This is a skill that involves a limited knowledge in herb lore, centered largely on the gathering of foodstuffs and common cooking herbs in the wilds, knowing what plants prefer what sorts of conditions in which to grow and prosper within the wide territory they range, but also including in its scope the knowledge needed to be of use in the foraging of not just edible plant matter and fungi, but other sorts of things from the natural world, depending on what the character’s other skills may be. If he is also an Apothecary, his skill as a Forager includes knowledge of the particular geological and topographical circumstances best for finding also particular types of rocks and soils, minerals, crystals, and specific types of ore samples, and the like. If he is also an Herbal, his knowledge as a Forager is greatly expanded in scope regarding plants, including all those of medicinal value and those which may be dangerous or have other uses entirely.
This is the specific skill that provides the book-learned Herbal with the knowledge of where to look to find certain growing conditions that the herbs he seeks are most comfortable, where they are most likely to be found, so he may gather them himself. This skill allows the book-learned Apothecary to evaluate soils and strata in rock by type to best locate the minerals, soils, or other substances of the earth he may seek so he need not depend on others to supply them.
When the character has a craft that involves the use of natural media or materials, such as the dyestuffs used by cottage craft dyers, natural pigments used by painters, making ink as a scrivener, acacia pods and oak bark and galls for tannin for tanning leather, and the like, having the Forager skill gives the character the knowledge he needs to Forage for his own materials in the wild and the skill to prepare his own materials for his craft.
This skill is of primary interest for the fact that it enables the Herbal or Cook/Chef character to find and gather enough wild roots and tubers, mushrooms and other fungi, vegetables, leafy greens, barks, flowers, fruits, and/or berries (as appropriate to the season) to either supplement Road Fare in order to make it last longer or taste better, or to wholly feed the character and his companions, thus saving money. The Forager can also gather herbs specifically to season the dishes he Cooks when he doesn’t have the luxury of an herb garden in the dooryard and don’t want to have to pay for them in the marketplace.
IF the Forager character is also a Husbandman, he is able to forage appropriate alternative plant-stuffs when good grasses are scarce for those of the beasts within his skills who are herbivores.
One of the more valuable benefits of this skill is the familiarity it gives the character with the lay of the land in the surrounding region, in the same manner as a Guide. Maps are a luxury for those who can afford them in the period of the game, but even for those who can they are only generally useful. The sorts of maps available in the period of the game is specifically useless for determining distances and accurate relationships in space of different locations and especially do not represent the true nature of topographical regions. The best they can do is indicate the general routes of national or regional roads and mark the approximate positions of the points of major importance (towns/cities) along the way.
The average citizen of the realm knows the major routes through his shire, and most definitely within his hundred, and that includes the intrepid Forager, and while it is unlikely the average citizen has used these routes unless they are in his backyard and used to get to the local market(s), they is well-known and travelled by the Forager. All locals know the general direction such routes head. The closer such routes are to their homes, the more likely the average local resident knows the next couple villages or towns in either direction from where he would reach those roads, but this is considered common knowledge for the Forager character.
All characters, both PC and NPC have knowledge of topographical details such as the locations and general extents of major features like manors and lords estates, rivers and streams, or villages and minor towns, markets, religious foundations, churches and chapels found within (AWA) miles of the town or village in which he resides, in which he is likely to have been born and also grown up. This naturally includes the Forager, as well.
The in’s and out’s of small local features like farmers’, cowherds’, and shepherds’ paths, major game trails, common small game trails and paths used by Huntsmen, Woodsmen, Guides and other Foragers, the downs, cliffs, mountains, knolls, crossroads, fords, meadows, and pastures, especially those with names important to local historic traditions, or recalling bogeys, fairytales or cautionary tales which are found within (AWA) furlongs from the town or village in which a Forager-skilled character resides are also considered to be common knowledge.
Of places of major importance within (AWA) miles, regardless of why they are important, the Forager knows the general direction in which they lay and the approximate amount of time it takes to get there, and it is highly likely he has been there personally at least a time or two.
The areas described above is measured from the Forager’s home and that of the mentor who instructed him in his craft, as well, making two circles that will likely overlap somewhat, but not necessarily. Within the areas of which he has detailed knowledge, the Forager will need no Guide or Direction Sense to get around and is in no danger at all of ever getting lost except through the malicious application of magick on him. In addition, so long as the Forager makes the effort to get out and travel the land, explore it and keep familiar with it, he is able to increase the extent of the area in which he is familiar with all the major locations of importance as described above by (AWA ÷ 4) miles with every trade SL gained, or by (AWA) furlongs for the area in which he is familiar with the minor details.
In regards to his Foraging, the character is assumed to have ranged far and wide within the area described above and acquainted himself with all environmental conditions, habitats, and micro climates at all elevations within it, so he will know where to go at what times of year to find that for which he is looking, whether for his Herbal trade, human or animal medicines, seeking food, or in pursuit of his Alchemy trade, whatever skills he has to which Forager can be applied.
IF the Forager is an Herbal, travelling to distant locations, far afield and completely different from his native environs, has only a slight effect on his skills. His effective Herbal trade SL is limited to no greater than (SL ÷ 2), until such time as he can acclimate himself and locate and correlate the local plant life with the points of reference in his Speculum that remind him in practical terms how the plant life in general differs from that with which he is more familiar and comfortable. Each week spent acclimating restore an effective SL to him until he is back at full capacity. This applies to the effective trade SL of the character as an Herbal, as well.
IF the character has a local Herbal to show him around and help to make him more comfortable in the new surroundings, the rate of acclimation period drop by (host Herbal’s trade SL ÷ 10) in days per point of Forage SL and trade SL recovered. During the period of acclimation, no SP’s may be accumulated by the exercise of the character’s Herbal trade and no progression checks may be made for it. In addition, until he has acclimated himself to the new climate and region, his Forager skill is limited to no greater than his Herbal SL (if applicable), whether he is seeking food, medicinals, or plant stuffs for other purposes such as to create elixirs, drugs, or even poisons.
After the period of acclimation, the region with which the character is familiar, as explained above for his native region, is measured from the point of his base-camp and host’s location as if the character were trade SL1 again, and must be patrolled and expanded in the manner described for his native territory as his trade SL progresses there.
Forager is an especially useful skill for those on the road. It can even be practiced while traveling, taking advantage of adjacent meadows, fields, woods and/or forest even from horseback, though the greater the speed at which he or the party with whom he is traveling raises the DV. This is especially true when the Forager is travelling cross-country off the beaten paths, he and any companions not confining themselves to well-travelled ways. Indeed, the greater the local population, the higher the DV for exercising this skill.
This practice calls for stopping occasionally or making small detours so that the time required to do the foraging is deducted from the travel time by the end of the journey/day’s travel, which reduces the distance covered or require the character(s) to ride that much longer at the end of the day in order to make up for the lost time.
Foraging, whether done while travelling or from some sort of base-camp, can greatly extend the length of time that supplies of Road Fare will last, and the general quality of that Fare, especially when the party also has the services of a decent Cook or Chef to make something tasty with the proceeds.
Each successful Foraging expedition will result in either 1/4th, 1/2, 3/4th’s or the total amount of food required to feed, comfortably, those for whom the player stipulates his character is Foraging. The player must state which portion he is going for when he starts and whether he is Foraging for one meal or all three of the daily meals. Characters being wholly sustained by the Forager’s efforts is free of any penalties due to malnutrition for as long as the land provides.
These fractional portions are set against reciprocal fractions of Road Fare. If the Forager gathers 1/4th the party’s daily needs in fresh foodstuffs, just enough to vary the party’s diet, the party will of course only eat 3/4th’s of a normal portion of their Road Fare, and thus they will have 1/4th left over when the rest are gone, or they will have gained 1 full day of additional food for every 4 days that the Forager gathers a 1/4th portion of fresh foodstuffs for them from the wilds.
This increases to result in 1 additional day of food every 2nd day when the Forager is gathering 1/2 half the party’s daily needs to supplement the Road Fare in a more meaningful way, for which the party is grateful if they ever have to go back to eating the Road Fare alone, or 3 days of additional food for every 4 days the Forager spends his time foraging when he really wants to stretch the Road fare as far as he can so the party do not have a chance to get tired of the Road Fare.
Road Fare can keep for as long as a year before it is compromised and must be pitched out, rotted and corrupt, so it can be saved for winters and emergencies when no other sort of food is available.
The Forager is required to range an area roughly (Foraging DV) furlongs in radius to find the food needed. Every time the forager returns to the same area to forage for the same sorts of materials the original DV there rises, but this doesn’t affect the size of the foraging area.
Herbivores and avians that do not eat carrion or meat eat things totally different from that which humanoid folk need, and so Foraging for them must be assessed completely separately.
The DV for the first time Foraging in a given area (as defined above) is based on the season :
Season |
Humanoids
|
Herbivores
|
Spring |
20
|
5
|
Summer |
5
|
1
|
Autumn |
1
|
10
|
Winter |
10
|
20
|
This base stands as is when the Forager is only seeking a few modest items to supplement the recipients’ diets, taking the place of 1/4th their Road Fare or other meat and staples, BUT is increased by 25% (x 1.25) if he is foraging for sufficient foodstuffs to replace 1/2 the meat and staples or Road Fare, OR by 50% (x 1.5) if he is Foraging for enough to comprise 3/4th’s their fare, or 100% (x 2) if they are subsisting solely off what he is Foraging for nutritionally this requires the greatest variety and most creativity on the Forager’s part.
The DV for Foraging herbs for use in Alchemical preparations or magickal ritual or ceremony supplies is increased from the above base by the total POT of the exercise for which materials are being foraged.
When Foraging materials for an Alchemist to make ritual supplies, the same total POT-worth of the supplies for which the materials are being gathered is added to the base DV in the same manner.
In addition, the DV is affected by centers of population nearby. The greater the local population, the higher the DV’s for exercising this skill is, for the local populace will also derives some of its sustenance from foraging the land, as well, leaving not much for the itinerant Forager to glean.
DV bonus
|
Rate |
Town Population |
+1
|
per 250 |
up to 1,000 |
+2
|
per 2,500 |
up to 10,000 |
+3
|
per 25,000 |
up to 100,000 |
+4
|
per 250,000 |
up to 1,000, 000 |
The modifier based on local population, the maximum that is applied, is used when the Forager arrives within one (1) mile of the town’s precincts. The modifier should be read in miles, and start at one (1) at the farthest limit of that distance and rise by 1 for every mile closer to it that the Forager tries to practice his craft,
For example, when approaching a town of 100,000, the distance from the city at which the penalty begin to be applied is 24 miles. This begin with a +1 DV penalty when he is located within 24 miles of the town, +2 at a distance of 23 miles, +3 at a distance of 22 miles, +4 at a distance of 21 miles, and so on adding one (1) for each mile closer until the ultimate penalty of +24 is reached when the Forager is within one (1) mile of the town.
The speed at which the character or the party with whom he is traveling is also added to the DV for the character to Forage, if he chooses to do so, along the road as he travels.
Every time a successful foraging outing is made for any specific type of plant matter whether food, medicinal, for a restorative elixir or salve, or herbs for particular magick ritual supplies, or alchemy exercise, the DV for foraging in that area for that purpose rises, adding the number of times it has been foraged before, each time, so that the 2nd time an area is Foraged for the same purpose the DV rises Progressively.
IF a Forager exhausts all the d100 checks allowed him, he must move on to another area of equal size, for it is exhausted in his eyes.
From a central base-camp, a Forager could conceivably live off of the produce of the wilderlands within a third of a day’s hike (far enough to walk, Forage, and return in a day) for a month or more. There is no effective limit to the number of Foragers who can work the same area at any given time, but when the dice indicate failure for one of them, he must move on, that area having been exhausted for him.
- IF the Forager is an Herbal, regardless of the trade under which his Forager skill is bundled, he will also be able to gather the herbs that make up 37% of the normal marketplace price of consumables for the casting of magick rituals and/or holy ceremonies (total price according to POT x 0.63), so long as he has a member of the magick trades instructing him exactly as to what is needed.
- IF the Forager is an Apothecary, he is able to search out the balance of the non-herbal materials that make up 37% of the normal marketplace price of consumables for the casting of magick rituals and/or holy ceremonies (total price according to POT x 0.63), again, as long as he has a member of the magick trades instructing him exactly as to what is needed.
- IF the Forager has both the Herbal and Apothecary trades, he is able to gather both kinds of materials amounting to 73% of the normal marketplace price of consumables for the casting of magick rituals and/or holy ceremonies (total price according to POT x 0.27).
Most of the substances involved in making the special substances of the specialty skills of Alchemy are composed primarily of elements from the earth, from the province of the Apothecary, and the 73% savings due to Foraging for the necessary materials may also be applied to the costs listed in the descriptions for those substances and items (Greek fire, smudge-pots, smoke-bombs, flash-pots, flash-bombs, stink pots, corrosives, etc.). The same 73% reduction in cost is applied when Foraging the necessary materials for the making of drugs and poisons or distilling alcohols, which are primarily made of vegetable/herbal matter.
- IF he is an Alchemist, the character is able to reduce the costs for these substances to zero, as he is providing the materials and the labor and will not have to worry about any margin of profit.
For these purposes, the herbage collected by the Forager is measured in “POT1 packets,” the amount needed for the user to exercise or perform his craft or Art with them at a POT of l, in the same manner as the ritual supplies a magicker uses.
- IF he lack any of the trades or skills which would give him a personal interest in these items, the Foraging character is quite capable of taking instruction and searching out the herbage needed by Herbal or Alchemist or magick-wielder. as long as they supply him with specific descriptions of what they need, as it appears in a live state, so long as it is native to the region he is searching.
The DV’s for finding herbs for use in Alchemical preparations or magickal ritual or ceremony supplies is rarer and therefore distinctly more difficult to find (higher DV).
The Forager must be careful with his harvest; the foodstuffs gathered must be consumed on the same day, as most of these foodstuffs (except tubers) wither or rot within a day (two at most) of being gathered, or less, unless stored in a nice, cool root cellar, out of the heat and sun, or preserved or later renewed by magick. Even kept cool, these foodstuffs cannot last longer than 5 days (tomatoes and other soft fruits and vegetables 3 days), no more than 2 weeks for the harder vegetables (squashes, et al.), or 1 month for tubers before they start to wither. In the heat of summer, the more delicate stuffs wilt and start to wither within a matter of a couple of short hours, and must ·be gathered immediately prior to being prepared, shortly before the meal in which they are to be served, unless the PC’s have some (presumably magickal) manner in which to protect them until needed. However, the foodstuffs gathered can be dried and canned and stored by those with the Cook skill or Alchemist trade until needed. Within a week of the harvest season until the first frost, the forager can also purposefully pick less-than-ripe foods and store them in tightly sealed bags or sacks (leather, not cloth) in a relatively dry and cool spot, slowing their ripening by a week, 2 weeks for those only half-ripe, or as much as a month for those picked wholly green (GM’s discretion), before they is subject to withering and decay, as described above.
Foodstuffs gathered for the purposes of being stored in this way should be accounted for in parcels of (STA ÷ 3), the same in which they are purchased on the equipment lists in Appendix F. These can then more easily be broken up on a per-meal basis, as needed.
The length of time required to exercise this skill depends entirely on factors such as the season, STA of those foraged for or POT of the materials or substances to be made with the materials gathered, and also whether the Forager is trying to wholly feed those in his charge or merely supplement their diet or stretch their rations so they last longer.
The time required to Forage for food is equal to the DV for the task plus the (modified STA ÷ 3) of the largest recipient Foraged for, plus 1 for every additional character for which food is to be gathered.
From this should be subtracted the Forager’s SL and AWA att. mod., and (1 per 4 SL’s) of his Search Perception skill (as applicable).
The result is read in mileways, and will yield 1 meal’s-worth of food for the intended recipients for which it was gathered.
This can then be reduced to 3/4th’s, 1/2, or even 1/4th normal according to the portion of sustenance gathered, as described above, depending on whether the character is Foraging only to stretch or supplement the Road Fare or foodstuffs already carried or just wants to provide a bit of variety, or provide for all the sustenance the recipients require.
The length of time required for the character to Forage materials for making ritual supplies for performing Low Magick, or for making any alchemical substance or item are also equal to the DV, which naturally includes the POT-worth, which is counted in a similar manner as points of STA (above)
In addition, a Forager may gather the materials for making ritual supplies for as many magicks and points of POT for which he cares to search out POT-worth of herbage.
For example, should the character only have time to search out materials to make 20 points of POT-worth of ritual supplies, he may forage materials to make ritual supplies to perform each of 20 ritual magicks at a POT of 1 as easily as materials to make ritual supplies to perform 1 ritual magick at a POT of 20, or break it down for any number of POT-worth in between for any number of magicks in between, to a sum equalling 20, as desired.
When Foragers work in a team to satisfy the needs of the same group of people, the time required is divided by their number. Generally speaking, the less the character is gathering, the less time it takes. The opposite is also true, so that if a number of Foragers go out to procure the same amount of food for the same people (same DV), the time requirement not change, but the yield in food is multiplied by the number of Foragers.
The att. mod. for the use of this skill is based upon the character’s AWA, plus a bonus based on the character’s Searcher Perception skill (as applicable).