Similar to the fishing
proficiency, this skill enables a
character to locate and obtain edible
plants more easily than a
normal character can. A successful Proficiency
Check indicates
that twice as much food is obtained than
a normal character
would be able to obtain in the same length
of time, or that the time
needed to obtain a certain amount of food
is half as long as a normal
character would need to get the same results.
See the section
on Food and Water for details on how to
determine the success
of a foraging attempt.
It is exceedingly simple for any character
to step off the beaten
path or walk a short distance from the
campsite and find plant life
that is probably edible, as long as he
is located in a type of terrain
where vegetations grows in some abundance.
At the other extreme,
it can be practically impossible for a
character to find edible
plants if there just isn't any greenery
to be seen.
Table 30: FORAGING SUCCESS
| - | - | Winter | Spring | Summer | Autumn |
| Arctic | D | 0 / 0 | 5 / 75 | 10 / 75 | 0 / 0 |
| - | H | 5 / 75 | 10 / 60 | 10 / 60 | 5 / 50 |
| - | M | 0 / 0 | 0 / 0 | 5 / 50 | 0 / 0 |
| - | P | 5 / 50 | 5 / 50 | 10 / 50 | 5 / 50 |
| - | Se | 10 / 75 | 10 / 50 | 15 / 50 | 10 / 75 |
| - | - | Winter | Spring | Summer | Autumn |
| Subarctic | D | 0 / 0 | 5 / 50 | 15 / 50 | 5 / 75 |
| - | F | 70 / 40 | 85 / 40 | 100 / 50 | 75 / 45 |
| - | H | 20 / 50 | 30 / 50 | 40 / 40 | 25 / 50 |
| - | M | 10 / 50 | 15 / 50 | 20 / 40 | 15 / 50 |
| - | P | 20 / 40 | 30 / 40 | 50 / 40 | 30 / 50 |
| - | Se | 25 / 60 | 35 / 50 | 50 / 40 | 35 / 50 |
| - | Sw | 15 / 60 | 20 / 60 | 30 / 60 | 20 / 50 |
| - | - | Winter | Spring | Summer | Autumn |
| Temperate | D | 10 / 70 | 5 / 50 | 5 / 70 | 5 / 50 |
| - | F | 80 / 40 | 90 / 40 | 100 / 40 | 90 / 40 |
| - | H | 65 / 50 | 75 / 40 | 90 / 35 | 80 / 50 |
| - | M | 20 / 40 | 30 / 40 | 40 / 40 | 30 / 50 |
| - | P | 50 / 40 | 60 / 40 | 75 / 30 | 60 / 50 |
| - | Se | 50 / 50 | 65 / 40 | 80 / 40 | 65 / 50 |
| - | Sw | 30 / 60 | 35 / 50 | 40 / 50 | 35 / 60 |
| - | - | Winter | Spring | Summer | Autumn |
| Subtropical | D | 5 / 75 | 5 / 80 | 0 / 0 | 5 / 75 |
| - | F | 90 / 30 | 100 / 30 | 100 / 30 | 100 / 30 |
| - | H | 80 / 30 | 90 / 30 | 100 / 25 | 95 / 25 |
| - | M | 40 / 40 | 55 / 30 | 75 / 30 | 60 / 40 |
| - | P | 80 / 30 | 90 / 30 | 100 / 30 | 100 / 35 |
| - | Se | 80 / 40 | 90 / 40 | 100 / 40 | 95 / 40 |
| - | Sw | 40 / 60 | 50 / 50 | 50 / 50 | 50 / 60 |
| - | - | Winter | Spring | Summer | Autumn |
| Tropical | D | 5 / 75 | 5 / 80 | 0 / 0 | 5 / 75 |
| - | F | 100 / 30 | 100 / 30 | 100 / 40 | 100 / 30 |
| - | H | 90 / 30 | 100 / 40 | 100 / 40 | 95 / 35 |
| - | M | 85 / 30 | 90 / 30 | 90 / 40 | 90 / 35 |
| - | P | 100 / 30 | 100 / 45 | 100 / 50 | 100 / 40 |
| - | Se | 90 / 40 | 95 / 50 | 100 / 50 | 95 / 50 |
| - | Sw | 50 / 60 | 60 / 60 | 70 / 50 | 60 / 60 |
Each entry on this table consists of two
numbers. The number
to the left of the slash is the percentage
chance that a normal
character who forages for two turns will
find one full day’s ration
of plant life (two pounds of fruit, vegetables,
andlor greenery).
The number to the right of the slash is
the percentage chance
that the material gathered is actually
inedible; it will not help, and
might harm, a character who consumes it.
A character with proficiency in foraging
has an advantage on
two counts. His chance of locating potentially
edible plants is no
greater than any other character's (if
they aren't there, they
aren't there) -- but if he does find plants,
he will locate two full rations
in two full turns of foraging, or one
full ration in one turn. And,
the chance of his "take" being inedible
is 20% lower than that of
a normal character.
It is fruitless for a character to spend
more than four turns (two
foraging checks for a normal character,
four checks for one with
proficiency) attempting to find food;
if he hasn't located any by
then, no amount of further searching will
produce better results. If
every character in the group searches
for as long as possible and
no food or an insufficient amount of food
is located, the gruop
must travel for at least one mile before
undertaking any more foraging
attempts.
If the vegetation gathered by a character
turns out to be inedible,
the DM should roll 1d8 to determine the
exact
nature of the material:
| Die
Roll |
Result |
| 1 | Plants are poisonous; anyone who eats
a half-ration or more will suffer painful cramps beginning 1d10 rounds
thereafter and lasting for 2d10 turns. He will lose 1d4 hit
points per turn for as long as the cramps persist. These lost HP will be regained at the rate of 1d4 per hour if the victim rests and drinks at least one pint of water per hour while he is resting. Duration and damage are both halved for a character who makes a save vs. poison. A slow poison spell will act the same as a successful save, or will provide cumulative benefit (one-fourth duration and damage) for a character who made his save. A neutralize poison spell will halt the cramps and negate and damage that would have been suffered subsequently, but will not offset any damage taken before the spell was applied. |
| 2-4 | Plants are not naturally poisonous, but
are tainted or
spoiled (water-damaged, overripe, etc.) so that they provide no food value and affect the consumer as if they were half-strength poisonous plants: Cramps begin within 1d10 rounds and last for 1d10 turns, with the victim losing 1d2 HP per turn while the cramps persist. These HP are regained in the same way, and at the same rate, as for a character who has eaten poisonous plants. A save vs. poison reduces duration and damage by half; a neutralize poison or cure disease spell halts duration and damage as soon as the spell is cast. |
| 5-8 | Plants are not harmful, but provide no
food value aside
from the water they might contain. Although a character can fill his stomach on plants of this sort and feel as though he nourished himslef, the effect on his system will be as though he had not eaten any food. |
As is often the case with random-determination
systems, the
Foraging Success Table
cannot account for - and may actually
contradict - the prevailing circumstances
at any point during an
adventure. If characters set up camp in
the middle of a grove of
apple trees or on the edge of a cornfield,
for instance, then anyone
who goes out after food obviously has
a 100% chance of
coming back with his arms ful, regardless
of what the table might
indicate. Likewise, the chance of gathered
food being inedible
might be sustantially reduced or eliminated:
If the apples are
ripe and characters specify that they
are gathering all of them
from the trees instead of picking some
of them up off the ground,
then there is little or no chance that
the apples will be anything
but tasty and nourishing food -- unless,
of course, the characters
have just happened to stumble upon a little-known
variety of apple
whose juice contains a delayed-action
acid....
The point is that the table should not
be allowed to unswervingly
dictate what does or does not happen.
Common sense and
reasonable judgment (of which any DM has
an
abundant supply) should always take precedence
over a die roll.