Low-Tech Survival Skills

[fritzbc]

For the sake of simplicity then, let’s assume that there is no civilization to rejoin in whatever area. Walking back to civilization is like a cheat code, it makes the challenge too easy.

[Anders]

all 60 points in Survival. With Survival 25 I can survive forever.

[Pursuivant]

Originally Posted by fritzbc

Now, do you think you could make anything more than clay and thatch huts? Realistically, it wouldn’t be easy, especially with a lack of nails, spending time to make dowels would slow down the process a decent bit.

At TL2, a wattle-and-daub-walled house with a thatched roof was pretty much state of the art technology and probably the most complex structure you could build using Carpentry skill alone.

Wooden "treenails" were pretty much the norm at TL2. If you have access to reasonably straight saplings, you don't need to whittle or turn dowels.

Someone living solo in the wilderness with just a few months before Autumn would do better to create a small, weatherproof shelter like an improved lean-to, however, and spend the bulk of their time foraging and preserving food.

Access to a reliable, clean, defensible water source and a defensible, windproof, waterproof shelter are the first priorities, however.

Machinist/TL0, as others have mentioned, is also a handy skill, since it covers things like flint, horn and bone-working. Since metal is going to be scarce and you lack the tools, forge and fuel to do metalworking, it will be hard to keep TL2 hardened bronze or copper or unalloyed iron tools in good condition. That makes stone and bone tools a more available option.

Masonry is also a potentially useful skill if you have access to clay and the ability to make mud bricks. Do like the Anasazi did and build a mud brick building under a rock outcropping.

[fritzbc]

Originally Posted by Pursuivant

At TL2, a wattle-and-daub-walled house with a thatched roof was pretty much state of the art technology and probably the most complex structure you could build using Carpentry skill alone.

Carpentry was to build proper utensils, tool handles, "proper" furniture, etc. A proper home was never the goal.

[Donny Brook]

Assuming that you're staying in the wilderness:
Survival [8]
Area Knowledge [4]
Carpentry [4]
Fishing [4]
Cooking [4]
Sewing [4]
Knife [4]
Stealth [4]
Machinist [4]
Tracking [4]
Traps [4]
Spear Throwing (Atlatl) [4)
Spear [4]
Climbing [4]

[fritzbc]

That’s pretty solid! Masonry might also be a safe bet.

[naloth]

In the interest of catchall shortcuts:

Survival!-12 [Anything+2 / 60 points]

[fritzbc]

Originally Posted by naloth

In the interest of catchall shortcuts:

Survival!-12 [Anything+2 / 60 points]

Cheeky, I forgot to say anything against Wildcard! skills. I suppose you have the best chances out of all of us, then.

[Varyon]

Originally Posted by Donny Brook

Assuming that you're staying in the wilderness:
Survival [8]
Area Knowledge [4]
Carpentry [4]
Fishing [4]
Cooking [4]
Sewing [4]
Knife [4]
Stealth [4]
Machinist [4]
Tracking [4]
Traps [4]
Spear Throwing (Atlatl) [4)
Spear [4]
Climbing [4]

Drop Traps and put those points into something else - Traps is for use against people (B223 notes that Traps is at -5 to skill to use against wild animals; DF16:36 explicitly notes that, for wilderness traps, Traps works for targets with IQ 6+, Survival works for targets with lower IQ). Survival (boosting it from 12 to 13) wouldn't be a bad idea. I'd also be inclined to reduce Knife skill and pick up Swimming.

[Rupert]

I would really strongly recommend First Aid. I'm torn on Naturalist as it has a lot of overlap with Survival. However, I think a bit of it to help with things like predicting the weather and things like finding caves, useful plants, and so on is worthwhile.