types of jungle - Page 2

muduri · 06-20-2022, 01:35 PM

Thanks Rolando, every part of those evocative descriptions is going into the game haha, and The Colonel I'm doing likewise with the more-dangerous-than-it-sounds rhododendron jungle. Is eastern Nepal where I should be getting rhododendron jungle inspiration?

Pursuivant · 06-20-2022, 06:12 PM

Possibly add:

Seasonal Tropical Forest: Similar to Tropical Rainforest, but it only gets heavy, steady rains for part of the year. During the dry season, many plants and animals die off or go dormant. Typical of many African and Indian jungles.

From a gaming point of view, the big differences will be local flora and fauna and skills required to survive and get around. Cloud Forest might have gorillas and require Climbing skill in addition to Survival, while Coastal Swamp might have crocodiles and will require Swimming skill as well.

Given the way that GURPS skills work, all the various sub-types of jungle are covered by Survival (Jungle), possibly with Unfamiliarity penalties if you're in a different type of jungle.

Realistically, animals and indigenous people also have a decent Area Knowledge skill for their home territory, which either gives bonuses or limits penalties for certain survival tasks (e.g., bonus to Survival skill to find shelter because you know where the local caves are.)

In some cases, there will be overlap between Survival (Jungle) and other specializations - notably Island/Beach and Swampland.

06-20-2022, 01:35 PM	#1
muduri Join Date: Oct 2009 Location: Oakland, California	Re: types of jungle Thanks Rolando, every part of those evocative descriptions is going into the game haha, and The Colonel I'm doing likewise with the more-dangerous-than-it-sounds rhododendron jungle. Is eastern Nepal where I should be getting rhododendron jungle inspiration?

06-20-2022, 06:12 PM	#2
Pursuivant Join Date: Apr 2005	Re: types of jungle Possibly add: Seasonal Tropical Forest: Similar to Tropical Rainforest, but it only gets heavy, steady rains for part of the year. During the dry season, many plants and animals die off or go dormant. Typical of many African and Indian jungles. From a gaming point of view, the big differences will be local flora and fauna and skills required to survive and get around. Cloud Forest might have gorillas and require Climbing skill in addition to Survival, while Coastal Swamp might have crocodiles and will require Swimming skill as well. Given the way that GURPS skills work, all the various sub-types of jungle are covered by Survival (Jungle), possibly with Unfamiliarity penalties if you're in a different type of jungle. Realistically, animals and indigenous people also have a decent Area Knowledge skill for their home territory, which either gives bonuses or limits penalties for certain survival tasks (e.g., bonus to Survival skill to find shelter because you know where the local caves are.) In some cases, there will be overlap between Survival (Jungle) and other specializations - notably Island/Beach and Swampland.