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10-Things-Avalanches-375 9080

The combination of high peaks and heavy snowfalls means avalanches are a deadly peril in many mountainous areas. While avalanches of snow and ice are common, it’s also possible to have an avalanche of loose rock and soil.

It’s possible to hear an avalanche coming even if you can’t see it. Under optimum conditions (no other loud noises occurring), a character who makes a DC 15 Notice check can hear an approaching avalanche or landslide.

A landslide or avalanche consists of two distinct areas: the bury zone (in the direct path of the falling debris) and the slide zone (the area the debris spreads out to encompass). Characters in the bury zone of a cave-in take +8 damage, half that amount if they make a DC 15 Reflex save. They are subsequently buried. Characters in the slide zone take +4 damage, or none at all if they make a DC 15 Reflex save. Characters in the slide zone who fail their saves are also buried.

Characters must make an additional Toughness save per minute while buried. The initial DC is 15, increasing by +1 per save. If a character falls unconscious, further damage becomes lethal.

Characters who aren’t buried can try to dig out their friends. In one minute, a character can clear rocks and debris equal to five times his heavy load limit. Loose stone and rubble filling a 5-footby- 5-foot area weighs about a ton (2,000 pounds). Armed with an appropriate digging tool, a character can clear loose stone twice as fast as by hand. You may also allow a buried character to free himself with a DC 25 Strength check. Super-Strength bonus applies to this check.

The typical avalanche has a width of 1oo to 500 feet, from one edge of the slide zone to the opposite edge. The bury zone in the center of the avalanche is half as wide as the avalanche’s full width. Avalanches of snow and ice advance at a speed of 500 feet per round, and rock avalanches travel at a speed of 250 feet per round.

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