[Basic] Skill of the week: Naturalist

johndallman · 05-13-2016, 01:49 PM

Naturalist is the IQ/H skill of practical knowledge about the natural environment. It includes some practical Biology, Geology and Meteorology, and defaults to IQ-6 or Biology-3. It provides defaults for Biology, Mimicry (Animal Sounds) or (Bird Calls), Pharmacy (Herbal), Survival and Tracking, assists with Disguise (Animals), and is a prerequisite for Herb Lore and Pharmacy (Herbal). The Green Thumb and Outdoorsman talents boost it, and it is included in the Science! wildcard skill. If it’s relevant, specialisation by an individual planet is required, with a default at -4 to other planets of the same type. Naturalist is usable in place of Survival for foraging, and is useful in dealing with injuries from animals, such as knowing if the snake that bit you is venomous.

The skill dates from GURPS 1e, which describes it as "the sort of knowledge you would expect from a good 20th-century biology teacher" which seems to make more sense if you qualify it with "on a nature walk." Its role in GURPS seems to be as "the core skill for characters who have a lot of insight into nature, without being scientists." The skill being Hard, and covering all environments of a planet, seem to be linked: an optional specialisation in a type of environment, using the list from Survival, seems like a skill that a lot of ordinary people might have.

Naturalist is commonplace on templates for outdoors types, and as an option for medics. It’s important in After the End, especially in combination with Plant Empathy. Dungeon Fantasy lacks science skills, which makes Naturalist the key to exploiting the natural world, and DF16 is full of applications for it. Infinite Worlds allows for the skill to be used in spotting natural gates. Low-Tech has several specific uses for Naturalist, and LTC3 has more, as does Magic. Death Spells has an application not convenient to describe (Eeww...) and the skill is on a surprising number of Martial Arts: Yrth Fighting Styles templates. It can be used against Monster Hunters skin-changers, and appears in six Talents and six Wildcard skills in the relevant Power-Ups books. Powers and Enhanced Senses have abilities to boost it, and Thaumatology has lots of magical applications. Alchemical Baroque, Chinese Elemental Powers and Magical Styles have uses for the skill, as does Underground Adventures.

I've seen this on fantasy characters, but never in any other kind of setting. What have you done with it in a game?

05-13-2016, 01:49 PM	#1
johndallman Night Watchman Join Date: Oct 2010 Location: Cambridge, UK	[Basic] Skill of the week: Naturalist Naturalist is the IQ/H skill of practical knowledge about the natural environment. It includes some practical Biology, Geology and Meteorology, and defaults to IQ-6 or Biology-3. It provides defaults for Biology, Mimicry (Animal Sounds) or (Bird Calls), Pharmacy (Herbal), Survival and Tracking, assists with Disguise (Animals), and is a prerequisite for Herb Lore and Pharmacy (Herbal). The Green Thumb and Outdoorsman talents boost it, and it is included in the Science! wildcard skill. If it’s relevant, specialisation by an individual planet is required, with a default at -4 to other planets of the same type. Naturalist is usable in place of Survival for foraging, and is useful in dealing with injuries from animals, such as knowing if the snake that bit you is venomous. The skill dates from GURPS 1e, which describes it as "the sort of knowledge you would expect from a good 20th-century biology teacher" which seems to make more sense if you qualify it with "on a nature walk." Its role in GURPS seems to be as "the core skill for characters who have a lot of insight into nature, without being scientists." The skill being Hard, and covering all environments of a planet, seem to be linked: an optional specialisation in a type of environment, using the list from Survival, seems like a skill that a lot of ordinary people might have. Naturalist is commonplace on templates for outdoors types, and as an option for medics. It’s important in *After the End, especially in combination with Plant Empathy. Dungeon Fantasy* lacks science skills, which makes Naturalist the key to exploiting the natural world, and *DF16* is full of applications for it. *Infinite Worlds* allows for the skill to be used in spotting natural gates. *Low-Tech* has several specific uses for Naturalist, and *LTC3* has more, as does *Magic. Death Spells* has an application not convenient to describe (Eeww...) and the skill is on a surprising number of *Martial Arts: Yrth Fighting Styles* templates. It can be used against *Monster Hunters* skin-changers, and appears in six Talents and six Wildcard skills in the relevant *Power-Ups* books. *Powers* and *Enhanced Senses* have abilities to boost it, and *Thaumatology* has lots of magical applications. *Alchemical Baroque, Chinese Elemental Powers* and *Magical Styles* have uses for the skill, as does *Underground Adventures*. I've seen this on fantasy characters, but never in any other kind of setting. What have you done with it in a game?