RPG Weather - Haven System

I've complained about it before and made a bunch of tables and all sorts of things, but weather tables in RPGs are rough. Too complicated, not an interesting flow of weather, too random, and so on. Even the ideas I came up with were OK (at best - and I'm biased) ... but not really interesting or even that easy to use. Then I discovered this absolute gem!

Of course I had to abscond with the idea and make some changes to fit my needs. It really is a beautiful system and quite flexible. It is dynamic, gives patterns to recognize, and is really simple to set up!

How To Use these Tables

1. Start somewhere. For example my game in late spring, so I'm starting in the center hex of the spring table.
2. Roll a d6 and follow the rules as Daniel wrote. They are simple and fun!

[New Stuff] 

1. In the last weeks of a season, roll 1d4 instead of 1d6
2. If during that time a result on the right side of the table is a 2 or 3, transition to the left-most hex on the season table. 
3. If the next season starts but the weather table is still the previous season, don't freak out. instead roll 1d6 is results of: 1 = up, 2-3= right up, 4-5 = right down, 6 = down
4. And follow new rule 2 up there. Eventually you'll get to the next season's table

Special Hexes

Then I decided that I could do some sort of special hexes. The top-most and bottom-most hexes are special in that they tend to stick around for a bit. So in the spring the first time one of the top or bottom hexes are encountered they are Spiced Winds. As soon as the weather leaves that hex, they change to Doldrums and the other once becomes Spiced Winds. The winds can stick around for a few days, but don't come about too often. Cool!

What My Weather Types Mean

• Clear: normal uninteresting day, reasonable season temperature, winds, etc.
• Cloudy: overcast and cloudy. when this hex comes immediate roll for the next day to see what kind of clouds - if rain or storm is 'on the horizon' they look like 'rain clouds' or 'storm clouds' rather than just 'grey shitty day clouds'.
• Cool / Warm: lower or higher temperatures than normal, but not out of the question
• Cold: not just cool but cold!
• Cold Snap: indicates cold, but a sudden drop in temperature when it happens
• Heat Wave: it is way too hot and will linger, the next day's weather not even kicking in until later in the day
• Oddly Warm: it is way too warm for winter. not crazy hot, but a really warm day.
• Rain: it rains!
• Sleet: is it rain? is it snow? It sucks no matter what, freezer over if next day is snow
• Storm: it rains really hard and is probably windy. If in the winder it is a snow storm. if the previous day was sleet it might be snow for a bit.
• Windy: it is hella windy. Haven is by the sea, so this isn't too weird
• Fog: big heavy fog rolls in off the sea. pea-soup stuff. a good time to do crimes.
• Light Snow: some snow falls. it is pretty.
• Thunder Snow: snowfall with thunder and lightning
• Silent Snow: sound is dampened, snow cover is heavy
• Wet Snow: nasty bsuiness. roll another 1d6. On a 1-4 it ices over. Gross
• Howling Wind: just really intense gale that seems to have a bit of howling coming from the wind itself
• Warm Wind: it is warm, which is nice in the winter
• Doldrums: totally calm day, no wind, magnify previous day's weather (ignoring wind)
• Spiced Wind: winds that carry the scent of spices and far-off places. usually considered an omen (50/50 good or bad) depending on when they arrive.
• Blood Rain: the rainwater is reddish and leaves a film on things. it is a type of reds algae that lives in the clouds
• Ashy: The sky gets smudgey clouds and a a bit of ash, like a light rain, falls from the sky. nobody knows where this comes from 
• The Calm: The weather is fantastic and a perfect temperature - everything seems calmer on these days, including the people and creatures of Haven. usually a good pop-up market day
• Black Tides: the weather from the previous day continues and the tides are particularly high and low - the water is dark, a dangerous time to be in the ocean and the mouth of the rivers
• Wendigo Snow Storm: this happens at most once a winter (then it becomes Howling Winds). Incredible winds, heavy stinging snow fall, and wendigo stalk the streets at night.

And now for some tables:

Spring	Summer
Autumn	Winter

In Action!

My calendar has 12 months, each with 28 days (because fuck it - why make it complicated like real life?). Spring is March - May, 3 months per season. Starting on May 7th in the center spring hex, here is an example of the daily weather.

Date	Season	Die	Roll	Weather
May 7	Spring	d6	x	clear
May 8	Spring	d6	4	warm
May 9	Spring	d6	4	windy
May 10	Spring	d6	1	warm
May 11	Spring	d6	3	rain
May 12	Spring	d6	1	clear
May 13	Spring	d6	1	clear
May 14	Spring	d6	4	clear
May 15	Spring	d6	2	warm
May 16	Spring	d6	3	ahsy
May 17	Spring	d6	6	warm
May 18	Spring	d6	5	clear
May 19	Spring	d6	3	storm
May 20	Spring	d6	1	warm
May 21	Spring	d6	3	ashy
May 22	Spring (transition)	d4	2	Storm
May 23	Spring (summer)	d6	4	rain
May 24	Spring (summer)	d6	6	storm
May 25	Spring (summer)	d6	4	rain
May 26	Spring (summer)	d6	6	storm
May 27	Spring (summer)	d6	1	cold snap
May 28	Spring (summer)	d6	4	storm
June 1	Summer	d6	4	rain
June 2	Summer	d6	2	The Calm
June 3	Summer	d6	3	clear
June 4	Summer	d6	4	warm
June 5	Summer	d6	1	clear
June 6	Summer	d6	5	warm
June 7	Summer	d6	2	clear
June 8	Summer	d6	4	warm
June 9	Summer	d6	3	Black Tides
June 10	Summer	d6	4	Black Tides
June 11	Summer	d6	3	Black Tides
June 12	Summer	d6	6	Warm
June 13	Summer	d6	6	Warm
June 14	Summer	d6	1	The Calm
June 15	Summer	d6	2	Clear
June 16	Summer	d6	3	Cloudy
June 17	Summer	d6	3	Spiced Wind
June 18	Summer	d6	5	Storm
June 19	Summer	d6	4	Black Tides
June 20	Summer	d6	5	Black Tides
June 21	Summer	d6	4	Black Tides
June 22	Summer	d6	4	Black Tides
June 23	Summer	d6	3	Black Tides
June 24	Summer	d6	1	Storm
June 25	Summer	d6	4	Black Tides
June 26	Summer	d6	1	Storm
June 27	Summer	d6	4	Black Tides
June 28	Summer	d6	1	Storm
July 1	Summer	d6	5	warm
July 2	Summer	d6	6	warm
July 3	Summer	d6	2	clear
July 4	Summer	d6	2	cloudy
July 5	Summer	d6	5	clear
July 6	Summer	d6	6	The Calm
July 7	Summer	d6	1	Cool

Additional Thoughts

This simple idea is so rad - it could be used to chart the course of anything dynamic. What about how the forces in a war are doing, or the relationships between factions, or the unrest in a nation? All of these are possible. It really may be one of the best things I've found on the internet.