Foraging (sage ability)

Foraging is an amateur-status sage ability that permits the character to search for naturally occurring food, which may be edible animal or vegetable matter. The exact nature of the food is not important, though it will typically consist of products such as fish, bird's eggs, roots, fruits and berries, nuts, honey, fungus, shellfish and more. The amount that is found will be far more than an ordinary person would find (an unskilled forager might locate half a pound per day) and will certainly be safe to eat. The ability includes the character's knowledge of when edible products are ripe; while some edible mushrooms may be located, the amount located will be less than 10% of the food found. Foraging should not be confused with mushroom hunting.

Foraging presumes hunting above ground; the ability does not provide for searching in subterranean ranges. The time spent foraging equals 10 hours. Characters may forage in 1-hour periods, in which case the amount of food found is divided by the 10-hour standard. For example, Otto decided to forage for 6 hours; he rolls the amount of forage he would have found had he searched for ten hours, then multiplies that by 6/10ths to find the accurate haul.

Foraging Table

In some climates, food is relatively common and may be reliably found every day. In temperate climates, the time of the season can vary this reliability; and in parts of the world where food is scant and hard to find, there is a high probability that food may not be found at all. The Foraging Table below is organized by range, latitude and season. Where a die roll is indicated, such as "3d20," that number of dice should be rolled and read off. Where a chance is indicated, such as "1 in 6," that is the chance in a 10-hour day of finding only 1d4 lbs. of food.

WORKING ...

Latitude	Range	Nov 8 to Apr 14	Apr 15-21	Apr 22-30	May 1-11	May 12-24	May 25 - Sep 7	Sep 8-30	Oct 1-15	Oct 16 to Nov 7
Subpolar	alpine	1 in 8	1 in 6	3 in 6	1d4	1d4	2d4	1d6	1d4	4 in 6
	intertidal	1 in 6	3 in 6	2d4	3d4	4d6	3d12	6d4	2d10	2d4
	taiga	1 in 6	2 in 6	4 in 6	1d4	2d4	3d4	2d4	1d6	5 in 6
	tundra	1 in 6	2 in 6	1d4	2d4	3d4	3d6	3d4	2d6	1d4
alpine	+0
barrens	+1
desert	+2
intertidal or wetland	+3
jungle or rainforest	+4
savanna or veldt	+4
steppe	+4
taiga	+4
tundra	+4
woodland	+4

As well, foraging is reduced by 50% during the dry season of tropical and subtropical climates. In temperate climates, foraging will fall by 10% per week following October 15th, to a minimum of 10%, where it will remain until rising by 10% per week after February 1st. In sub-arctic climates, foraging will fall by 20% per week after September 7th, dropping to zero, and not climbing again by 10% increments per week after April 15th.

In many ways the skill resembles arboriculture ~ however, there are important differences. The skill does not depend upon a forested or shrub environment, as animal material can be collected as well as vegetable. Therefore, the foraging skill is useful in deserts and even in polar regions. Additionally, the skill is not concerned with potential harm to the environment, and as such may be willing to sacrifice a tree or an animal's family in order to assure food.

The amount of food that can be found per day (1 to 10 hours of searching) is determined by the thickness of the vegetation, as shown on the table.

In those areas of scant foraging, there is a chance that the character may fail to find any food at all; in areas of easy foraging, however, food is common and abundant, and only takes time to locate.

The skill is distinct from hunting in that none of the animal foods that are found require the character to take aim with a weapon and hit anything while moving. It is distinct from fishing in that a line or net is not used. The sort of animal food that is found will be, as has already been mentioned, eggs of birds and other animals, grubs, beetles, shrimps, mollusks and so on.

See Scouting