Animals and hunting

Where they are#

• Deer are all over the woods and the open grass. They run when you hit them, but they never fight back.
• Hares are out on the open grass round the camp, and they bolt from 9 m off. A bow is the way to get one, or a snare.
• Grouse keep to the woods. They're small, but they give feathers as well as meat, and feathers make better arrows.
• Foxes turn up almost anywhere, and they're the wariest of the lot, gone from 12 m. Their pelts make the best warm clothes.
• Beavers live along the creeks and rivers, out of the way of the camp. Their pelts go into fur hats and coats.
• Wild boar root about in the thick woods a good way out. They'll come for you if you get within about 5 m, and they give pork and lard.
• Moose stand in the cold country far from camp. A moose leaves you be unless you go for it, and then it fights back hard. One gives a lot of venison and hides.
• Wolves only come out at night, in packs out in the woods. They'll come for you if you get within about 11 m.
• Bears are out day and night, further from the camp. They hit hard. Give them a wide berth unless you're ready for it.
• Wild horses graze on the open grass not far from camp. You can hunt them, but you're better off gentling one.
• There are stray hens, sheep, cattle and pigs out there too. You can hunt them, but they're worth more brought home.

Snares#

A snare is a loop of rawhide on a peg. Make 4 at a fire from 1 hide at Crafting 2, then tap a spot of open ground and Set a snare. Leave it and go about your work. Every 20 min or so there's a chance something has walked into it: about 30% out in the open and 40% in the woods. Out in the open it's mostly hares, and in the woods mostly grouse.

Whatever it catches stays in it till you come back, so set a few on your way out and check them on your way home. Tap one to Take the catch, or Pick up the snare to move it somewhere better. Nobody else can empty yours.

Weapons#

Nobody hands you a weapon. You make your own, and you fight with the one in your hand. To take one in hand, tap it in your backpack and choose Equip. It shows at the top of your pack as In hand, and you carry it wherever you go. That's how you choose between the sword and the bow: Strike uses your sword, or your fists if you're holding the bow, and Shoot needs the bow in hand. The first weapon you make goes straight into your hand.

Damage is the weapon's own, and every level of Melee or Archery adds a tenth of it again. So by level 10 you hit for twice the weapon's own damage, and the better the weapon, the more your level adds to it. A fine or masterwork weapon hits harder again: see Fine and masterwork.

A wooden sword is the place to start. You arrive with two logs, so you can whittle one at the camp fire on your first day. Your fists will keep a wolf off you but won't do much more than that.

Hunting#

Tap an animal and choose Strike to fight up close, or Shoot if you have a bow in hand and arrows. You keep going until it's dead, you stop, or you run out of energy. A bow hits from further away but uses up arrows, and you can whittle more from a log at a fire.

Something you kill comes back after about 5 minutes, so there's always more hunting.

Hunting with someone else works out fair. When the animal goes down, the meat and hides are shared out by how much of the damage each of you did, and everyone who hit it gets the experience for the kill. You need to be within 30 m when it falls to get your share. A deer only has one hide, so on a small animal somebody goes without.

When something you were in on goes down, a card comes up with what you got out of it and how many of that animal you've brought down so far. The Skills tab on your character sheet keeps the whole tally under Brought down, so you can see how your hunting is going over time.

Wolves and bears won't come at you while you're standing near a lit fire, and they give up if you get back to one. A lantern doesn't scare them off, only a fire does.

If you're going after wolves or a bear, sew yourself some hide clothing first. It turns aside part of every bite.

Trophies#

The big game gives you something to show for it. A deer gives a set of antlers, a moose its great flat ones, and a bear its whole skin. They're there to put up at home, so whoever comes by can see what you've been after.

The mounts are furniture, so they go on a floor inside like a shelf would. Set one down with its back to a wall and it hangs there at head height. A bearskin goes flat on the floor wherever you like. A moose's antlers are heavy, so plan on taking them straight home.