I'm never doubting terrain rules again...

I have lived in generally one area, the midwest United States, for my entire life and as a result I have gained a very sheltered world-view. Until this year, I had never flown on an airplane or even seen a mountain, let alone actually go up to the top of one.

I had the good fortune of being selected for travel to Colorado earlier this year on business, unfortunately it was a very short trip and I didn't get a chance to actually visit the mountains. That all changed for me this week. As I write this I am near Denver once again, and Sunday I had the good fortune to get a guided tour up Mount Evans.

Being a "flatlander" from the Midwest, I was told that I would need lots of water and to be prepared for the thin mountain air. No problem, I thought, I exercise regularly and won't have much of a problem.

WRONG! As we approached the summit (which is 14,264 feet above sea level), I noticed that I had a pretty decent headache going and that walking 20 feet to the observation area made me feel like I had just gone on a pretty difficult run. I drank my water and felt better, however it took me until today to shake the headache completely.

So how's this relate to roleplaying? Easy. As we headed up the mountain, I got some pretty distinct (and somewhat frightening) views of drop-offs and loose gravel. I thought to myself all of the times that I've eschewed the D20 movement rules for difficult terrain... let's just say I won't be doing that from here on out. There's no way you can run full boar in that elevation if you're not used to it, and there's even less of a chance that you don't slip and fall on gravel, snow, or ice.

I might entertain arguments that a Toughness feat, a high constitution, or something similar might make it less difficult, but let me tell you... it was rough up there.

I will be back at SR Central late Wednesday night, so until then I will leave you to the cool jazz stylings of Stupid Ranger and Vanir!