Shipwreck survival

[Dalillama]

Originally Posted by Vynticator

What kinds of skills (and penalties to those skills) would a party face if shipwrecked on a cold, exposed coastline with absolutely no equipment or clothing?

How cold are we talking about here? Because that sounds like a good way to die fast to me, pretty much regardless of skills.

Fishing.
Survival - Beach is an obvious one. But what penalties would accrue for the following:
1) unfamiliar coastline/flora/fauna

Unless it's very unfamiliar (e.g. on an alien planet), I'd say no penalty.

2) total lack of equipment

Depends a lot on what kind of coastline they're on. There are places where you can fish barehanded, but most places that are cold and exposed aren't going to be them. Fishing per se is basically a no go until they can put together some equipment.

Perhaps different penalties for different aspects of Survival skill? After all, it covers:
-Finding food

Seaweed, shellfish, whatever's in tidepools. Anything else puts you back into needing gear.

-Finding fresh water

No penalty.

-Building improvised shelter

Once again, depends heavily on where you are. If there's sufficient deadfall, driftwood, or and/or reasonably sized rocks nearby then a windbreak or lean-to should be possible, although it won't be a good one without some kind of tools.

-An 'eye for country'

Is pretty much what Survival skill is.

-Trapping wild animals

-3 perhaps for trapping without rope, hammer, hooks, etc to build a snare? Or is that too harsh?

For the most part all you really need is a knife, although some twine will certainly help. If you haven't got a knife, -3 seems about right. If anyone's got Armory TL/0, that'll be a huge help, because then they can make stone, bone, or shell knives, fish spears, etc. which aren't great but will do wonders for your ability to apply many aspects of Survival skill.