and elevations. Most worlds have a tree line—an elevation above which trees can't grow.
Mountain: A world's highest peaks can stretch tens of thousands of feet above sea level. This category also includes hills, which are typically no more than 1,000 feet tall.
Plains: Mostly flat and unobstructed, plains are usually at lower elevations, but they can also be found at higher elevations on plateaus.
Swamp: Wide floodplains, shallow lakes, and marshes can appear at most latitudes.
Underground: Colonies and outposts on barren worlds are often built underground to protect from cosmic radiation and maintain livable temperatures. They can also be constructed into mountains as part of a larger settlement.
Urban: Cities and settlements are urban environments. These areas are detailed in Settlements.
Extreme Environments
Source GM Core pg. 141
Some adventures lead to fantastic reaches of the world or the multiverse that are seldom explored by mortals.
Aerial: A world might include windy realms of floating islands and castles in the clouds, or form a swirling gas giant.
Alien: Encompassing all manner of unique environments, alien environments represent biomes prevalent to a specific world or even those we haven't yet pondered could exist. Examples could include a vast sea of self-replicating crystal or a world where the landmasses and water shift into different states of matter at irregular intervals.
Glacier: Massive sheets of dense ice constantly moving under their own immense weight, glaciers are frozen wastelands riddled with columns of jagged ice and snowcovered crevasses.
Gravity: Both high- and low-gravity environments present opportunities for fantastical ecologies and challenges for visitors. See page 98 for more details on these environments.
Radioactive: Whether barren wastes or abandoned cities, these environments frequently feature mutated flora and fauna, pools of acid, and radioactive materials that can overwhelm even higher-level environmental protections.
Underground: Some worlds have deep natural caverns, while others have extensive winding tunnels and expansive realms below the surface.
Undersea: A subset of aquatic environments, undersea environments are those areas submerged beneath the waves.
Vacuum: Worlds without breathable air are either deserted wastelands or otherwise occupied only by constructs,undead, and cosmic beings often too alien for most mortals to understand.
Virtual Reality: Your world is entirely digital. Your players can only ascertain this truth over time via hints, and whether or not the entire planet's population is trapped in a virtual space, or the entire universe is a simulation, can depend on the campaign's scope and theme.
Volcanic: Hellish landscapes of molten lava, burning ash, and scorching temperatures pose immediate danger.
Aerial: A world might include windy realms of floating islands and castles in the clouds, or form a swirling gas giant.
Alien: Encompassing all manner of unique environments, alien environments represent biomes prevalent to a specific world or even those we haven't yet pondered could exist. Examples could include a vast sea of self-replicating crystal or a world where the landmasses and water shift into different states of matter at irregular intervals.
Glacier: Massive sheets of dense ice constantly moving under their own immense weight, glaciers are frozen wastelands riddled with columns of jagged ice and snowcovered crevasses.
Gravity: Both high- and low-gravity environments present opportunities for fantastical ecologies and challenges for visitors. See page 98 for more details on these environments.
Radioactive: Whether barren wastes or abandoned cities, these environments frequently feature mutated flora and fauna, pools of acid, and radioactive materials that can overwhelm even higher-level environmental protections.
Underground: Some worlds have deep natural caverns, while others have extensive winding tunnels and expansive realms below the surface.
Undersea: A subset of aquatic environments, undersea environments are those areas submerged beneath the waves.
Vacuum: Worlds without breathable air are either deserted wastelands or otherwise occupied only by constructs,undead, and cosmic beings often too alien for most mortals to understand.
Virtual Reality: Your world is entirely digital. Your players can only ascertain this truth over time via hints, and whether or not the entire planet's population is trapped in a virtual space, or the entire universe is a simulation, can depend on the campaign's scope and theme.
Volcanic: Hellish landscapes of molten lava, burning ash, and scorching temperatures pose immediate danger.