A Review of the Role Playing Game Supplement Sidebar #38 – Affliction Tracks for Environmental Conditions

Sidebar #38 – Affliction Tracks for Environmental Conditions by Matt Roth is a role playing game supplement published by Fat Goblin Games for use with the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game. As such, it is covered by the Open Game License and some parts are considered to be Open Game Content as a result.

This is a four page PDF that is available from DriveThruRPG for $1 but was purchased at a greatly reduced price as part of a special bundle. One page is the front cover and one the Open Game License.

The opening paragraphs state that environmental conditions are a great trope of fantasy adventures but that the way the rules are implemented either bog down gameplay or are not heroic. This supplement uses the affliction subsystem from Pathfinder Unchained to alter how environmental dangers are handled.

Next are methods of simplifying suffocation and temperature hazards. There is a small table of weather conditions and how different extremes of heat and cold affect saves and the end steps.

The main part is three environmental tracks. One for drowning and suffocation, one for extreme heat and one for extreme cold. The drowning and suffocation tracks are almost identical apart from one condition. Each track has six steps, each of which is described. They start at healthy and end at dead.

Sidebar #38 – Affliction Tracks for Environmental Conditions in Review

The PDF lacks bookmarks and, with only two pages of actual content, doesn’t need them. Navigation is okay. The text maintains a two column colour format and no errors were noticed. There is a single colour illustration on the front cover. Presentation is okay.

Having access to Pathfinder Unchained may help a bit with understanding affliction tracks but the concept seems easy enough to understand that that supplement is probably not essential. The way of handling the environmental conditions is greatly simplified, with an easy to use track to follow. The track setup is the same for each condition, even if the individual stages are different for different tracks. Having all the tracks work the same way is useful. This is a short, easy to use substitute that makes handling the hazards of an environment far simpler. Sidebar #38 – Affliction Tracks for Environmental Conditions can be found by clicking here.