The Skill of Tracking

[N Hammer]

I was bored at work today, so I got to thinking about a few D&D things, one of which I’ll throw at you.

Why is Track a Feat?…Just seems to me it should be a skill….

This subject was probably talked about before. I don’t know.

So let’s say it’s a skill….This is what it would be like..

Class-Skill —Barbarian, Druid, Ranger
Cross-Class—Bard, Fighter, Rogue
Other Classes are restricted..

Now, I think the Ranger should get a bonus for the Track skill…Something like this

First level Ranger gets a +1 bonus to Track. Every second level after that he gets an additional +1 (3rd, 5th, 7th..etc.). So a 11th level Ranger has a +6 to Track.

This is something that just came to mind this morning..

Thoughts?

 

[Crothian]

Not a bad idea, but track is a skill. You just need the feat to be able to do it, but wilderness skill is very important to it. Personally, I like it that way as I think we have plenty of skills.

 

[hong]

Tracking someone already is a skill; you roll a Wilderness Lore check to do it. The Track feat just lets you follow tracks that are particularly difficult to see.

 

[wallshot]

umm...

why is track useless w/out wilderness lore? what advantage would a class that doesnt have wilderness lore have in taking the track feat? have i been misreading the Track feat all this time...it just seems like the track feat is nothing without wilderness lore, so why do you need it?

 

[bozzutoman]

Track allows anyone with the feat to detect/follow tracks with a high DC much like the Rogue's ability to detect/disable high DC traps.

It'd probably have been less clunky if they'd kept to one type of mechanic. Remove the Track feat and allow only the Ranger to track using WL above a set DC.

Of course then noone'd throw many points into WL unlike Spot/Search for traps...

 

[Plane Sailing]

I removed the track feat.

Search skill is used for all tracking attempts. Anyone can attempt to find tracks which have a DC of less than 20.

Only Ranger characters can attempt to find tracks with a DC of 20 or greater.

Thus, this follows precisely the existing mechanic for Rogues and searching for traps.

Neat, simple, easy, consistent.

 

[CRG]

Then again, most folks I know would like to see some sort of feat or special ability added so that you could find traps and not be a rogue...anywho

 

[N Hammer]

I also found it odd that Wilderness Lore was used for Tack....Search seemed the better skill for it.

Being able to survive in the wilderness doesn't neccessarily require being able to track things.

I'm thinking maybe using Search for Track and giving a +2 synergy bonus to the roll with a Wilderness Lore rank of 5 or higher.

The book says that if you don't have the Track feat you can use your Search skill to track anything with a DC of 10 or less.

 

[LostSoul]

Then again, most folks I know would like to see some sort of feat or special ability added so that you could find traps and not be a rogue...anywho

Traps [Rogue!]
You are skilled at locating complex traps.
Benefit: You can use the Search skill to locate traps when the task has a Difficulty Class higher than 20. Finding a nonmagical trap has a DC of at least 20, higher if it is well hidden. Finding a magical trap has a DC of 25 + the level of the spell used to create it.
Normal: Traps with a DC of higher than 20 cannot be located.

 

[N Hammer]

The feat goes with Track....It should be a skill....