Low-Tech Survival Skills

[acrosome]

Originally Posted by fritzbc

For me? I’d take Carpentry, Fishing, Gardening, Weather Sense, Cooking (iirc you need it to preserve food), Survival (Woodlands and Plains), and most likely Axe and Bow. I’m eager to see your responses.

Do you start with equipment appropriate to your skills, or do you have to make them?

Because if you have to make them then Machinist/TL0 might be needed just to start. And then, yes, Carpentry, or even better Armoury (Missile Weapons). Slings are damned easy to make. I have made them out of jute cord. But you need Survival to make cordage. Trapping is also the most energy efficient way to get protein, and I think that Survival covers trapping, but if not then Traps. But if you have Armoury then go for a Bow instead of a sling- they are better, though they take more work to make. Probably Axe, yes. You can use it with a one-handed club, too. Knives are probably more useful than an ax, but you don't actually need Knife skill for survival uses of a knife. Throwing Stick might be handy. First Aid (or something that defaults to it like Physician) is a must, no matter what. Then Navigation or Area Knowledge, obviously, to get back home.

But if you get to start with equipment then you don't need much more than Guns (Shotgun)/TL8 and Survival/TL8. The latter would probably come with a GPS. :)

Edit-- I see now that you mean for long-term survival, and it seems to be implied that you do not start with equipment. In fact, you might be plopped down naked. I'll also assume that you are dropped into unfamiliar surroundings so that Area Knowledge is not available.

• Survival
• Carpentry, to make better shelter/equipment than with Survival
• Traps, if not covered by Survival
• Machinist/TL0
• First Aid
• Herbalist
• Housekeeping
• Axe
• Thrown Weapon (Stick)
• Spear, for dangerous fauna
• Navigation (Land)
• Gardening
• Leatherworking
• PS (Tanner) if not covered by Leatherworking

I sort of favor minimizing, so that what skills I do have can have more points in them. For instance I thought about Bow, but trapping is so much more efficient that I'd rather dump more points into that, whether it be Survival or Traps. I still might add it and Armoury (Missile Weapons) if the location seemed conducive. But Axe and Thrown Weapon (Stick) can use the same weapon, and the stick is easily always at hand for taking transient opportunities, like a foolhardy bunny.

Of course, I'm also tempted to just put all 60 points into Survival, since almost anything else I might need could arguably default from it, especially if Survival covers trapping. Survival-25 has to be pretty awesome.