Any place in the game world that a player might want to make a skill check is an environment, of which there are three tiers: adventurer, champion, and epic.

Adventurer environments are for level 1-3 characters: city streets, wilderness areas, shallow dungeons, regular old ruins, and that sort of thing.

Champion environments are for level 4-6 characters: deeper dungeons, danker swamps, guarded gates of the big cities, and those sorts of places.

Epic environments are for level 7+ characters. They are typically related to icons, unique villains, deep underworld locations, the most forbidding peaks, the upper reaches of the world, and so on.

The GM determines the environs where the adventure takes place.

Environment Chart by Level

Environment DCs for Skill Checks

The environment the PCs are in determines the DC of skill checks and other challenges they may face.

Adventurer-tier Skill Check DCs

Champion-tier Skill Check DCs

Epic-tier Skill Check DCs

Impromptu Damage

When you need to determine how much damage some effect deals, use the chart below, basing the damage on two things: the environment, and whether the damage affects one character or many.

Traps & Obstacles

As shown in the chart below, attack rolls for traps and other features of the environment follow the same mathematical model as DCs for skill checks.

Use the skill check DC on the table to give you a general guideline for PCs attempting to disarm a trap (once they notice that there is a trap). Failure means the trap will trigger.

Skill Check DCs, Trap/Obstacle Attacks & Impromptu Damage by Environment