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<blockquote data-quote="Water Bob" data-source="post: 5935992" data-attributes="member: 92305">I don't know about that.&nbsp; There are several &quot;hard wilderness&quot; areas in many official campaign worlds.&nbsp; Take the Forgotten Realms.&nbsp; To the barbarians of the Spine of the World or the Icewind Dale area, Survival would be quite important.&nbsp; Same goes for the denziens of the Anauroch.&nbsp; There are numerous areas where Survival would be a paramount skill.&nbsp;But, even in a campaign that you call &quot;normal&quot;, think of the Ranger that inhabits a particular wood.&nbsp; Think he comes to town to collect rations?&nbsp; No, he's catching and eating his food.&nbsp;What about your standard adventure group that brought with them two weeks of iron rations but lost half their food when they crossed a river (or the trip took 3 weeks, out in the wilderness)?&nbsp; Survival is there for hunting and fishing.&nbsp;If you don't want to roleplay out hunting, you can use the quickie rule that Survival provides by moving at half speed and living off the land.&nbsp; A character skilled with Survival can feed more people than himself.&nbsp;Tracking can be a fun part of the game, and if playing 3.5, that means having some ranks in Survival.&nbsp;There are all sorts of environmental throws that are Survival based that help a character get along in the wilderness.&nbsp; Extreme weather, for example, may require a Survival check.&nbsp; Or, a Survival check may give the character a bonus to an Extreme Weather Saving Throw.&nbsp;The Survival skill is used to make shelters and temporary structures out in the wilderness.&nbsp; For example, a cold winter night can cause the same effects as sleeping in armor (fatigue), unless a DC 15 Survival check is made.&nbsp; Or, a Survival check is used by a character wanting to make a sniping post out in the wilderness.&nbsp;If there is a chance that the character will get lost in the wilderness, it's a Survival check that is made for the character to keep his bearings.&nbsp;If a character wants to find a cave, overhang, cliff, fallen tree, gully, or dug out, the Survival check is used to find a good spot to make camp.&nbsp;For example, let's say the PCs, out in the wilderness, want to pick a good, defensive location in which to make camp because they know that they've stirred up the local goblins into a frenzy.&nbsp; It's a Survival check that is used to determine how good a location was found.&nbsp;Here's a practical use of the Survival check from my game:&nbsp; The PCs were in a storm, following a dry river bed that was starting to show some water.&nbsp; Well, all of us players are city boys, and I wanted to give the players a clue (because I think their barbarian characters wouldn't miss it) that they may be in danger of a flash flood that would wreak havoc on them and sweep them down the river bed.&nbsp; So, I gave them all a secret Survival check, and each character that made the check, I let them know that a flash flood was possible.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Tracking.&nbsp; Hunting.&nbsp; Fishing.&nbsp; Eating off the land as a character moves.&nbsp; Building a shelter to protect from the elements.&nbsp; Rolling to see if a particular fruit or greenery is edible.&nbsp; Rolling to make wilderness structures like sniping blinds.&nbsp; Rolling to see if lost--to know direction.&nbsp; Rolling to see if a character &quot;knows&quot; about things that happen in the wilderness, like flash floods.&nbsp; Rolling to predict the weather.&nbsp;You think all of that is rare in D&amp;D terms?&nbsp;I would think that at least some of thost things pop up routinely in most D&amp;D games unless the game is entirely city-based.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Water Bob, post: 5935992, member: 92305"] I don't know about that. There are several "hard wilderness" areas in many official campaign worlds. Take the Forgotten Realms. To the barbarians of the Spine of the World or the Icewind Dale area, Survival would be quite important. Same goes for the denziens of the Anauroch. There are numerous areas where Survival would be a paramount skill. But, even in a campaign that you call "normal", think of the Ranger that inhabits a particular wood. Think he comes to town to collect rations? No, he's catching and eating his food. What about your standard adventure group that brought with them two weeks of iron rations but lost half their food when they crossed a river (or the trip took 3 weeks, out in the wilderness)? Survival is there for hunting and fishing. If you don't want to roleplay out hunting, you can use the quickie rule that Survival provides by moving at half speed and living off the land. A character skilled with Survival can feed more people than himself. Tracking can be a fun part of the game, and if playing 3.5, that means having some ranks in Survival. There are all sorts of environmental throws that are Survival based that help a character get along in the wilderness. Extreme weather, for example, may require a Survival check. Or, a Survival check may give the character a bonus to an Extreme Weather Saving Throw. The Survival skill is used to make shelters and temporary structures out in the wilderness. For example, a cold winter night can cause the same effects as sleeping in armor (fatigue), unless a DC 15 Survival check is made. Or, a Survival check is used by a character wanting to make a sniping post out in the wilderness. If there is a chance that the character will get lost in the wilderness, it's a Survival check that is made for the character to keep his bearings. If a character wants to find a cave, overhang, cliff, fallen tree, gully, or dug out, the Survival check is used to find a good spot to make camp. For example, let's say the PCs, out in the wilderness, want to pick a good, defensive location in which to make camp because they know that they've stirred up the local goblins into a frenzy. It's a Survival check that is used to determine how good a location was found. Here's a practical use of the Survival check from my game: The PCs were in a storm, following a dry river bed that was starting to show some water. Well, all of us players are city boys, and I wanted to give the players a clue (because I think their barbarian characters wouldn't miss it) that they may be in danger of a flash flood that would wreak havoc on them and sweep them down the river bed. So, I gave them all a secret Survival check, and each character that made the check, I let them know that a flash flood was possible. Tracking. Hunting. Fishing. Eating off the land as a character moves. Building a shelter to protect from the elements. Rolling to see if a particular fruit or greenery is edible. Rolling to make wilderness structures like sniping blinds. Rolling to see if lost--to know direction. Rolling to see if a character "knows" about things that happen in the wilderness, like flash floods. Rolling to predict the weather. You think all of that is rare in D&D terms? I would think that at least some of thost things pop up routinely in most D&D games unless the game is entirely city-based. [/QUOTE]

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