Races of Wild

If the animal uses a bite attack (or some other naturalweapon that allows it to grasp an object), it winds upholding the target item in its mouth (or grasp) after asuccessful disarm.Mark (DC 20): The animal moves toward a creature youdesignate and endeavors to stay near the creature no matterwhat it does or how it moves. The animal generally stayswithin 10 feet of the creature but keeps out of its reach. Whileperforming this trick, the creature makes noise to help markthe foe’s location.If the animal also knows the seek trick, you can designatean area or direction for the animal to seek out foes that areattacking you. To identify a foe,the animal must see the creatureattack you or use a spell orother magical effect witha visible manifestation inyour direction. Otherwisethe animal marks the firstcreature it encounters.Overrun (DC 20): Theanimal attempts to overruna designated creature,provided the animal is bigenough to do so. If the animalhas the trample special ability,it uses that ability against thecreature if the animal isbig enough to do so.Train an Animal for aPurpose: Rather than teachingan animal individualtricks, you can train itfor a general purpose. The followinggeneral purposes expandupon those presented on page 75 ofthe Player’s Handbook.Helpmate (DC 20): An animal helpmateserves you or a creature you designate, actingas a companion, guard, and assistant. It knowsthe tricks come, down, fetch, guard, heel, andstay. Training an animal to be a helpmate takes six weeks.Herding (DC 20): The animal knows how to drive groups ofother animals from place to place and how to keep individualsfrom wandering away from the herd. It knows the trickscome, down, guard, heel, mark, and seek. Training a herdinganimal takes six weeks.Rescue (DC 15): The animal knows how to find and retrievehurt or incapacitated creatures. It knows the tricks fetch,mark, seek, track, and work. Training a rescue animal takesfive weeks.SURVIVAL (WIS)Elves and raptorans have developed many techniques for gettingalong the wild. Halflings have developed similar methodsfor making do when traveling between settlements.Create Trail Signs: You can leave brief messages for anyonefollowing you or using your route after you pass by.To create a message, you make marks in the ground, pile uprocks or twigs, bend plants into unusual shapes, or performsome other fairly subtle alteration of the landscape. Halflingsmake use of simple drawings, which they scratch into theground or on some object with a sharp implement or drawwith a piece of chalk or charcoal.Very simple messages, such as “Go thisway” or “Don’t go this way,” are fairly easy toconvey (DC 10). More complex messages, suchas “Walk west three days, then turn left at thebluff,” have a DC of 15. In general, a messagethat could be written in four words or lesshas a DC of 10, and messages of five to tenwords have a DC of 15. Failure by 4 or lessmeans the signs you leave don’t get the messageacross. Failure by 5 or more means thatthe signs convey some false information(see below).Finding Trail Signs: Once trail signsare in place, anyone passing throughthe area where you left them canfind them with a DC 10 Survivalor Spot check. You can makethem easier or more difficultto find. Making the signs bigor putting them in an obviousplace sets the DC lower (DC 5 orDC 0). Similarly, you can makethe signs difficult to find byhiding them. In this case, makea Survival check to set the DCfor finding the signs, but theminimum DC remains 10.Older signs are harder tofind, and poor visibility canmake trail signs more difficultto locate, as indicated below.Using the Survival skill to read trail signsSurvival ConditionDC ModifierEvery 24 hours since the signs were made +1Every hour of rain since the signs were made +1Fresh snow cover since the signs were made +10Poor visibility*Overcast or moonless night +6Moonlight +3Fog or precipitation +3*Apply only the largest modifier from this category.Reading Trail Signs: If the character who placed trail signscreated them correctly, the Survival check DC to read themis the same as that it took to create them. If the check failsby 4 or less, the reader cannot make any sense of the signs.If the check fails by 5 or more, the reader perceives anincorrect message.Illus. by L. MacDougallCHAPTER 6CHARACTEROPTIONS147