Introduction
Of marked interest to outdoorsmanship, here is a mundane (if
not exactly common) exploration feat which, parsing across different iterations of varying mechanical
complexity, invariably leaves too much of its weight to be girded by narrativistic
convenience for this referee’s tastes.
The act itself is notable in that it twists the usual
encounter logic of “the players and element X are suddenly thrust upon each
other” into the interesting variation of the party seeking out and becoming someone else’s encounter. It is eminently an hexcrawl event but it also
has a dungeoneering facet so here it is presented as part of the more
widereaching adventuring toolbox.
Tossed about in my mind several times, the act
of tracking can well be considered mechanically adventurous as it presents scenarios where the
notions of space and time cross the beams in a running and defining these requires
reaching into the tangled confluence of encounter mechanics, timekeeping,
weather and the hexcrawl structure and drawing something coherent out of it.
Rabbit Holes
Tracking isn’t about linear pursuit from one muddy hoofstep to the
next, as only the understanding gained from knowing the quarry will allow a
tracker to guess at its direction and make the necessary leaps of intuition to
enable him to keep true to trails with a sparse amount of tracks, to know which places to look for signs that can provide even just occasional confirmation
that the right track is being kept, to distinguish between similar types of
spoor left by different animal types or even individuals within the same
species and to turn a scant handful of seemingly disconnected markings on the
scenery into information sufficient to betray a mark’s current whereabouts and
likely destination.
Typically, spoor occurs either as consequence of an in-game
event or systematically through an appropriate result in the encounter die.
Mechanicswise, it comes with a bulging load of circumstancial baggage attached as it has to reckon with the nature of the quarry, its behaviour, the passing
of time, the terrain and the weather. But one question looms larger above the
rest: once tracks are found, where do they lead to and for how long do they run?
Incoming, untested and rough around the edges, are some
mechanics that attempt to systemize a workable answer. These are meant to
intersect into a greater hexcrawl structure but the module stands on
its own. Perhaps the most important thing to keep in mind is that the
act of tracking is an interaction with a past that is still unfolding, meaning
that there’s both some information that must be determined at the outset and
then a fair part that’ll depend upon a lot of abstracted “ifs” down the road,
as the tracker progresses along the trail to find his quarry.
Breadcrumbs (what is being tracked and why it matters)
The event generative of the tracks (i.e. the encounter
leaving them) needs to be minimally defined so as to inform the referee of the difficulty of following them. This'll mean number, creature type, size, travel speed
and typical behaviour (as understood by the referee and communicated to the
players if they manage to identify the creature they’re following). Seamlessness is best served by having a small pool of prerolled
encounter details in store. As typical behaviour goes, for animalia one can
brush up on biology and for mythical creatures either lean on the closest
natural analogue or devise something befitting and that can be kept consistent.
The initial encounter roll having determined the nature of
the creature leaving the trail, that information will then shape the
encountered spoor for the remainder of the interaction:
Flying creatures: dropped objects, recent kills, feathers, vertical smudges of meal remnants or detritus (flyers are not trackable per se, but the remains they leave
behind may serve to identify their presence in the area as well as indicate a
nearby lair);
Unintelligent beasts: territorial markings (claw scratches,
musk or urine), excreted and moulted refuse, hoof or paw prints, prey remains, chewed leaves, animal trails, scuff or drag marks, burrowed earth or an abandoned den;
Mankind/humanoids: Footprints, snapped branches and foliage,
trampled plant growth, discarded tools, butchered animal parts, deserted
campsites, cairns and other artificial pathmarkings, man-made cut trails, improvised
shrines to dark gods or columns of smoke from burnt farmsteads.
The Crunchy Bits
Track age, trail bearing and length, quarry behaviour
To determine the age of the encountered tracks, the referee starts
by rolling a d6 to determine how many days old they are, with a ‘1’ meaning they’re
from the same day the character comes across them.
This part bears attention, as tracks that are more
than a day old may immediately conjure up interactions with past weather
events, notably if it rained or snowed within the time-frame dictated by the
die and when.
The number of days elapsed influences the tracking DC and the
die-size on a distance pool comprising two dice – 2d4, 2d6, 2d8, 2d10, 2d12 or
2d20 – to be secretly rolled by the referee, determining:
Where the current leg
of the trail leads, either determine a random destination hex for a pointed course or, for the
more roving approach, set a rough approximation to one of the eight cardinal
bearings within the hexmap as found through tracing an imaginary line from the
highest to the lowest die result. Whenever a double is rolled this presumes
that the quarry spent some time at the current location in a manner appropriate
to the encounter type being followed, which for animals could mean hunting for a meal, seeking for water or courting a mate in heat, while for humanoids it might be the setting up of a campsite to face the
night, the staging of an attack on prey of opportunity or the rushed digging of a bolt hole
for valuables.
The distance covered
by the tracks, as dictated by the pool’s total, in miles; As regards
terrain difficulty, it is assumed that whichever movement modifiers are
affecting the party must have likewise affected their target and will equally
modify the trail distance, unless the quarry had some special movement type to
counteract difficulties.
The quarry behaviour, is determined by the initial
roll, if one of the dice comes up a ‘1’ it is given as “cautious”, whereas it will instead be “rushing” if one of the dice comes up with the maxed result. The behaviour is
then kept for the whole interaction unless given motive for otherwise. All
other results default to conveying ground traversed by creatures while moving
at a winding and unhurried pace.
A referee pending towards the corner-cutting side of the force can use this roll in order to improvise the tracking difficulty, for when not keen on rolling up the
encounter details too soon, hammering out the weather postcast or delving into the following table’s complexities. To do so, simply add 5 to the distance pool rolled and use that as
makeshift DC, varying per each leg of trail. It’s quick, it’s dirty, but in the
heat of a running keeping momentum can be an artful virtue.
 |
| No need for a ranger to know where this leads |
The Tracking Procedure
1 – Party finds tracks through the enriched encounter die, consequence of gameplay or some other source;
2 – Referee secretly determines encounter specifics and age of tracks (entwining with weather patterns if applicable);
3 – Depending on the age of the tracks the initial bearing, overland speed and distance of the trail's first leg are then produced by the referee;
4 – Party may at this point attempt to perceive elements of the encounter’s nature;
5 – If the party commits to follow the tracks and passes the check this will initiate the tracking proper;
6 – Once the end of the first leg of the trail is reached, the referee rolls a new pool to establish the bearing for the next leg, reducing the die-size employed (at the end of a 2d10 mile trail, a 2d8 mile leg is rolled, etc.);
7 – Doubled rolls prompt the referee to immediately roll a new pool with a reduced size, unless the quarry had reason to forgo stopping, in which case the double will simply mean that the previous bearing is kept. If the new roll is once again a double, it means the quarry’s lair or camp has been found (see 10);
8 – A tracking party that is forced to suspend their efforts for any reason, if the weather turns for the worse (to the point of the adjusted DC now exceeding the rolled check) or if the trail crosses a stream, a new roll will be called to resume the tracking effort. If a day passes by, not only is a new roll called, the referee must also adjust the difficulty and increase the distance pool by one die-size.
9 – Though a trail may come to exceed 2d20 miles, the tracking attempt will eventually fail due to weathering of the tracks, unless taking place on a truly static environment such as a frozen desert or dry pan. Simply add additional d20s when accounting for such outliers.
10 – Conversely, once a trail is down to 2d4 miles the quarry will be close at hand and an encounter will be imminent, with distant sightings being a possibility, given a clear day and nonobstructive terrain. If a double is rolled at this point, it means the tracker will have found a lair (or the lair percentage is rolled, if the flat 25% does not suit the purpose).
Player-facing System
The rolls detailed below all have a hidden DC, meaning the
referee should simply ask for the relevant d20 check and inform the player as
to what the character has ruled out rather than afford any firm certainties.
Identification
- Identification is a task requiring specific knowledge and
as such can be attempted only by characters possessing either the Nature or Survival skills;
- Wisdom (Nature/Survival),
Hidden DC, varying by Creature Type
and Conditions (see tables above);
- The base DC is 10 for humanoids, 15 for animals and 20
for mythical beasts whose shape does not conform with the previous two
categories;
- Success on the check reveals only the broadest strokes of information
on number (“one” or “several”) and most abundant type of creature leaving the
tracks ("humanoid", "animal" or "something else").
- For every point the roll exceeds the hidden DC by, additional
elements are revealed or ruled out by the tracker:
1 pt.) Roughly how many days have passed
since the marks were made;
2 pts.) Quarry’s movement speed
if fast;
3 pts.) Quarry’s movement speed
if normal or cautious (but without indicating which);
4 pts.) Approximate number of
creatures in a group;
5 pts.) Accurate creature type
(or types if a mixed group, including presence of mounts) and ability to discern an individual quarry’s
marks.
- If the Identification attempt fails, the player will lack
the knowledge to effectively anticipate a quarry’s desirability and the likeliness
of catching up to its movements and will have to rely solely on physical traces
to do so.
Tracking
- Tracking is a task that requires training; as such, if
attempted by a character without the Survival
skill, the check is made at Disadvantage
and the tracker’s movement rate will be halved;
- Wisdom (Survival),
Hidden DC, varying by Terrain Type, Conditions and Aids to the search (see tables
above);
- A successful tracking roll's result should be noted down
for it may become necessary at a later point;
- Once the check is made the character is able to follow
the trail for as long as circumstances remain stable: an extended rest isn’t
taken, night doesn’t fall, the terrain and weather remain constant or change only in a favourable way and no
other extraneous circumstances intrude upon the tracking effort;
- A failed tracking roll will mean the trail is lost soon after the start and that two hours will have to be spent retracing the way if the party wishes to try again, the referee rerolling the distance pool and keeping the highest result;
- On a fumble, the trail is irredeemably lost and such failure is compounded by only becoming apparent once
half the distance of the current leg has been covered.
These are, of course, extremely rough abstractions of
bearing and distance, mirroring those of a large hex scale itself. Tracks are never
in a straight line and certainly should not be described as such, a quarry
being presumed to roam the wild in a winding fashion and at varying speeds as
it goes about its business blissfuly unaware that it is being trailed, meaning
that the fact of it being faster than a man won’t necessarily translate into a greater
distance covered, as it can get distracted by any number of reasons along the
way, its course shaped both by the terrain or previously established
trails and the creature’s need for shelter, food and water.
Particularly as it comes to bearing, this method will doubtlessly be liable to return some pretty chaotic results, which the referee may then adjust
into a semblance of sense both geographically and in light of the creature’s
typical behaviour, be it migratory or territorial ranging. For intelligent
creatures, a destination hex, randomized or otherwise, based on the encounter
specifics and deduced motivation, is something worth considering.
As regards the finality of this whole procedure, a unique critter
might be cleared from an hex’s encounter table, a fugitive may be pursued, certain types of hunting game might promise treasure, hides, ivory or sustenance whereas apex life forms might prove simply too dangerous to face
if not on the players’ own terms and the tracking serve as a means of avoidance rather than pursuit. As the whole process is heavily occluded, it
is left for the party to assess if the potential reward might be worth the
tradeoffs.
Turning the tables
Just as a party can track, so too can it be tracked.
Terrain liable to produce a trail could well see erstwhile hunters become
followed and ambushed by third parties in much the same fashion as they would
do unto others.
How exactly to go about it isn’t the point of this post, but
a handy reverse engineering of the above process would seem simple enough.
Down in the Dungeon (Tracking,
the abridged version)
Unlike the great outdoors, with their implied freedom of
movement, conveniently deformable environment and sweeping abstractions, down
to earth affairs as dungeons tend to require rules with a finer touch.
Rather than the overcrowded compounds usually presented in
modules, I envision a dungeon as being the sort
of place where little goes on for days or even months at a time and where a
set of tracks can be aeons old and of complete irrelevance to the present. Even laying such considerations aside, simply following along a trail in such
an alien environment can tend toward extremes: a place can be so populated and
transited as to make tracking completely unsuitable or so shuttered and
unstirred that any active denizens may creep, but cannot really hide.
In the deep confines under the ground, tracking becomes less
about physical imprints and more a matter of smells, sounds, near-sightings,
intuition and small victories. It won’t usually be possible to pick a few
footprints or dropped breadcrumbs from three days hence and follow across the
whole length of a rocky subterraneum to home in on a creature’s present
position but hints of its presence about the enclosed area may well turn an encounter
into a matter of time.
Here be methods three:
- Whenever a set of fresh tracks is found the referee plots a
course by randomizing a starting point (be it a room or an entryway) and a destination,
the roll of the encounter die then doubling as a progress tracker of rooms
traversed by the encounter, with the trail becoming cold once the trajectory
has been fully completed.
or
- Randomize a room as being the critter’s present location
or lair and enable successful tracking attempts to rule out intersections, rooms
or whole portions of the dungeon by inference.
or, simplest of all,
- If the characters declare that they’re following the
traces left by a creature and pass the corresponding tracking check, halve
their exploration speed and any encounter thereon rolled will have a 50% chance
of being the quarry, caught unawares.
