Survival
Characteristic: Cunning
p. 119
Learning to recognize the dangers of the natural environment as well as exploiting its resources is dependent upon the Survival skill.
- • When a character needs to identify safe food, potable water, or shelter in a natural environment, each of these tasks requires a Survival check.
- • Characters who are skilled at Survival understand weather patterns; recognizing the signs of imminent dangerous conditions, and knowing how to prepare.
- • Tracking a subject through the wilderness—whether game or a bounty—is dependent upon Survival.
- • Survival governs a character's ability to handle domesticated animals, so that they may be used as beasts of burden or as transport.
Survival Difficulty
The difficulty for a Survival check is dependent upon the severity of the environment. Key factors are the biocompatibility of a world's native life with the PC, weather conditions, and the basic tools on hand.
Survival Bonus Symbols
- Success: that exceed the difficulty on a Survival check may be used to assist other characters in surviving. Alternatively, the character may choose to stockpile goods so that they may go a longer period of time between checks.
- Advantage: may be spent to gain an insight into the environment that makes future Survival checks easier. This might be a watering hole where prey is common, an abandoned cave that makes an excellent shelter, or a grove of biocompatible fruit trees. When tracking, an may be spent to learn a detail about the target, its numbers, its species, or how recently tracks were made.
- Triumph: generated during a Survival check to handle animals may be spent to permanently predispose the target animal towards the character in a positive way, effectively earning the character a loyal companion. While tracking, may be spent to learn a vital clue about the target, whether their destination, their disposition, or the presence of prisoners or cargo.
- Threat: The GM may spend generated on a Survival check to represent the character spending vital resources during the course of their check, perhaps using food as bait to catch game, or losing fuel in an attempt to make a fire.
- Despair: may be spent to inflict wounds, Critical Injuries, or high levels of strain on the character as they succumb to the untamed environments of the galaxy.