Tracking
Characters with tracking proficiency are able to follow the trail of creatures and characters across most types of terrain. Characters who are not Rangers roll a proficiency check with a -6 penalty to their ability scores; rangers have no penalty to their ability scores. In addition, other modifiers are also applied to the attempt, according to the table below.
| Terrain | Modifier |
|---|---|
| Soft or muddy ground | +4 |
| Thick brush, vines, or reeds | +3 |
| Occasional signs of passage, dust | +2 |
| Normal ground, wood floor | 0 |
| Rocky ground or shallow water | -10 |
| Every two creatures in the group | +1 |
| Every 12 hours since trail was made | -1 |
| Every hour of rain, snow, or sleet | -5 |
| Poor lighting (moon or starlight) | -6 |
| Tracked party attempts to hide trail | -5 |
The modifiers are cumulative-total the modifiers for all conditions that apply and combine that with the tracker's Wisdom score to get the modified chance to track.
For tracking to succeed, the creature tracked must leave some type of trail. Thus, it is virtually impossible to track flying or non-corporeal creatures. The DM may allow this in rare instances, but he should also assign substantial penalties to the attempt.
To track a creature, the character must first find the trail. Indoors, the tracker must have seen the creature in the last 30 minutes and must begin tracking from the place last seen. Outdoors, the tracker must either have seen the creature, have eyewitness reports of its recent movement ("Yup, we saw them orcs just high-tail it up that trail there not but yesterday."), or must have obvious evidence that the creature is in the area (such as a well-used game trail). If these conditions are met, a proficiency check is rolled. Success means a trail has been found. Failure means no trail has been found. Another attempt cannot be made until the above conditions are met again under different circumstances.
Once the trail is found, additional proficiency checks are rolled for the following situations:
- The chance to track decreases (terrain, rain, creatures leaving the group, darkness, etc.).
- A second track crosses the first.
- The party resumes tracking after a halt (to rest, eat, fight, etc.).
Once the tracker fails a proficiency check, another check can be rolled after spending at least one hour searching the area for new signs. If this check is failed, no further attempts can be made. If several trackers are following a trail, a +1 bonus is added to the ability score of the most adept tracker. Once he loses the trail, it is lost to all.
If the modifiers lower the chance to track below 0 (for example, the modifiers are -11 and the character's Wisdom is 10), the trail is totally lost to that character and further tracking is impossible (even if the chance later improves). Other characters may be able to continue tracking, but that character cannot.
A tracking character can also attempt to identify the type of creatures being followed and the approximate number by rolling a proficiency check. All the normal tracking modifiers apply. One identifying check can be rolled each time a check is rolled to follow the trail. A successful check identifies the creatures (provided the character has some knowledge of that type of creature) and gives a rough estimate of their numbers. Just how accurate this estimate is depends on the DM.
When following a trail, the character (and those with him) must slow down, the speed depending on the character's modified chance to track as determined above.
| Chance to Track | Movement Rate |
|---|---|
| 1-6 | 1/4 normal |
| 7-14 | 1/2 normal |
| 14 or greater | 3/4 normal |
In the earlier example, Thule has a modified tracking chance of 9, so he moves at ½ his normal movement rate.
Characters with the Animal Lore proficiency gain +2 to their proficiency rating when tracking animals - either wild or domesticated.
Most Rangers (and Barbarians in their homeland) will have this proficiency in outdoor land terrain without spending any slots. Generally, success chances in urban, man-made, or aquatic terrains are halved, unless a specific kit description says otherwise. Some kits give tracking in alternative terrains instead of the usual outdoor land environment.
Thanks to his keen senses and thorough understanding of animal behavior, the ranger is an expert tracker. He reads an impression in the mud or a bend in a twig like words on a printed page. He can determine the identity of his quarry and how fast it was traveling by the depth of a footprint. He can tell the size of a slug from the trail of slime it left behind. He can track an orc in the darkest forest, a rabbit though the thickest jungle, an escaped convict across the most desolate mountain range. A ranger’s tracking skills apply to characters as well as creatures, and to underground and interior settings as well as all types of outdoor environments. His tracking skills are inherent; that is, he receives the Tracking non-weapon proficiency automatically at the outset of his career, expending no proficiency slots.
A ranger can’t just track anything, any time he likes. In order to track a particular quarry, the following conditions must be met:
- The quarry must be capable of leaving a physical trail. Elements of a trail may include footprints, bent twigs, waste matter, or any other physical signs that a ranger can follow. Certain categories of creatures-including swimming and flying creatures, small insects, and ghosts and other non-corporeal creatures-seldom leave physical evidence of their passage. In most cases, such creatures can’t be tracked. However, since tracking involves all the senses, not just sight, it‘s possible that the aroma of burning metal might linger after the passage of a particular specter, or a ghost might reveal itself by its eerie voice, heard faintly in the distance. Still, only the most skilled rangers are capable of following trails devoid of physical evidence, and the DM should allow such tracking in only the rarest of circumstances.
- The ranger must be able to find the trail. If the trail is outdoors, the ranger must actually see the creature (he spots a fox darting into the brush), notice obvious signs of his quarry (such as footprints or droppings), or hear reliable reports of the quarry’s whereabouts (”Looking for that old silver dragon? She likes to drink from the pond by the twin palm trees.”). If the trail is indoors, the ranger himself must have seen the quarry within the last 30 minutes, and begin tracking from the location where the quarry was last seen. As always, the DM is the final arbiter as to whether the ranger has enough evidence to enable him to track the quarry.
If the above conditions are met, the ranger can attempt to trail the quarry by making a Tracking check, using his Tracking score. The base Tracking score is equivalent to the ranger’s Wisdom. Consult Tables 15-17 for other relevant modifiers; these tables may be used in place of Table 39 in Chapter 5 of the Player’s Handbook. In non-natural surroundings, the Tracking chances are halved. If the modified Tracking score is zero or less, the ranger is unable to track the quarry in question. If the modified Tracking score is greater than zero, the ranger makes a Tracking check by rolling 1d20. If the roll exceeds the ranger’s tracking score, or if the roll is 20, the check fails and no trail has been found, If the roll less than or equal to the ranger’s Tracking score, the ranger has found the quarry’s trail and may begin to follow it.
Once a ranger has found the trail, he may track the quarry indefinitely until any of the following situations occur:
- The ranger moves too fast. The ranger must move slower than his normal movement rate in order to stay alert for signs of the trail. His movement rate limit depends on his modified Tracking score, as shown in Table 18. Should the ranger exceed the movement rate - for instance, if a monster abruptly ambushes him and he’s forced to run-he loses the trail - the modifiers change. If the trail leads to a new terrain type, night falls, or any other change occurs that requires a new Tracking modifier (as described in Tables 15-17), the ranger loses the trail. The new conditions may dictate the use of modifiers reflecting a trail that is easier to follow, not more difficult, and DMs should consider applying a bonus in such conditions. Nevertheless, the new roll must still be made.
- A second track crosses the first. Crossed trails mingle the physical signs of each, making tracking difficult. The DM determines if such a situation exists. If so, the ranger’s efforts fail. (If the ranger wishes to continue tracking, as described below, he must decide which of the crossed trails to follow.)
- The ranger becomes distracted. An attack from a monster may interrupt the ranger’s progress. Further, the ranger may intentionally choose to stop if he needs to rest, eat, or hold a discussion with his companions. Any of these interruptions qualifies as a distraction. When any of these conditions occur, the ranger loses the trail. To continue tracking the quarry, he must spend at least an hour exploring the immediate area for new signs of the trail. After an hour of searching, he makes a new Tracking check based on a Tracking score calculated from the new conditions (if the illumination has changed from daylight to twilight, he must now modify his Tracking score by-3). If other trackers assist the ranger, modify the tracking check by +1 per assistant; add the bonus to the Tracking score of the most adept tracker. This bonus is limited to +1 per 3 levels of the ranger (round up). If the check succeeds, the ranger may continue following the trail as before. If he fails the check, he has lost the trail for good.
By noticing details that other characters might overlook - the depth of a footprint, the thickness of a snapped branch, a hair caught in barbed bush - the ranger can deduce a sizable amount of information about his quarry. The more skilled the ranger, the more information he deduces. Whenever a ranger makes a successful Tracking check, he may then attempt an Identification check. The Identification check uses the same score and modifiers as the Tracking check; essentially, the Identification check is a second Tracking check. If the Identification check is successful, the DM provides the ranger with some information about the quarry based on the guidelines in Table 19. The ranger's experience level determines the type of information he receives. The information is cumulative; that is, a 6th-level ranger who makes a successful Identification check receives all types of information available to rangers of level 6 and below. The DM provides only general information, not exact details. At his discretion, the DM may give more precise or less specific information than suggested in Table 19. The information may be ambiguous (“The tracks resemble those of a large bird, though they could have been made by some sort of reptilian creature.”) but the DM shouldn’t intentionally mislead the ranger (for instance, by telling him the tracks were definitely made by a bird when in fact they were made by a reptile). The parenthetical comments in Table 19 indicate how a DM might respond to a ranger studying tracks that were made by a pair of juvenile red dragons, each with a human rider.
Not only is the ranger able to track the movement of others, he’s also adept at concealing his own trail. If a ranger moves at half his normal movement rate, he may cover his footprints, avoid snapping twigs, and execute similar actions necessary to conceal his trail. When other characters, rangers included, attempt to track a ranger who has concealed his trail, they do so at a -5 penalty to their Tracking scores. (If a terrain-specialized ranger concealed his trail while moving through his primary terrain, others suffer a -7 penalty to their Tracking scores.)
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