[DF] Wilderness Adventures Foraging Question

[Rasputin]

Question about taking extra time while foraging (DF 16, p. 42). If a group spends the whole day foraging, do its members make their 10 foraging rolls at +4, or do they each make one roll at +4?

[Kromm]

You can spend as much of your waking time as you like foraging; e.g., you could sleep eight hours, spend three hours prepping and eating meals, and use the other 13 hours to find more food. DF ignores p. B427 in this respect (or more precisely, simplifies it) to allow one roll per hour dedicated to the effort. Extra time for one roll obviously means less time for the others, though . . . You could use that 13 hours for 13 one-hour rolls at no time modifier, 26 half-hour rolls at -5, 6 two-hour rolls at +1 and one one-hour roll at no modifier, one eight-hour roll at +3 and 10 half-hour rolls at -5, you name it. The one oddity is a roll at +4; technically, that should take 16 hours, but these rules let you bet all your time (in my example, 13 hours) on a single roll at +4. But yes, then it's a single roll.

The +4 option is a poor deal, but it exists to give people without Survival a small chance of helping out at least a little at default. A city-boy ninja with Per 11 and a Survival default of 6 could at least be of some use at 10 or less.

[Rasputin]

Thank you! One of my players has become a bit obsessed with the foraging rules in the last few days. We are looking at trying to simplify things so someone could forage a whole day and not make 13 rolls, which struck us as annoying.

A side note: does a critical success on a missile weapon or Fishing roll bring in an extra meal, or is it always two for any success?

[Kromm]

Originally Posted by Rasputin

A side note: does a critical success on a missile weapon or Fishing roll bring in an extra meal, or is it always two for any success?

The rules in DF 16 are derived from but completely replace those in the Basic Set. No matter what skill you're rolling against, critical success finds two meals, success gives one, failure yields nothing, and critical failure means 1 HP lost to poison berries, piranha bites, "hunting accidents," etc. The whole idea of missile/Fishing rolls working at double efficiency is irrelevant if using these rules; if you wish to use the older Basic Set model, then ignore DF 16 and use the Basic Set only. These are either/or options.