Survival

Survival encompasses the various forms of navigating through the wild areas of Altera. From following tracks to finding useful plants to hiding amongst the undergrowth, Survivalists use their knowledge of nature to aid them in their endeavors. Abilities that can be purchased more than once will indicate that in their description.

Gain one Naturalist ability with initial purchase. Others may be purchased for the listed cost with additional experience points.

Tracker

Cost: 5 XP

The Naturalist may interact with Trail Tags of Rank 1 (Green). This increases to Rank 2 (Yellow) at the Scout level, and Rank 3 (Red) at the Ranger level.

There may be other situations where a Naturalist with this skill may attempt to follow a PC or NPC or group of PCs or NPCs. Such attempts always require a Marshal, and may not be feasible in all circumstances.

Trail Signs

Cost: 5 XP

When researching using BGAs or performing an Investigation, the Naturalist with this skill counts as having an applicable Level 1  Lore on the following topics: Weather Conditions, Animal Behavior,  Natural Terrain (hills, plains, swamps, etc), and Animal Tracks..

Once per day the Naturalist may, with one minute of preparation, place upon themselves a Natural Wyrding vs. Natural. See the Game Effects page for details on this effect.

If the Naturalist also has Tracker, the Naturalist may attempt to conceal tracks made by a small group they are traveling with. This requires a Marshal to use, and may not be feasible in all circumstances.

Skinner

Cost: 5 XP

Naturalists with this skill can tell if an animal’s corpse has any valuable material available for harvest. This may be fur, bone, skin, or other such materials. A slow three count (“Skinning 3, Skinning 2, Skinning 1”) is required to determine if there are items of use, and up to a full minute of effort to successfully harvest the items. Not every animal will have harvest-able materials.

Gardener

Cost: 5 xp (can be purchased up to 5 times)

Naturalists with this skill can identify and harvest Herbs found in the wilds of Altera. Further, three (3) times per event the Naturalist may, as a Production action, create a duplicate tag of any Herb tag they have access to. Additional purchases of this skill allow for three (3) additional duplicates to be made. Some Herbs may have special requirements for duplication, or may not be able to be duplicated at all. These will be indicated on the tag.

Gardeners are highly encouraged to have a phys-repped garden on site, though any props used should be clearly marked so as not to be confused with game provided props.

Prerequisites: Must have at least two Naturalist abilities (Gardening only counts as one ability even with multiple purchases of Gardening).

Gain one Scout ability with initial purchase. Others may be purchased for the listed cost with additional experience points.

Animal Handler

Cost: 10 XP

A Scout may, at will, use a Natural Calm Animal effect. See the Game Effects page for more details on this effect. The Scout should declare “Natural Calm Animal”, when beginning the required gesture.

Rats, Spiders, Wolves, Giant Lizards, and other mundane animals will generally be affected by Calm Animal, though animals with more esoteric qualities (such as Lightning Eels), possessed, diseased or otherwise abnormal animals will generally not be affected by Calm Animal and will indicate this with a response call of “No Effect”.

With one minute of interaction with an animal (typically performed after a successful use of Calm Animal and during which time both the Scout and the animal may not be involved in any combat), such as soothing speech, gifts of food, and the like, the Scout may apply one of the following effects: Natural Charm Animal, Natural Trance, or Natural Sleep. These effects may not be used on an animal that is unaffected by Calm Animal.

Intuition

Cost: 10 XP

The Scout with this skill is, at all times, considered to have the Detect Concealed ability allowing them to be aware that there is an Invisibility or Conceal effect being used in their immediate line-of-sight. This does not allow the Scout to interact with the Concealed or Invisible subject, it just provides knowledge that it is there.

Scouts with this skill will be given one minute of warning before an attack on a building the Scout is sleeping in. The Scout may also be able to accurately gauge the number and general type of creatures in a given area before they have followed a trail to its end, or before entering an unfamiliar area (such as when participating in a module). This ability requires a Marshal to use.

Nature’s Cloak

Cost: 10 XP

A Scout may spend 10 seconds concentrating while roleplaying the act of concealing their location near thick brush or any tree 1 foot or larger in diameter. After using a slow 10 count (“Concealing 10, Concealing 9…”) while concentrating and not moving, they may use a self-only “Natural Conceal” effect.

Ways of the Wild

Cost: 10 XP

A Scout with this skill may prepare poultices from esoteric natural ingredients. These poultices require the Ways of the Wild skill to use, and are volatile, expiring at the end of the event they were prepared for. Three (3) of any of the following types of poultices may be prepared each event: Natural Wyrding vs. Disease, Natural Wyrding vs. Poison, Natural Invigorate, Natural Intoxicant.

Once per day, a Scout with this skill may use one of the following effects: Natural Slip Snare, Natural Sure Foot, Natural Stabilize.

A Scout with this skill may also set traps.

Prerequisites: Must have at least three Scout abilities.

Gain one Ranger ability with initial purchase. Others may be purchased for the listed cost with additional experience points.

Whispers in the Trees

Cost: 15 XP

The Ranger may call “No Effect” to any and all non-Wild Reveal Concealed effects, so long as they are in a natural environment (outdoors, in a forest, etc), near a valid Conceal location for the Nature’s Cloak ability, and not moving.

If the Ranger has the Nature’s Cloak ability, the Conceal effect generated is upgraded to a Greater Conceal. The Ranger may only move up to 10 walking steps at a time, must remain still for at least 30 seconds between moves, and must always end in a valid Conceal location for the Nature’s Cloak ability.

One with the Land

Cost: 15 XP

When researching using BGAs or performing an Investigation, the Ranger with this skill counts as having an applicable Level 1 Lore on the following topics: Extreme Terrain (Desert, Mountain Peaks, Tundra, etc.), Exotic Terrain Features (Volcanos, Glaciers, etc.), Legendary Creatures (Dragons, Griffins, Manticores, etc.)

Once per combat, the Ranger may use a self-only “Natural Heal Vigor 2” after 10 seconds of concentration. This effect may be used while Concealed by any means. This ability resets as per Combat Traits.

If the Ranger has the Ways of the Wild ability, they may add the following types of poultices to the list that ability may produce: Natural Resist Poison, Natural Resist Mental, Natural Cleanse.

Pack Master

Cost: 15 XP

Once per day, the Ranger may instruct a group of individuals about the natural world for at least 1 minute. Upon completion of this instruction, the Ranger may produce one of the following effects: Natural Flurry 5 Resist Acid, Natural Flurry 5 Resist Fire, Natural Flurry 5 Resist Ice, Natural Flurry 5 Resist Poison. In all cases, each Resist must be placed upon a different target.

If the Ranger has the skill Animal Handler, the Ranger adds Dominate Animal to the list of effects that can be produced by Animal Handler after one minute of interaction.

Trail Tags

During a character’s adventures in Altera Awakens, he or she may stumble across a Trail Tag. Trail Tags come in 4 ranks, and should be marked clearly with both Rank Number and Color:

  • 0 or White, which may be interacted with by anyone
  • 1 or Green, which require the base level of the Tracker ability (see above) to interact with
  • 2 or Yellow, which require the intermediate level of the Tracker ability
  • 3 or Red, which require the highest level of the Tracker ability.

If a character is able to interact with the Trail Tag, they may choose to take the tag and follow the instructions on it.  If a character chooses to take a tag, they MAY NOT take another tag until the current one is resolved.

Taking the tag will require the character to travel to Monster Town OR find a Marshal to resolve the situation. This ranges from a simple “collect X treasure” all the way to “gather a group of 6, and report to Monster Town”. Trail Tags may also allow or restrict individuals from going with the Tracker character in various ways, such as requiring a number of other Tracker characters with a particular Rank. Tags may also be set in sequence, or as part of a set. For a set of tags, all tags should be resolved in order, unless otherwise indicated.

Example Trail Tags

Tag Level: Yellow / 2

Tag#: 0036D

Tag Number: 1 of 1

Description: This area appears to have signs of a struggle. A faint trial of blood, along with some shed scales, leads further into the forest.

Instructions: To resolve, take this tag to Monster Town. You may bring no more than 4 other individuals. You may bring 1 additional individual who has the skill Tracker and can interact with Green / 1 level Tags.

Herbs

Herbs in Altera Awakens are represented by artificial plants, along with an item tag. If an artificial plant is found, it may be harvested by characters possessing at least 1 level of Druid, 1 level of Alchemy, or 1 level of Gardening (see above). Once harvested, the artificial plant may be turned in at Production for a random herb tag. If an artificial plant is discovered with a tag attached, it is that specific herb. In all cases, the artificial plant should be turned into Production as soon as is convenient, to keep the phys-reps in circulation. Herb tags found by themselves with no associated phys-rep (such as in a treasure chest, or a bandit’s pouch) may be picked up by any character, though they will not be able to identify the herb as anything more than “some plant that might be valuable”.

Herbs in Altera Awakens have magical and mundane properties usable by Alchemists and Druids. See those skills for more information on the specific uses.