Foraging - A Revision

(Wayne Imlach)

This is a revision and expansion of the incomplete Foraging rules found in the Players' Guide. Rather than limit foraging to Hunters exclusively, any character may attempt to forage, though the Hunter profession remains the master of this craft.

After one hour of foraging, a Hunter must roll equal to or under PERCEPTION on a d20. Professions with the Track skill (Knights, Barbarians, and Assassins) make this roll with 2d20 and use the highest valued die. All other professions make a foraging roll with 3d20 and use the highest valued die.

Note that if a human character is foraging during the day, be sure to include the +5 bonus to Perception that daylight provides, as well as the 'Favoured Terrain' ability of the Hunter, if applicable.

Every 10 points of success (or part thereof) generates 1 day of sustenance for a single person. For example, if a character with a PERCEPTION of 18 rolls a 4, they have succeeded by 14 points and find 2 days' worth of sustenance.

The time of year and terrain type adjusts the difficulty of foraging as indicated in the chart below:

Fecund Terrain	+10 PERCEPTION (very easy)
Fertile Terrain	+5 PERCEPTION (easy)
Normal Terrain	No modifier (normal)
Barren Terrain	-5 PERCEPTION (difficult)
Desolate Terrain	-10 PERCEPTION (very difficult)

	Spring	Summer¹⁾	Autumn	Winter²⁾
Forest	Normal	Fertile	Fecund	Barren
River	Normal	Normal	Fecund	Normal
Plains	Normal	Normal	Fertile	Barren
Hills	Normal	Normal	Fertile	Barren
Marsh	Normal	Normal	Normal	Barren
Swamp	Barren	Normal	Normal	Barren
Mountains	Barren	Normal	Normal	Desolate
Tundra	Barren	Barren	Normal	Desolate
Desert	Desolate	Desolate	Desolate	Desolate
Arctic	Desolate	Desolate	Desolate	Desolate
Ocean³⁾	Normal	Normal	Normal	Normal

This article first appeared in Casket of Fays Issue 7.

¹⁾

If the summer of a given year is unusually hot and is accompanied by a drought, increase the foraging difficulty of the terrain type by one step for both Summer and Autumn.

²⁾

If the winter of a given year is unusually cold and is accompanied by a deep freeze, increase the foraging difficulty of the terrain type by one step for both winter and the following spring.

³⁾

This presumes suitable fishing equipment or nets.

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