Find Truffle (sage ability)
Find Truffle is an authority-status sage ability in the study of Fungi. This involes the activity of collecting specifically wild truffles, typically for sale but of course also for consumption.
Classified as a delicacy, to employ the ability must bring along a trained swine or dog, using it to root in truffle-rich areas, often oak or hazelnut tree groves, as truffles have a symbiotic relationship with these. When the dog or pig detects the scent of a ripe truffle, the ability grants the character the wherewithal to withhold the animal and carefully excavate the truffle.
This process takes between 30 minutes and 3 hours to locate one truffle (2d6 times 15 minutes). Once this is found, roll a d10, with the following results for black truffles, which are found in France, Spain, Hungary and Romania, and in the central Apennines of Italy:
- 1-7: truffle weighs from 0.3 to 0.9 ounces (2d4+1 x one tenth)
- 8-9: weight is 1.0 to 1.9 ounces (3d4+7 x one tenth)
- 10: weight is 2.0 to 4.0 ounces (4d6+16 x one tenth)
White truffles are half the size of the black variety; on the whole they're considered more valuable. They're found in the Piedmont of Italy, Croatia and Slovenia.
Truffles can be sold for a considerable price.