Forums of the Megaverse®

Checking to see if anyone has encountered this during a game. Has anyone tried to use Tracking instead of Land Navigation?

(SHIFTY) wrote: ↑Sun Jul 07, 2024 3:19 pm Checking to see if anyone has encountered this during a game. Has anyone tried to use Tracking instead of Land Navigation?

Wouldn't that mean you couldn't go anywhere unless you were following someone/something? Or do you mean that you could simply look for the signs of paths that people commonly use to travel? Not quite a road, not quite a trail.

I guess it's possible, but it seems like a good way to get lost in the middle of nowhere, too.

I ruled it as a GM with a skill penalty.

(SHIFTY) wrote: ↑Sun Jul 07, 2024 6:15 pm I ruled it as a GM with a skill penalty.

I would assess a penalty based on the terrain. Any area with grass and average soil should make tracking easier than it would be for arid regions, so I'd give little to no penalty there. If you're trying to find signs of semi-frequent passage in arid regions, you have to look for trash that people leave behind, pretty much. Swampland would also get a penalty.

(SHIFTY) wrote: ↑Sun Jul 07, 2024 3:19 pm Checking to see if anyone has encountered this during a game. Has anyone tried to use Tracking instead of Land Navigation?

I don't think I have encountered that, but depending on where the party was trying to go, and what they were trying to track, I could see it.
If they're trying to find a town, and they're tracking humans, that could help.
If they're trying to find a lake, and they're tracking animals who make use of the lake as a water source, that could help.
If they're trying long distance navigation, and they know which migratory (land) animals to track who are heading in the right direction, that could help.

I don't see it as a 1:1 substitute, but under certain circumstances it'd work.

Nope.

If you track a intelligent being or an animal, you are not navigating the land. You are just following a trail.

Land navigation is more the boy scout thing to go out and find a way to a certain point using different skill sets and tools. It's going from A to C via B.

(SHIFTY) wrote: ↑Sun Jul 07, 2024 6:15 pm I ruled it as a GM with a skill penalty.

I think this is pretty reasonable. Tracking, at least, would tell you what kind of places this kind of trail was likely to lead ("A deer trail is likely going to lead to water; water leads to more water, which is where towns usually are"), which would give you some basic orientation. It's definitely not as good as Land Navigation for navigating the land, and won't help with things like proper orienteering, but "Can do it with a penalty" is a good solution to a skill gap.

Land Nav, in the current military, is about knowing how to read military maps, determining your position by shooting an azimuth, and knowing your pace count. It’s about getting from Point A to Point B most efficiently given the terrain, weather conditions, and time of day.
Tracking is using signs your mark is leaving behind; footprints, scents for dogs to follow, hair or fibers left by rubbing on trees and buildings, or even knowing where they are trying to go and intercepting them en route.