Hunting and fishing

[CardDiceian]

OK - I know it's another mundane, non-combat situation - But has anybody put anything together to make hunting playable - (without going into full combat)

You'd expect a hunter to take his/her prey down with a single shot, rather than having to make several shots, because a deer or similar prey will no doubt just bolt.

Do you use silent movement, and maybe hold fire to aim - with a die roll to see if you are detected each turn prior to releasing your arrow?

My thoughts are using a regular throw against DX, but perhaps with modifiers for aiming for a particular time.

with fishing I was working on an idea of just rolling a die to see how long they have their rods dangling before catching a worthwhile fish.

[Chris Rice]

I've had both hunting and fishing come up in games but it's uncommon enough that I've never had formalised rules for them, beyond the obvious Talents.

[Anomylous]

If I were running a game where a character was trying to hunt, and wanted to play it out, I'd probably do something like:

- Find game (roll vs. IQ, bonus for having relevant talents i.e Woodsman, Tracking, Naturalist)
- How close can you get? (roll 1 die, that's the initial DX penalty on your missile weapon shot. Roll vs. DX multiple times to sneak closer, one success reduces penalty by 1, bonus for having Silent Movement, each DX roll gets progressively harder, and game flees on any failure.)
- Take your shot (roll vs. DX - I'd rule that you're taking an Aimed Shot at the animal's vitals, negating any bonus from holding fire to aim, and then count any hit as a kill unless it was a big animal and a light weapon.)

You could game out the wounded animal running away, needing to track it down, etc, as well, if that's what your players wanted to do.

[JohnPaulB]

As I recall, the TFT Supplement Warrior Lords of Darok by Gamelords includes hunting.

EDIT: I actually found it in TFT Supplement Forest Lords of Dihad by Gamelords. Page 10 and 11. It includes Becoming A Hunter/Trapper; Small Prey, Common Beasts, Mountain Dwellers, Denizens of the Deep. There is Locating Prey with a chart. Hunting, Trapping and Selling Goods.

And a Gargoyle hunt.

Lots of neat TFT stuff in these 2 supplements.

[CardDiceian]

Originally Posted by Anomylous

If I were running a game where a character was trying to hunt, and wanted to play it out, I'd probably do something like:

- Find game (roll vs. IQ, bonus for having relevant talents i.e Woodsman, Tracking, Naturalist)
- How close can you get? (roll 1 die, that's the initial DX penalty on your missile weapon shot. Roll vs. DX multiple times to sneak closer, one success reduces penalty by 1, bonus for having Silent Movement, each DX roll gets progressively harder, and game flees on any failure.)
- Take your shot (roll vs. DX - I'd rule that you're taking an Aimed Shot at the animal's vitals, negating any bonus from holding fire to aim, and then count any hit as a kill unless it was a big animal and a light weapon.)

I like this - It's certainly playable, without taking too much time, or resorting to full combat.

I played out this evening, which was simply 1d to see how many attempts you get - then roll 3d vs dx and if a success you got your prey. (It was OK'ish, but not really a challenge) - Your idea look to be much more fun, and coming home with the prize would feel like an achievement.

[Tenex]

Originally Posted by Anomylous

If I were running a game where a character was trying to hunt, and wanted to play it out, I'd probably do something like:

- Find game (roll vs. IQ, bonus for having relevant talents i.e Woodsman, Tracking, Naturalist)
- How close can you get? (roll 1 die, that's the initial DX penalty on your missile weapon shot. Roll vs. DX multiple times to sneak closer, one success reduces penalty by 1, bonus for having Silent Movement, each DX roll gets progressively harder, and game flees on any failure.)
- Take your shot (roll vs. DX - I'd rule that you're taking an Aimed Shot at the animal's vitals, negating any bonus from holding fire to aim, and then count any hit as a kill unless it was a big animal and a light weapon.)

You could game out the wounded animal running away, needing to track it down, etc, as well, if that's what your players wanted to do.

That's not bad. The max distance off that initial die roll is 42 yards, so a little less than 1/2 a football field. That seems reasonable to have to start rolling to get closer.

But modern bowhunters are not all awesome stalkers. I have taken wild turkey and deer with a bow and I don't think I'd give myself silent movement. Bowhunters take a lot of game by setting up on a game trail or water/food source and either sitting in a tree stand or sitting in a blind.

I would suggest another alternative method is to roll versus tracking or naturalist. Tracking lets you identify a game trail away from a food source and naturalist identifies a food source or congested water point (huge lake does you no good cuz you don't know where the animals will come unless you use tracking). Once you ID that point roll against woodsman to make a blind. Roll 4d6 to see how many hours it will be before a game animal passes. Then take your shot at -1 to 0 adjDX based on range. No stalking, you are motionless in a blind.

Just an alternative. I like the stalking too. Which you might use depends on your skills and the time you have.

Most animals won't drop right there. They'll wander 10-50 yards or so. But you would have huge bonuses on tracking due to the blood trail. And that would only be if you can't keep eyes on from the blind.

All of the hunting magazines usually run a deer season tips issue. You could find a lot of ideas for +/- on tracking, naturalist, etc. for various environmental or behavioral things in there.

[Anomylous]

Originally Posted by Tenex

...I have taken wild turkey and deer with a bow and I don't think I'd give myself silent movement. Bowhunters take a lot of game by setting up on a game trail or water/food source and either sitting in a tree stand or sitting in a blind.

...<many useful suggestions>

Have you considered writing up a mini-supplement on hunting, under the new Limited Publishing License? I'd buy it.

Though actually...wilderness survival, in general, comes up a lot and it might be worth collaborating on a bigger volume, encompassing more aspects than just hunting - I might be able to contribute to a section on foraging for edible and/or medicinal plants; that's about the only "woodcrafty" thing at which I have any level of personal experience.

[Tenex]

Thanks for the motivation! I might.