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SKILLS
Survival
(Wis)
You use this skill to survive in the wilderness, finding food and shelter and safely guiding others.
Check: You can keep yourself and others safe and fed in the wild.
| Difficulty | Task |
|---|---|
| 10 | Get along in the wild. Move up to half the character's overland speed while hunting and foraging (no food or water supplies needed). The character can provide food and water for one other person for every 2 points by which the character's check result exceeds 10. |
| 15 | Gain a +2 circumstance bonus on Fortitude saves against severe weather while moving up to half the character's overland speed, or gain a +4 circumstance bonus if stationary. The character may grant the same bonus to one other character for every 1 point by which the character's check result exceeds 15. |
| 18 | Avoid getting lost and avoid natural hazards, such as quicksand. |
Choose Direction: When seeking a destination that can be deduced from the natural surroundings (the lair of a creature, the nearest source of water, the exit from a cavern), you can make a Survival check at Difficulty 20 to choose the correct direction. If you fail, you choose the wrong direction, but realise your mistake either at the next juncture for a decision (if you are finding your way through a maze of streams, for example, or amidst ancient tunnels), or the following day.
Trailblazing: You can use this skill to cut a trail through the toughest terrain and allow you and your allies to increase your overland movement. When you travel over terrain that hampers your movement, you may make a Survival check at Difficulty 15. If you succeed, you increase your movement by 1/4. If you fail, you suffer the normal movement penalty. You canno go faster than your normal unhampered speed.
You can blaze a trail for up to five people (including yourself) without a penalty.
You cannot use the trailblazing ability in combat.
Track: You can use Survival to find and follow tracks. Finding tracks or following them for one mile requires a successful Survival check. You must make another Survival check each time the tracks become difficult to follow. You move at half your normal speed while tracking (or at your normal speed with a -5 penalty on the check, or at up to twice your normal speed with a -20 penalty on the check). The Difficulty depends on the surface, as given on the Surface table below.
| Surface | Difficulty |
|---|---|
| Very soft ground | 5 |
| Soft ground | 10 |
| Firm ground | 15 |
| Hard ground | 20 |
Very Soft Ground: Any surface (fresh snow, thick dust, wet mud) that holds deep, clear impressions of footprints.
Soft Ground: Any surface soft enough to yield to pressure, but firmer than wet mud or fresh snow, in which a creature leaves frequent but shallow footprints.
Firm Ground: Most normal outdoor surfaces (such as lawns, fields, woods, and the like) or exceptionally soft or dirty indoor surfaces (thick rugs and dirty or dusty floors). The creature might leave some traces (broken branches or tufts of hair), but it leaves only occasional or partial footprints.
Hard Ground: Any surface that doesn't hold footprints at all, such as bare rock or an indoor floor. Most streambeds fall into this category, since any footprints left behind are obscured or washed away. The creature leaves only traces (scuff marks or displaced pebbles).
Several modifiers may apply to the Survival check, as given on the condition table.
| Condition | Difficulty Modifier |
|---|---|
| Every three creatures in the group being tracked | -1 |
| Size of the largest creature being tracked: | |
| Fine | +8 |
| Diminutive | +4 |
| Tiny | +2 |
| Small | +1 |
| Medium | +0 |
| Large | -1 |
| Huge | -2 |
| Gargantuan | -4 |
| Colossal | -8 |
| Every 24 hours since the trail was made | +1 |
| Every hour of rain since the trail was made | +1 |
| Fresh snow cover since the trail was made | +10 |
| Poor visibility (apply the largest modifier) | |
| Overcast or moonless night | +6 |
| Moonlight | +3 |
| Fog or precipitation | +3 |
| Tracked party hides trail and moves at half speed | +5 |
If you fail a Survival check, you can retry after 1 hour (outdoors) or 10 minutes (indoors) of searching.
Try Again: No, except as noted in the section on Tracking.
Action: Survival checks occur each day in the wilderness or whenever a hazard presents itself.