Navigator, Water
Characters who grew up as an apprentice under, assistant to, or who practiced the works of ocean and star navigators, will have the chance to have this particular Extra Skill. For it pertains primarily to the knowledge of navigating out at sea without landmarks by use of one's knowledge of astronomy, compass, astrolabe, position of the sun and moon, wind and sea currents, and the sextant to determine one's position in the ocean. Thus while the character never has to be the one keeping track of position and navigation, they do need to have been exposed to the process for long periods of time. This time would need to be vastly longer if the character is learning on their own without a mentor.
With the knowledge and experience of a Navigator under their belt, characters with this skill can expertly identify their position, navigate and direct in the middle of the sea. This can be done without any rolls only if the character has the appropriate equipment on hand, or if they are in shallow waters around land or even inland in fresh water. Otherwise they must make a direction sense check. Characters with this skill can expertly spot and notice ahead of time various sea phenomena such as strong currents, strong or still winds, whirlpools, water spouts, storms, sea monsters, or rather they can note the conditions of their area being ideal for said elements, before most others would.
Furthermore the character with this skill can spot and direct the helmsman around trecherous terrain, through shortcuts and not well known channals, and aid in escaping whirlpools, avoiding water spouts, escaping a current & storm, and so forth, giving them a +1 modifier to the helmsman's Sailing Proficiency. So long as they have the appropriate tools they can also keep track of their position if they keep track of the current and winds during heavy fogs & starless nights, preventing them from getting lost or, at worst, having a +1 modifier to their Direction Sense Proficiency roll.
With the knowledge and experience of a Navigator under their belt, characters with this skill can expertly identify their position, navigate and direct in the middle of the sea. This can be done without any rolls only if the character has the appropriate equipment on hand, or if they are in shallow waters around land or even inland in fresh water. Otherwise they must make a direction sense check. Characters with this skill can expertly spot and notice ahead of time various sea phenomena such as strong currents, strong or still winds, whirlpools, water spouts, storms, sea monsters, or rather they can note the conditions of their area being ideal for said elements, before most others would.
Furthermore the character with this skill can spot and direct the helmsman around trecherous terrain, through shortcuts and not well known channals, and aid in escaping whirlpools, avoiding water spouts, escaping a current & storm, and so forth, giving them a +1 modifier to the helmsman's Sailing Proficiency. So long as they have the appropriate tools they can also keep track of their position if they keep track of the current and winds during heavy fogs & starless nights, preventing them from getting lost or, at worst, having a +1 modifier to their Direction Sense Proficiency roll.
