Shipwreck survival

[Not another shrubbery]

Based on the various posts, it sounds like the survivors are hosed unless there is forthcoming help near the spot where they reach land. The worst part (besides the lack of any gear) is NDD's analysis showing that they'll be at or very near 0 FP, with most of that only recoverable by getting warm.

[Culture20]

Originally Posted by NineDaysDead

Fire is very important

If any PC can find an iron nail, or has an iron cloak pin, iron scabbard tip, etc. they should be able to start a fire easily (after trying to strike it with many rocks).

[Michele]

It seems nobody mentioned Scrounging. That would easily complement Survival.

If this is a rocky coast, I'd consider using either to locate a small cave or overhanging rock well above the current sea level. In there, even if outside it's raining, you might find dry dead seaweed and dry wooden flotsam. In the cave or under the rock you will also be out of the rain and out of the wind.

[safisher]

Originally Posted by Culture20

If any PC can find an iron nail, or has an iron cloak pin, iron scabbard tip, etc. they should be able to start a fire easily (after trying to strike it with many rocks).

You need to have high carbon steel, not iron. A knife blade, old file, axe, etc. This is because iron is soft but steel is brittle and you want to shear off some tiny oxidizing particles, not simply make a dent. Many types of stone or rock will work, it just needs to be sharp enough to shave off a tiny piece of the steel, which is where the spark is coming from.

[safisher]

If they cannot find a cave or overhang, or in addition to it, they will want to build a debris shelter -- basically a big thick soft fluffy pile of leaves and dry moss, covered in a thick layer of leafy waterproof and insulating branches, etc. This can help preserve body heat, and basically replace clothing until the weather improves. They can scrounge for food, such as berries or local fruits, tubers, wild onions, birds eggs, nuts, etc. They can also scoop up food from the coastline, creeks, etc. Fish, fish eggs, shell fish, etc., all depending on the season. If they can get dry wood right away they can use various friction methods to start a fire without tools -- a hand drill or fire plow, probably.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bHPwkuH3tXg
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HcbMiXP-_QU

Yes, some of this might initially be at -5, but scrounging should help turn up stones and sticks to make improvised tools very quickly in the process. Power-Ups 3 Talents lists a benefit for the Survivor talent, p. 16: Alternative Benefit: "Success with Scrounging improvises simple equipment for other skills that removes -1/level from the penalty for being improvised (p. B345). This means a branch used as a club with Broadsword, a first-aid kit used with Surgery to remove a tick, etc. – not turning a soda can into a
radar dish. For that, get Gadgeteer."

[NineDaysDead]

Originally Posted by Vynticator

-Building improvised shelter

I'd have thought -5 for building shelter without *any* equipment. Seem fair?

No penalty for no equipment, but two rolls:

Originally Posted by Improvised Shelter; Low-Tech page 31

Shelter – particularly for nomads – wasn’t necessarily carried. It was sometimes built on the spot from available materials.

Igloo (TL0). An igloo requires deep, well-compacted snow. After digging an entrance trench, the builder cuts slightly trapezoidal blocks of snow 6”-8” thick and roughly a foot wide and tall. He then stacks the blocks into a dome, which he covers with loose snow. Snow is a good insulator; an inhabited igloo attains a cool but survivable temperature above freezing. It can even survive a small fire, if an exhaust hole is poked through the roof. Building a 6’ igloo takes 4 hours and a roll against Survival (Arctic). A completed igloo provides +2 to subsequent Survival (Arctic) rolls, and offers cover DR 1. The igloo itself has DR 0, HP 44. Blocks are generally carved using a wooden snow saw ($28, 2 lbs.) – but any reasonably long, flat object would work.

Lean-To (TL0). This is a series of leafy branches propped up against a fallen tree or a steep slope to form a triangular sheltered area. Building a lean-to requires a Survival roll and 3 minutes with a metal axe or 8 minutes with a stone axe; without tools, it takes 15 minutes and an additional Survival roll to scrounge fallen branches. A lean-to affords no cover DR and can be swept away with a single swinging attack. It gives +1 to Survival and must be rebuilt daily (another Survival roll).

The second roll should take modifiers from environment, as it's easier to find fallen branches in woodlands than in a desert.