I have done what you're doing many times in games for the very same reason.
- possible solutions I should anticipate so I know how to adjudicate them
Things your players will try:
1. Make a Fire Obvious starting point. But where are you hunkering down? On the road? In the woods?
2. Find a Cave If there is one. If there are nearby mountains there's a good chance. Bonus - is it occupied by a grumpy bear? Or, does the bear return later after the party has set up camp?
3. Find a Cabin If there is one. It depends how off the beaten path they are. Bonus - does the person who live there not want to share their warmth and food, and attempt to drive the party out? A murder hobo party will just kill the guy, but you can frame it so they'd feel really bad about it. Or, it can be a good example of them being honourable and abiding by the man's wishes...not super likely but it could happen.
4. Build an Igloo This is a good idea. Igloos are actually very warm with a fire. But constructing an Igloo takes about two hours and a lot of specalised knowledge. Does anyone have Survival: Wilderness? Also, I don't know how much the Vikings know about igloos. The Laplanders and the Sumi, sure, but where are you on the map? Because the Vikings down south almost certainly lack this knowledge.
5. The Good Old: "But I have my winter coat on! That should count for something!" To me this should not be a bonus; should be a penalty if you don't have it. Players will argue that they must have prepared for winter otherwise they wouldn't be going out, but there is separate pricing for winter gear, skiis, etc. in the books. If you know you want to do this, then make sure you remind your players before they leave civilization that there may be a storm HINT HINT and maybe they should make sure to have special winter gear. They'll start scheming and probably try and buy a dog sled and some other nonsense, but you can usually either get them on the right track or give them enough rope to hang themselves with.
6. Hunting in the Woods for Game It's Fimbulwinter, so game is scarse, but you can try. Anybody hunting would get an an extra check for the cold being out there, on top of their ability to get something. Then there's the issue of carrying it back. If you've got a big meaty warrior hunting then maybe they can sling a young deer over their shoulder and walk back; otherwise they might need a sled. This invites a series of checks. Where is everyone else going to be in the meantime? Freezing to death outside?
7. Huttling Together Naked for Warmth It's a good idea, and worth a boost to the check. The trick would be keeping the tone of the game where you want it to be and trying to mitigate the silliness of your player characters snuggling naked.
- check difficulties
I'd check for the effects of cold on party members in a sequence of maybe 3, 4, 5 difficulty? It depends who you have in the party. If somebody has Survival: Wilderness it makes a big difference.
- how many successes/failures to pass/fail the challenge
I'd limit the situation to 3 escalating checks asking for Physical runes to overcome the cold. Doing a set series drives home that it's an ongoing thing. I find that if you do more than 3 checks to survive some environmental issue going from here to there, it gets tedious.
- consequences of failure
Driving home the effects of the cold can be challenging. It depends how brutal you want to be with this. You could say:
- Pass all 3 or you freeze to death - Pass only 2 you have hypothermia, take the Degeneraton contion - Pass only 1 you are Impeded by your own freezing limbs
If you're going to be that cutthroat (cold-hearted?) I'd let everyone know the stakes beforehand. I'd even flat out say, once the blizzard starts and they're well and truly caught in it: "We're going to do a series of 3 checks to see how you handle the cold. If you fail all 3, I'm sorry, you freeze to death in the blizzard." It gives people a sense of urgency, and they start scrambling to make a fire and wiggling out any bonus they can get to survive the night - which is exactly what anyone would do in the situation.
If they inisist on being outside in the blizzard and toughing it out, I suppose you could treat it like a combat encounter, a "battle with the elements". For instance: "Another icy blow of wind sweeps past you, doing X damage." But I think it's probably more effective to impose conditions on the players (or make them pay runes to avoid them) like:
- In the open air of the blizzard? Check to avoid staring into the white of the wall of snow before you, and being Blinded - Marching through the snow? Impeded. Additional physical effect to avoid frostbite.
That could be a really fun way to encourate players into seeking shelter if they don't get the urgency of it.
Anyway, those are my initial thoughts.
//Panjumanju
_________________ -- "What strength!! But don't forget there are many guys like you all over the world."
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