Hunting Bonuses

[Vyper]

The hunting skill give a bonus to "Cook game animals +10%". My question is. Does this mean you get a new skill "Cook game animals" at 10% or does it just add 10% to the cook skill?

[filo_clarke]

My take is that it adds +10% to the Cook skill, as long as you are cooking something that you hunted. However, I might be persuaded to have it count as a new skill - something like "Primitive Cooking +10%" that uses the standard Cook skill percentage, but represents a VERY basic ability to prepare a meal using only the animal that you hunted. Your hunter doesn't know how to bake a cake, but can spit-roast a possum...

I think I would be fine with either interpretation.

[Bill]

My take is that it adds +10% to the Cook skill, as long as you are cooking something that you hunted.

This is how I have run it.

[Vyper]

cheers for the response guys

[Vyper]

Ok another question. The Hunting skill gives bonuses to an assortment of other skills as well for example "Track and trap animals +5%". I know that this bonus is added onto the base skill however a player gave the persuasive argument that it would give him that skill even if he didn't actually take the track and trap animals although he would only get it at +5%. (I am only using the track and trap skill as an example the argument was that they would get the skills but only at the bonus % if they didn't actually take the skill) Thoughts please guys

[Bill]

If you want to handle it that way, you can. I prefer to require characters have the skill to benefit from the bonus. Otherwise, you may have a player attempt to game the system to pile up as many five and ten percent skills as possible. That's counter to the intent of rewarding players for focusing their characters' skills in a more narrow direction.

[filo_clarke]

I was ready to agree with Bill, but then I reread the Hunting skill, along with the Track & Trap Animals skill. The Hunting skill explicitly states that it teaches: preparing animals for food, knowledge about animal habits and patterns, hunting techniques for baiting and trapping, camouflage, etc.

This one has got me thinking. Giving a free skill just because of a +2% or a +5% bonus seems like a bad precedent to set (as Bill pointed out), but at the same time, the Hunting skill seems to imply that it teaches some of the information that the Track & Trap Animals skill also imparts. Unfortunately because Hunting does not provide a base bonus for any of this information it presents me with a dilemma; what if a character took NONE of the other associated skills with Hunting? The player could, justifiably, claim that they know about cooking, tracking, trapping, camouflage and prowl because the skill says so... but they didn't get a base percentile-roll for any of this knowledge. They might feel cheated if the GM didn't let them at least attempt the skills mentioned in the description (but perhaps at a miserable base chance).

Hmmmm. Good question Vyper.

[Bill]

I think you've got to consider when it's necessary to roll a skill. If a hunter is trying to cook an animal he or she has caught, I wouldn't bother. The end result will be edible. On the other hand if he or she is attempting to make something that will stretch to feed more people than a single rabbit normally would or that is enjoyable enough to impress a guest, I'd expect a Cooking skill check and Hunting by itself would be insufficient.

[glitterboy2098]

My take is that it adds +10% to the Cook skill, as long as you are cooking something that you hunted.

This is how I have run it.

I've generally figured the bonus is for cooking wild game in general, not just what you yourself hunted. Wild game tastes a bit different and has more factors to consider than domesticated stuff, and someone with less experience with wild game is not going to be quite as good cooking it well

[Axelmania]

I guess you might theoretically say everyone has every percentile skill at 0% for purposes of giving a default with a bonus? Not a bad house rule but not sure if it makes sense for canon-quibbling.