-	-	-	-	-
-	-	-	-	Unearthed Arcana

Members of the ranger sub-class of fighters are entitled to the benefits
of weapon specialization (see “The Fighter” above). In addition to
this expansion of the capabilities of the sub-class, the following information
on tracking, “giant class” opponents, and weapon use should
replace or supplement the pertinent sections of the class description
in the PH.
 

Tracking:

Tracking is principally used in outdoor situations, although there are
conditions underground (“indoors”) which will enable a ranger to
track a creature.

Outdoor tracking: The base chance to successfully track outdoors is
10% per level of the ranger, plus an additional 10% -- for example,
20% for a Runner (R1) or 70% for a Guide (R6). The base
chance can rise as high as 110% (for a ranger of 10th level or higher),
but can never exceed that figure. Note that, even in such a case, the
adjusted chance can drop below 100% if negative modifiers are
taken into account. An adjusted chance of greater than 100% is
treated as 100%; that is, the trail can be followed for as long as the
current conditions (terrain, number of creatures being tracked, etc.)
apply.

Terrain modifiers:

Soft enough to hold impressions (footprints, pawprints, etc.) of creature being tracked	+20%
Allows occasional marks or obvious signs of passage (broken twigs, bent grass, etc.)	+10%
Allows only infrequent signs of passage due to rock, water, wind, other creatures overcrossing or tracking, etc.	0%
Prevents all but the minutest traces of passage	50%

<BH2 considers badlands, desert, forest, hills, and mountains to be "Hard or Rocky">

Other modifiers:

For each creature beyond the first in the group being tracked	+02%
For every 12 hours elapsed since the trail was made	-05%
For every hour of precipitation that has fallen on the trail between tracker and quarry	-25%

Indoor tracking: Base chance is the same as that for outdoor tracking.

Surface condition modifiers:

Dirt floor, or unused and dusty area	+20%
Wooden floor, or area which allows some occasional indication of passage	0%
Stone floor which prevents all but the minutest traces of passage	-50%

Other modifiers:

For each creature beyond the first in the group being tracked	+02%
For passing over an AREA where other creatures cross or overtrack trail	-50%

If intelligent efforts are made to hide the trail, including passing
through a secret door, consider the surface condition modifier to be of
the next lower category. If the surface condition modifier was already
of the -50% category, then tracking is impossible.

Special Note: Tracking indoors is impossible if the ranger desiring to
do so has never observed some distinguishing feature about the
tracks of the creature to be tracked, or if the ranger does not observe
the quarry making the trail and then follow the tracks within a reasonable
period of time (typically 10-30 minutes) thereafter. In all cases,
the DM must use common sense as to whether or not it will be possible
to follow a creature by tracking. For instance, creatures which
leave obvious trails can almost always be tracked -- worms, slimes,
jellies, and the like are obvious examples of this. Conversely, creatures
which do not normally leave any sign of passage are almost always
impossible to track -- flying creatures, ghosts, wraiths, and
spiders, for example. However, since tracking is a combination of visual,
audio, and olfactory abilities, tracking might sometimes be possible
by unusual means - the disturbance of things left by a flying
creature’s passage, the sound of its passage, the trail of odor left, and
so forth.

Light condition, outdoors or indoors: All tracking is assumed to be
done under conditions of good illumination -- daylight or the equivalent
(a continual light spell, for instance). The movement rate of a
ranger while tracking is somewhat slowed even under optimum conditions;
in even poorer conditions (of light, or of the quality of the trail,
or both), the ranger’s movement rate may be reduced drastically.

Movement rate while tracking:

Obvious tracks, good illumination	3/4 of normal
Obvious tracks, poor illumination	2/3 of normal
Occasional tracks, good illumination	2/3 of normal
Occasional tracks, poor illumination	1/2 of normal
Faint tracks, good illumination	1/2 of normal
Faint tracks, poor illumination	1/4 of normal

Definitions:

Obvious	71% or better chance to track.
Occasional	31% to 70% chance to track.
Faint	30% or less chance to track.
Poor illumination	anything less than daylight and greater than total darkness. Tracking is not possible in total darkness unless some non-visual evidence is available (as referred to above).

Identification of tracks: Whether tracking outdoors or indoors (underground),
a ranger may be able to identify what sort of creature(s)
made a trail, what direction the quarry was going in, how many creatures
were in the group being tracked, and how fast they were traveling.
When the trail is outdoors, the ranger may also be able to
determine the approximate time of passage -- that is, how much time
has elapsed since the tracks were made.
Identification of tracks can only occur if the attempt to track is successful.
The chance for successful identification is the same as for
tracking, with a second dice roll required to determine success. Identification
abilities gained by level are cumulative; ie., a Scout (R4) has the abilities of a Strider (R3), in addition to the skills
gained at 4th level. For the purpose of this determination “woodland
creatures” are those which are able to be encountered in faerie or sylvan
settings or wilderness forests, as per the encounter tables in the
AD&D game rules.
 

Ranger level:	Ability to identify:
1	Common woodland creatures' tracks and direction of travel
2	Common woodland creatures' number and pace
3	Common woodland creatures' time of passage (outdoors only)
4	As 3rd level with respect to uncommon woodland creatures
5	As 3rd level with respect to rare woodland creatures
6	As 3rd level with respect to very rare woodland creatures
7	As 3rd level with respect to all sorts of creatures (woodland and otherwise) within a 100-mile radius
8	As 7th level, plus the ability to determine the general size and weight of humans
9	As 8th level, plus the ability to determine the size and numbers of mounted creatures (for instance, if a horse is carrying more than one rider)
10	As 9th level, with respect to all creatures ever observed, prior to attaining 10th level or subsequently

First, Kim's reply to Tommy Hendricks' letter
regarding ranger tracking was on target. A secret
door can be searched for when tracks are lost,
and if the party being tracked passed through it,
normal chances are again used. The key here is
DM involvement. There are a number of ways
which can be employed for tracking situations so
as to cause the ranger to lose the trail. Such
devices must be used, or else the trackers will be
brought to a secret door locale every time! The
problems of adding "realism" to the game are
manifold and include all the facts of reality.
Simplicity is sometimes more desirable in an
action oriented game. . . .

E. Gary Gygax
Lake Geneva, Wis.
Dragon #101, page 6
 

LETTERS

Back to tracking
-
Dear Dragon,
It says in the article "Official changes for
rangers" (issue #94) that when the terrain modifier
is considered to be of the next lower category,
and the modifier was already in the -50% category,
then tracking is impossible. But what if a
10th-level ranger (110% base chance to track) is
trying to track an ogre that passed through a
secret door in an area that is frequently passed
over by other creatures (-50% for secret door, -
10% more for next lower category = -60%)?
Subtracting the modifiers still leaves the ranger
with a 50% chance -- so why is tracking impossible?

Tommy Hendricks
Dallas, Tex.
(Dragon #98)
 

The problem that Tommy had in interpreting
the tracking rules stems from the example given
at the bottom of the 1st column ov the article.  If
the terrain category that applies is the most
favorable one (with the +20% modifier), then
going to the next lower category involves adjusting
the terrain modifier from 20% to 10%, as the
example illustrates.  But using the next lower
category does NOT always mean taking a 10%
reduction to the chance of success; it could mean
a 50% reduction (from 0% to -50%), or a reduction
from possible (even at -50% to the chance of
success) to impossible.

Tommy's letter indicates that to arrive at the
"next lower category," all he did was subtract
10% from the -50% modifier -- but that's not
the way the rules work.  If the terrain modifier is
already -50%, then the next lower category is, in
effect, off the table -- in the realm of impossibility.
By the way, I'm. not sure that "-50% for
secret door" is the appropriate way to handle
tracking under such conditions.  There <is> no
provision in the new rules for modifying the
chance of tracking one's quarry through a secret
door, which could be accomplished at the usual
chance for success -- providing that the ranger
succeeds in detecting the existence of the secret
door to begin with.

-- KM
(Dragon #98)
-

Humanoid / “giant class” opponents
Following is an expanded list of those humanoid creatures that are
considered “giant class,” qualifying the ranger for a damage bonus
( + 1 point per level of the ranger) when such a creature is engaged in
combat. The roster includes all “giant class” creatures mentioned in
the Players Handbook, plus other similar creatures from the FIEND FOLIO Tome and Monster Manual II.
 

bugbear	[goblin]	[ogre mage]
[cyclopskin]	[grimlock]	[ogrillon]
[dune stalker]	[hobgoblin]	[orc]
[ettin]	[kobold]	[quaggoth]
[flind]	[meazel]	[tasloi]
[giant]	[norker]	[troll]
[gibberling]	[ogre]	[xvart]
[gnoll]	-	-

The ranger’s weapons

Of the ranger’s three initial weapons of proficiency, one must be either
a bow (any sort) or a light crossbow. However, the ranger cannot
have both a bow and a light crossbow as weapons of proficiency until
attaining 7th level (at least), when the weapon type not already taken
could be counted as the fifth weapon of proficiency. By the time a
ranger gains a fourth weapon proficiency at 4th level, the character’s
list of weapons must include:
 

1.	either a bow or a light crossbow
2.	a dagger or a knife
3.	a spear or an axe, and
4.	a sword (of any type).

The initial weapon selection for the character must be made so as to
take these requirements into account. A ranger who specializes in a
particular weapon must do so in one of the types listed above. In this
manner, a ranger has less than four proficient weapons at fourth level,
and in this case the first four proficient weapons gained by the ranger
must include one of each of the four types listed.

<non-official, and the answers need to be re-written for clarity>

Note: These answers are from the tracking rules in UA.
The answers are preliminary: some might be wrong. This answer is a rough copy. I'll update it later.
I've numbered the questions in the OP.
You asked about outdoor, I've incl. some indoor notes as well.

[quote="Travis"][b][u]Outdoor tracking:[/u][/b]

The important thing to remember is that tracking is taken care of by *1 roll*.
(Remember, game school, not realism)

1. How physically close does a ranger have to be to an existing trail before he can roll to see if he discovers it while searching? 10yds, 100yds, 1 mile?

2. How long does the searching detecting procedure take the ranger? Note if it is a short time, say less than an hour, then why does the ranger give up?

3. Under what conditions would you allow a ranger to [u]reattempt[/u] his roll/search?
For example: He guesses his target has crossed a river and searches again immediately beyond the bridge.
The problem here is that 90% plus 90% of 10% gets us to 99% chance if he did guess right, but maybe guesses like this should be subsumed in the initial 90% roll.

4. If the trail crosses from one terrain type to another do you make the ranger roll again to see if he has lost the trail? If your maps are not sufficiently detailed how do you decide terrain shift?

5. What difference does it make if the target knows/assumes he is being tracked?

6. How do you manage Ranger after Ranger tracking? I felt I had to develop stalking skulking skills for this; stat modified, level based, small scale, frequent use.[/quote]

1a. If the ranger has sighted the quarry, then distance is a non-issue. Distance = sight range.
1b. If the ranger has not sighted the quarry, then it's like searching : you have to search, but no roll is needed to find a trail. If it's there, you find it. Distance = entering a square with <>

2a. No need to search.
2b. Same as a general search of a dungeon room. (10 min for a 20 x 20 area)

4. No reroll. Everything is covered by one roll. Adjust the modifiers.
See DMG.173.

5. Intelligent creatures might hide their trail.

6. Rangers will definitely hide their trail, if they know they are being tracked.

The important thing to remember is that everything is covered in 1 roll.
After tracking begins, it's a matter of comparing movement rates if the roll is successful.

Outdoors, after an encounter, I think it's fair to give a successful track roll another chance for an In Lair roll. Just say that the lair is 1 mile distant.