Wilderness Trees
Hunting, Nature Lore, Beast Handling.
3 trees5 advancements + 1 ultimate1 skill point each, 2 for the ultimate
Hunting
Tracking, Trapping, Butchering
- 1
Tracker 1 pt
You read the ground like a book.
Core: Follow fresh, obvious tracks at full speed. Determine from tracks: creature type, approximate number, size, and direction of travel.
Advantage: Old trails (hours/days old), tracking in rain, tracking through difficult terrain, reading detailed information (health, emotional state, whether pursued).
- 2
Trapper 1 pt
You catch what you can't chase.
Core: Set simple snares using natural materials in 10 minutes. Your traps catch small game reliably. A trap line of 6 snares takes 1 hour and covers a quarter-mile.
Advantage: Traps for large/dangerous prey, concealed traps (requires active searching), traps in difficult terrain, live capture.
- 3
Silent Stalker 1 pt
You get close without being noticed.
Core: Move silently through natural terrain at half speed. Approach within 60 feet of wildlife without alerting them.
Advantage: Silent movement at full speed, approaching within 30 feet, masking scent (8 hours), stalking alert/dangerous prey.
- 4
Read the Signs 1 pt
Tracks tell you more than direction.
Core: Determine from tracks: how long ago they passed, creature's approximate health, whether wounded. Follow trails up to 1 day old.
Advantage: Tracking across stone/water/hard surfaces, trails 3+ days old, reading emotional state, determining if prey is being pursued.
- 5
Field Dressing 1 pt
Nothing goes to waste.
Core: Butcher any creature in 1 hour, extracting usable meat. Identify valuable parts (hide, bones, claws). Preserve meat for 3 days without salt.
Advantage: Fast butchering (30 min), maximum meat extraction, harvesting organs/venom glands, preserving meat for 1 week+.
- 6
Ultimate: Apex Predator 2 pts
Prerequisite: 3+ other Hunting advancements
You are the top of the food chain.
Core: Track any creature across any terrain, even through water or over stone. Traps can hold horse-sized creatures. Butcher creatures in 10 minutes. Identify any creature by tracks, scat, or kills.
Advantage: Tracking magical/planar creatures, trapping legendary beasts, identifying creatures that shouldn't exist.
TOTAL: 7 points
Nature Lore
Plants, Animals, Ecology, Natural Lore
- 1
Flora Expert 1 pt
You know every plant and what it does.
Core: Identify common plants by sight. Know basic uses: edible, poisonous, or medicinal. Find common useful plants in appropriate terrain within 1 hour.
Advantage: Rare and magical species, subtle distinctions (look-alikes), finding specific plants quickly, identifying plants from fragments.
- 2
Fauna Expert 1 pt
You understand how animals think.
Core: Identify common animals by sight, sound, or tracks. Know basic behavior: what it eats, whether it's dangerous, whether it's aggressive.
Advantage: Exotic/magical creatures, predicting specific actions, understanding unusual behavior, identifying creatures from partial evidence.
- 3
Animal Rapport 1 pt
Animals sense you're not a threat.
Core: Non-hostile domestic animals trust you immediately. Non-hostile wild animals don't flee from slow, careful approach.
Advantage: Calming aggressive animals, approaching skittish wildlife, soothing animals that are starving/protecting young, befriending exotic beasts.
- 4
Herbalist 1 pt
You make medicine from the wild.
Core: Create poultices that prevent minor infection. Make simple antidotes for common natural poisons (1 hour gathering and preparation). Create salves for minor burns, stings, and rashes.
Advantage: Antidotes for rare/magical poisons, medicines that accelerate healing, treatments for serious conditions, working with limited materials.
- 5
Ecosystem Reader 1 pt
You understand how nature connects.
Core: Identify obvious environmental problems. recent blight, predator absence, pollution. Know what common creatures are nearby by watching birds and small animals.
Advantage: Detecting magical corruption, predicting seasonal changes, understanding complex ecological relationships, identifying unnatural influences.
- 6
Ultimate: Beast Friend 2 pts
Prerequisite: 3+ other Nature Lore advancements
You speak nature's language.
Core: Communicate with animals through gesture, sound, and patience. They understand simple requests and can convey basic information. Wild animals won't attack you without magical compulsion. Train any natural animal in half the normal time.
Advantage: Complex communication, befriending magical beasts, understanding animals affected by magic, training exotic creatures.
TOTAL: 7 points
Beast Handling
Care, Communication, Animal Behavior
- 1
Animal Care 1 pt
You keep animals healthy and content.
Core: Provide basic care that keeps animals healthy. Recognize obvious illness or injury. Know what common animals need.
Advantage: Stabilizing dying beasts (1 round), healing (restore 1 Vigor per 10 minutes), recognizing poison/magical ailments, etc.
- 2
Calm the Beast 1 pt
Frightened and hostile animals trust you.
Core: Calm obviously panicked domestic animals. Approach non-aggressive wild animals without startling them.
Advantage: Panicked animals (instantly), aggressive animals (1 minute), approaching without triggering fight/flight, calming exotic beasts.
- 3
Animal Messenger 1 pt
Your beasts carry messages and retrieve objects.
Core: Train animals to return to familiar locations. Have beasts carry simple items or wait at locations.
Advantage: Complex routes, carrying messages, fetching specific objects, patient waiting (days), leading people.
- 4
Read the Animal 1 pt
Animals tell you things without words.
Core: Read obvious animal emotional states. Notice when animals have been recently stressed. Understand basic animal body language.
Advantage: Reading recent experiences (fear, predators, humans), trained beasts answering yes/no, wild animals revealing territory dangers.
- 5
Endurance Handler 1 pt
Your animals go farther and work longer.
Core: Get good performance from well-cared-for animals. Keep mounts in good condition on normal journeys.
Advantage: 50% farther travel, double work duration, enduring harsh conditions, surviving short rations.
- 6
Ultimate: Beast Whisperer 2 pts
Prerequisite: 3+ other Beast Handling advancements
You speak the beast's language.
Core: Instantly attempt to tame any beast you encounter. Communicate basic concepts to any animal.
Advantage: Taming hostile/exotic creatures, complex communication, befriending magical beasts, commanding multiple animals.
TOTAL: 7 points