Animal Handling specialization

[aesir23]

Originally Posted by Flyndaran

Gurps farming includes all plant cultivation, when every species and sometimes breed requires its own unique body of knowledge and techniques.

True. But I think that treating specific crops as Optional Specializations covers this nicely.

In the case of different breeds of the same crop, that's just a matter of Familiarity. Farmers frequently change which variety of a particular corn they grow if they think it will help them make a profit (or more commonly, make ends meet). There's a learning curve but not a very steep one, I think.




**I've never farmed myself, but both of my parents grew up on farms and my aunt and uncle run a small family dairy farm, where I've stayed and helped out. They also grow corn, hay, and oats to feed the cows, as well as soy as another source of income.

They're currently in the process of switching to Organic (which may be a Technique for farming, or at least another Familiarity.)

[Flyndaran]

Originally Posted by aesir23

...
**I've never farmed myself, but both of my parents grew up on farms and my aunt and uncle run a small family dairy farm, where I've stayed and helped out. They also grow corn, hay, and oats to feed the cows, as well as soy as another source of income.

They're currently in the process of switching to Organic (which may be a Technique for farming, or at least another Familiarity.)

Doing it correctly might just be an odd mix of high and low tech farming. Doing it wrong is low skill low tech farming.

[Cheomesh]

Personally, having some hands-on knowage for farming related things, most modern farmers probably have a very low skill and use a lot of situational bonuses. One doesn't need to plan well when you can just spray everything with bonuses.

M.

[Turhan's Bey Company]

Originally Posted by Cheomesh

Does anyone think that Animal Handing (Farm Animals) is a valid specialization? Or would a yeoman / peasant character need to take Animal Handling (Sheep/Goat kind of creatures) in addition to Animal Handling (Bovines)? Or pick one and just ride off the default?

Most likely that last one. It'd be a default of -2 between ovicaprids and cattle, so that shouldn't be too bad.

Originally Posted by Cheomesh

Also, does one need Animal Handling to get their sheep dog / herd dog to help them?

For most low-tech herdsmen, at least, I'd say no. A herding dog is sufficiently close to standard equipment for herders that I'd regard that specific use as something covered by the Animal Handling skill for the herd animal. However, I'd probably want to see Animal Handling (Dogs) to train puppies for herding. There's a -4 default from dogs to most farm animals, so a good herdsman could do a bit of training himself, and it'd be relatively cheap to buy AH (Dogs) up from the default granted by the primary skill.

[Flyndaran]

Makes sense, as I don't think it takes animal handling to use a seeing eye dog. But it very much so requires it to train them.

[whswhs]

I don't think Animal Handling is needed to herd cattle or sheep to pasture, or to milk or shear them. It might be needed for working animals. On the other hand, harnessing oxen to a cart or horses to a wagon is probably Teamster, and plowing is certainly Farming—it's one of the core tasks for Farming in many societies. Saying that a farmer needs Farming to sow wheat, weed the fields, and reap and thresh the ripe grain, but has to invest in Animal Handling to plow the field, looks to me like skill bloat.

I'd reserve Animal Handling, on one hand, for training an animal (you can harness a horse to a wagon with Teamster, or saddle it and stay on its back with Riding, but breaking it takes Animal Handling), and on the other, for dealing with a wild or frightened animal.

Bill Stoddard

[Icelander]

Bill, if you'd consult a book with your name on the cover, you might discover that your statement that Animal Handling is not required to herd cattle is inconsistent with the rules. As per LTC3 p. 47, Animal Handling is meant to represent the body of knowledge that herdsmen and cattle boys have. Which makes sense.

What does not make sense is saying that farmers who keep a lot of livestock would have a skill for dealing with the plants they grow, but no skill for managing their herds.

The simplest and most accurate way to stat a farmer with a herd of livestock is to give him Animal Handling (Cattle) in addition to his Farming skill. If he keeps goats or sheep as well, that defaults to Animal Handling (Cattle) at -2.

[whswhs]

Originally Posted by Icelander

What does not make sense is saying that farmers who keep a lot of livestock would have a skill for dealing with the plants they grow, but no skill for managing their herds.

You seem to be assuming that the farmer has a "herd." Didn't a typical medieval peasant have two oxen (to pull the plow and harness to the oxcart) and one cow (for milk, and to replace the oxen)? I'd say that at that low level, your farmer is going to get by on the IQ default for the skill, just as a suburbanite who commutes to work likely gets by on the DX default for Driving (per Kromm). In fact, if you care to read a bit more of LTC3, you will find that p. 10 says, Most herders weren’t typical peasant farmers, however, followed at the end of the same paragraph by, herding was a separate profession from farming – and the fact that good pasture was also good farmland threw herdsmen and farmers into competition. The rule for size of herd makes it clear that the skill is being used to herd large numbers of animals—36 cattle or 48 sheep, for example.

Consistent with this, p. 47 gives a herdsman Animal Handling (species)-12, but p. 46 gives a farmer Farming-12, and no skill in Animal Handling. That is, "herdsman" is not equated to "farmer who has a couple of dairy cows." You don't seem to have read the entire list, and in particular, you don't seem to have read the entry "Farmer."

I'm willing to stipulate that a farmer needs more skills than Farming to really be a success. But unless he specializes in substantial numbers of animals that need to be handled as a group (for example, in dairying), I wouldn't put Animal Handling high on that list. Teamster is going to be more immediately useful, at least for a Eurasian small farmer who uses an oxcart to get to market. In some cultural milieux Brewing might be useful.

Bill Stoddard

[the_matrix_walker]

I don't have LT3, so I can't comment on the material there.

But I would think the routine tasks a farmer performs that are shallow uses of other skills should be encompassed by a Professional skill.

[roguebfl]

Originally Posted by the_matrix_walker

I don't have LT3, so I can't comment on the material there.

But I would think the routine tasks a farmer performs that are shallow uses of other skills should be encompassed by a Professional skill.

True but Professional Skill (Farmer) and Farming/TL are not the same skill.