Animals (Social)

The Animals skill allows PCs to understand, communicate with, and treat animals effectively. With this skill, the PC can domesticate animals, build bonds, teach tricks, and use them as companions for activities such as riding or hunting.

It also represents the PC's knowledge about fauna, habitats, and animal behavior. 

This knowledge varies according to the PC's culture and is determined by the GM, taking into account the PC's level in this skill.

Animals does not cover the treatment of injuries and illnesses in animals, but it can be used as a complementary skill in "Medicine" tests.

The main mechanics of the Animals skill are:

→ Species Classification (Class): 

Each animal species in the game will be assigned to a specific classification (class), which can affect certain mechanics.

→ Taming Level: 

Each animal species in the game will be assigned a Taming Level.

The Taming Level guides what interactions can occur and the difficulty for certain tests and tasks related to that species

.

The Taming Levels are:

Level 0 → domestic animals that do not require the PC to have any levels in Animals to effectively handle them, such as dogs, cats, horses, pigs, etc.

Level 1 → usually wild versions of domestic animals, such as wolves, wild cats, wild horses, boars, etc.

Level 2 → wild animals that require a specialized person to handle them, such as bears, tigers, elephants, etc

Level 3 → extremely fierce or elusive animals, often mythological, that require a dedicated specialist, such as griffins, manticores, etc.

Untamable → species that cannot be effectively handled even by specialists, such as dragons, humanoid species, etc.

→ Riding:

Each animal’s species description will acknowledge if the species is mountable or not.

PCs can reliably ride mountable species with Taming Level 0. For species of higher Taming Levels, they must purchase the “Beastrider” ability.

Animals skill’s abilities list:

→ Beastmaster

(Animals Level 1+; 3 XP + 2 XP per animal companion's Taming Level)

The PC has a special bond with an animal. It is their animal companion.

Animal companions are controlled by the GM.They accompany the PC on their adventures. 

Whenever the player wishes, they can pay 1 Tale Point to command one of their animal companions to perform an action.

Each animal companion is added to the PC sheet as a new biography, where their information is recorded, such as how the PC met them and developed their relationship, etc. 

The player can also add details about their behavior, habits, and personality.

To create a bond with a specific animal and turn it into an animal companion, the PC must acquire this ability. 

They must purchase this ability again for each new animal they wish to make their companion.

The cost to purchase this ability is 3 XP, plus an additional 2 XP multiplied by Taming Level of the chosen animal species (i.e. level 0 requires 0 additional XP; level 1 requires 2 additional XP; level 2 requires 4 additional XP; level 3 requires 6 additional XP).

Indomable species can’t be chosen.

The PC can have a maximum of animal companions equal to their level in the Animals skill.

The PC can only choose animals that they are able to tame and that exist in the current setting. 

The GM may veto the choice of an animal companion if it does not make sense within the narrative.

If an animal companion suffers more injuries than it can withstand according to its description, the player may pay 1 Saga Point to narrate how the animal escapes from the situation (and if the PC survives, they will reunite later). 

If the player does not have Saga Points, the animal companion dies. The PC gains 3 generic XP to compensate for the loss, but any additional XP invested in the companion is lost.

Improvements (Animals Level 2+; Beastmaster):

• Trick (3 XP): 

With this improvement, an animal companion can be trained in a skill that makes sense for its species. 

It grants a 1d12 bonus to the PC and their allies on skill tests related to that skill, as long as the animal is able to assist them. 

The PC does not need to spend a Tale Point for this. The player can choose this improvement multiple times to:

→ Increase by 1d12 the bonus granted in a skill by the animal, to a maximum of 3d12.

→ Add another skill to the list of those trained by the animal. Each animal can be trained in a maximum of three distinct skills.

• Additional Animal Companion (2 XP):

The player can choose this improvement to have an additional animal companion beyond what is allowed by their PC’s level in the Animals skill. 

The player can select this improvement as many times as they want, each time allowing for one additional animal companion.

This improvement does not guarantee an animal companion; it only allows the PC to have a maximum number of animal companions beyond their level in the Animals skill. 

To train a new animal companion, the PC must still purchase the "Beastmaster" ability again.

• Companionship (2 XP):

Once per scene, in a moment without urgency, the PC can interact lovingly with one of their animal companions in a way that reduces up to 100 stress points from the animal and 50 stress points from the PC.

This improvement can only be purchased once.

Improvements (Animals Level 3, Beastmaster).

• Loyal Companion (6 XP):

The PC can select one of their animal companions to create an extreme bond with. 

The loyal companion is controlled by the PC’s player and can perform actions without the player needing to spend Tale Points. 

The PC can only have one loyal companion at a time. 

If the PC's loyal companion dies, the PC receives 6 XP instead of 3 XP.

→ Wildcaller

(Animals Level 1+; 4 XP)

By using body language and their understanding of animal behavior, the PC is capable of

rudimentary communication with other non-humanoid species.

The player selects a class of non-humanoid animals from the available classes in the game's setting. 

When the PC is dealing with animals of that class that have a Taming Level equal to or less than the PC’s Animals skill, every d6 that results in 2 or more is counted as a hit.

Tests involving an animal from the chosen class that has a Taming Level equal to or lower than the PC's Animals skill have their interpretation of results increased: 

→ Critical failures become normal failures 

→ Normal failures become normal successes 

→ Normal successes become critical successes

If the PC rolls a critical success non-modified by this rule, they can project a feeling, emotion, or impulse onto the animal in the form of a condition. Examples of such conditions include "happy," "scared," "protect this place," and so on.

Wildcaller is added to the PC sheet as a biography. Each chosen animal class is noted in this biography.

The cost to obtain this ability is 4 XP. The PC must purchase this ability again for each new animal class they choose.

Improvements (Animals Level 2+; Wildcaller)

• Friend of the Beasts (3 XP): 

The player chooses one of the animal classes that the PC has in the Wildcaller biography. 

The PC gains the benefits of Wildcaller even for animals of this class that have a domestication level higher than the PC's level in the Animals skill, except for untamable species.

If the PC has level 3 in the Animals skill, they also have these benefits for untamable species, but on a critical success, they must spend 1 Saga to project emotions//impulses onto an untamable animal. 

The player can purchase this improvement multiple times for other animal classes, provided that they are already associated with the Wildcaller biography.

Improvements (Animals Level 3; Wildcaller) 

• Invoke Animals (5 XP): 

Once per scene, the PC can invoke members of one of the animal classes associated with their Wildcaller biography to perform an action that makes sense narratively with the species of the invoked animal. 

This species also has to be present or make sense in the location where the PC is. 

To do this, the PC makes an Animals + Presence test, where the action difficulty (AD) is determined by the GM, and the obstacle difficulty (OD) is the Taming Level of the species: 

Level 0, OD 2 

Level 1, OD 3 

Level 2, OD 4 

Level 3, OD 5 

Untamable*, OD 6 

* Only if the PC has the "Friend of the Beasts" improvement in the animal class of the species.

On a successful test, a number of animals equal to the Hit Number achieved by the PC will perform the task for which they were invoked. 

The GM may veto actions that do not make narrative sense.

This improvement can only be purchased once.

→ Ethologist

(Animals Level 1+; 4 XP)

The PC has in-depth knowledge about fauna, habitat, and biology of animals. 

With this ability, the PC is able to identify all animal species without the need for tests, provided they see what animal they are dealing with. 

When dealing with a non-mythic animal that is revealed to the PCs, the GM must provide its sheet to the PC.

Ethologist is added to the PC’s sheet as a biography. 

The cost of this ability is 4 XP, and it can only be purchased once.

Improvements (Animals Level 2+, Ethologist)

• Species Variation (5 XP)

Once per scene, the PC can roll an Animals + Cognition test.

If the test is successful, the player can add details to a particular species variation their PC is dealing with. 

The number of details the player can add depends on the test’s Hit Number. 

Each minor detail costs 1 Hit; a major detail costs 3 Hit and 1 Tale Point.

The test’s difficulties depend on the PC’s Animals Level:

Level 0 → 12/4

Level 1 → 9/3

Level 2 → 6/2

Level 3 → 3/1

The GM has the right to veto details that don’t make narrative sense or could potentially harm the adventure. If vetoed, the player can choose a new detail.

This improvement can only be purchased once.

Improvements (Animals Level 3, Ethologist)

• Discover Species (6 XP + discovered species' Taming Level in XP, "untamable" = 4 XP) 

The PC has discovered a new animal species. 

The player must provide a general concept of the species along with the desired Taming Level to the GM. Together, they will create a species adapted to the game world at a time that is most convenient for the GM. 

The concept of the species must make narrative sense in the setting, or it can be vetoed by the GM. 

The player must inform the GM of their intended concept before purchasing this improvement. 

The player can name the species they discover, which is a rare species in the game world. 

This improvement can be purchased as many times as the player desires.

→ Beastrider

(Animals Level 1+; 2 XP)

The PC can ride any mountable animal species of Taming Level 1.

This ability is noted in the PC’s sheet as a biography.

This ability does not provide the PC with a mount, they must acquire it in game.

The player can purchase this ability two extra times. Each time allows the PC to ride species of one higher Taming Level (Taming Levels 2 and 3).

Improvements (Animals Level 3, Beastrider)

• Epic Mount (6 XP)

The PC can ride untamable mountable species.

→ Animalist (Mythic)

(Animals Level 1+; 5 XP + species' Taming Level in XP)

The PC develops behaviors and capacities related to an animal species.

The player chooses an animal species with a Taming Level equal to or less than their PC’s Animals skill. 

The PC gains a new condition, noted as a new biography: 

"Animalist: (name of chosen species).

→ The player can spend 1 Tale Point to gain “results of 2 or more on the d6 pool are counted as hits” on tests that make narrative sense with the chosen species' abilities. The player must justify in the narrative how this advantage occurs.

→ The player can receive 1 Tale Point if they choose to increase the difficulty of a test for their PC due to behavior that makes narrative sense with the chosen species. This decision must be made before the test is rolled.”

The cost of this ability is 5 XP + the species' Taming Level in XP. 

The player can purchase this ability up to 3 times, each time choosing a different species.

Improvements (Animals Level 2+, Animalist)

• Hybrid (2 XP + Taming Level of the chosen species in XP) 

Adds a new aspect to the condition of one of the chosen species: 

"→ Once per scene, the PC can perform an ability or action described on the species sheet." 

This improvement can be purchased again for each different species that the character has an animalist condition for.

Improvements (Animals Level 3, Animalist)

• Shapeshifter (6 XP + Taming Level of the chosen species in XP) 

Requires the PC to have the "hybrid" improvement associated with the chosen species. 

This improvement adds a new aspect to the condition of one of the chosen species: 

"→ Once per scene, the PC can spend 1 Tale Point to transform into an animal of the chosen species. Their attributes, resistances, and skills remain the same, but they gain all other mechanics and abilities described on the species sheet. They can return to normal form whenever they wish. They will return to normal form after suffering an injury.”