Scent and Track

[Felix]

From SRD, Special Abilities, Scent
...The creature can follow tracks by smell, making a Wisdom check to find or follow a track. The typical DC for a fresh trail is 10. The DC increases or decreases depending on how strong the quarry's odor is, the number of creatures, and the age of the trail. For each hour that the trail is cold, the DC increases by 2. The ability otherwise follows the rules for the Track feat. Creatures tracking by scent ignore the effects of surface conditions and poor visibility...

And then......

From SRD, Feats, Track
Benefit: To find tracks or to follow them for one mile requires a Wilderness Lore check. The character must make another Wilderness Lore check every time the tracks become difficult to follow, such as when other tracks cross them or when the tracks backtrack and diverge....

So what kind of synergy do these two things have? Is the Scent "Wisdom check" supposed to be a Wild. Lore check? If by tracking using sight the DC is 15, and tracking by smell is DC 20, one would naturally track by sight; but does having scent help you at all in this instance? Does it lower the DC? Or does it just provide an alternative method of tracking?

It seems that Scent would be handy when
A) the trail is very fresh, and the weather sucks.
B) you recognize the scent of something when not looking for it.

Well... ideas? Thanks.

 

[hammymchamham]

pg 204 MM:

Wolves receive a +4 racial bonus to Wilderness Lore checks when tracking by scent

I would guess. I don't know the true answer, but would like to know as I am thinking of getting this feat for my druid

 

[Wippit Guud]

Note though: Wolves don't have the track feat.

 

[Felix]

Wippit Guud: True, wolves don't have the Track feat, but they don't need it if they have Scent; Scent merely follows the rules of Track, with the exception of weather and land. (You can track without Track. )

The confusion lies where wolves get a bonus to Wilderness Lore for tracking purposes and their only form of tracking doesn't use that skill. Silly, huh?

hammymchamham: Yeah, my Gnoll ranger wants this to work out so he can be a mideval Bobba Fett.

 

[whatisitgoodfor]

For humor's sake you could read the DMG summary of the Scent ability.

In that one it refers to making a Wis check to track using scent and then later refers to the same roll as a Wild Lore check.

 

[Wippit Guud]

So, a druid who gains both Track and Scent is wasting a feat..?

 

[Iku Rex]

Is the Scent "Wisdom check" supposed to be a Wild. Lore check?

I think so, yes.

 

[Felix]

So, a druid who gains both Track and Scent is wasting a feat..?

I would think that for a druid, it would be more efficient to Wild Shape into Hound Dawg and track like that. He'd keep his Wild Lore skill bonus, yeah?

For humor's sake you could read the DMG summary of the Scent ability.
-snip-

Don't you just love stuff like this. I imagine it was just a SNAFU.

So, are we all in aggrement that WotC editors need more practice?

Now, what about the possible synergy twixt the two?

 

[LostSoul]

So, a druid who gains both Track and Scent is wasting a feat..?

I don't think so; there are other benefits to the Scent feat.

 

[BiggusGeekus]

It could almost be interpreted as two seperate abilities with two rolls that just happend to do similar things. So someone who had scent and track would get two attempts to hunt someone down.

That's not such a bad thing if you want your character to be the best tracker in the land.