[Basic] Skill of the week: Falconry, Packing and Teamster

johndallman · 05-16-2015, 05:19 AM

Falconry is the IQ/A skill of hunting game with a trained hawk, of training and caring for the bird, and of acquiring new ones as chicks from the wild. It defaults to IQ-5 or Animal Handling (Raptors)-3; no skills default to it. Anyone planning to have Falconry be important in a campaign should definitely read T H White's The Goshawk, a marvellously evocative account of training a goshawk using medieval methods, by the author of The Once and Future King. It was really hard work, but modern techniques are rather easier.

Packing is the IQ/A skill of managing animals carrying, rather than drawing, loads. It defaults to IQ-5 or Animal Handling (appropriate type)-5 (Basic says (Equines), but that makes no sense for camel caravans). No skills default to it. It lets you load and unload animals efficiently, chose good routes, get good performance from animals on the march and buy good animals for the work. If the animals are un-cooperative, you need a successful Animal Handling roll before you can use Packing. A caravan without a packing master with skill 15+ moves at only 80% of best speed, but most templates with the skill aren't that good. It doesn't require specialisation by animal type, but would certainly take familiarity penalties.

Teamster is the IQ/A skill of driving animals drawing a load. It requires specialisation by animal type, and defaults to IQ-5, Animal Handling (same)-4 or Riding (same)-2; no skills default to it. Different specialisations default to each other at -3. It includes the ability to care for the animals, and to buy good ones for the work. You need to use Animal Handling to work with uncooperative ones, as per Packing. The rules for when you roll and the consequences of failures are too complex for brief summary. Modifiers include -2 for more than four animals, -2 for a team that you aren't familiar with, and up to -5 for bad terrain.

All of these skills are about animals, but they do more than just animal handling: Falconry covers finding and not spooking game; Packing and Teamster deal with logistics.

All of these skills are reasonably common on templates for low-tech characters. Falconry, being expensive and not very practical, is a sport of the wealthy, while Packing and Teamster are practical skills used for making a living. Fantasy has a chariotering technique for Teamster and some vehicles; High-Tech provides the Mounted Shooting technique. Lands Out of Time suggests Falconry for use with small flying dinosaurs. Low-Tech has much more on Teamster and Magic has the Horsemanship elixir. All the Talents in PU3 that affect any of these skills affect all of them, but they aren't included in any of the Wildcard skills in PU7.

I have had characters with all of these skills, but I don't recall ever using them. Have you done something cool with them?

05-16-2015, 05:19 AM	#1
johndallman Night Watchman Join Date: Oct 2010 Location: Cambridge, UK	[Basic] Skill of the week: Falconry, Packing and Teamster Falconry is the IQ/A skill of hunting game with a trained hawk, of training and caring for the bird, and of acquiring new ones as chicks from the wild. It defaults to IQ-5 or Animal Handling (Raptors)-3; no skills default to it. Anyone planning to have Falconry be important in a campaign should definitely read T H White's The Goshawk, a marvellously evocative account of training a goshawk using medieval methods, by the author of The Once and Future King. It was really hard work, but modern techniques are rather easier. Packing is the IQ/A skill of managing animals carrying, rather than drawing, loads. It defaults to IQ-5 or Animal Handling (appropriate type)-5 (Basic says (Equines), but that makes no sense for camel caravans). No skills default to it. It lets you load and unload animals efficiently, chose good routes, get good performance from animals on the march and buy good animals for the work. If the animals are un-cooperative, you need a successful Animal Handling roll before you can use Packing. A caravan without a packing master with skill 15+ moves at only 80% of best speed, but most templates with the skill aren't that good. It doesn't require specialisation by animal type, but would certainly take familiarity penalties. Teamster is the IQ/A skill of driving animals drawing a load. It requires specialisation by animal type, and defaults to IQ-5, Animal Handling (same)-4 or Riding (same)-2; no skills default to it. Different specialisations default to each other at -3. It includes the ability to care for the animals, and to buy good ones for the work. You need to use Animal Handling to work with uncooperative ones, as per Packing. The rules for when you roll and the consequences of failures are too complex for brief summary. Modifiers include -2 for more than four animals, -2 for a team that you aren't familiar with, and up to -5 for bad terrain. All of these skills are about animals, but they do more than just animal handling: Falconry covers finding and not spooking game; Packing and Teamster deal with logistics. All of these skills are reasonably common on templates for low-tech characters. Falconry, being expensive and not very practical, is a sport of the wealthy, while Packing and Teamster are practical skills used for making a living. *Fantasy* has a chariotering technique for Teamster and some vehicles; *High-Tech* provides the Mounted Shooting technique. *Lands Out of Time* suggests Falconry for use with small flying dinosaurs. *Low-Tech* has much more on Teamster and *Magic* has the Horsemanship elixir. All the Talents in *PU3* that affect any of these skills affect all of them, but they aren't included in any of the Wildcard skills in *PU7*. I have had characters with all of these skills, but I don't recall ever using them. Have you done something cool with them?