Direction Sense

Direction Sense
Use: Unskilled
use penalized. Macro skill.
Sample specializations: Orienteering,
map reading, landmark recognition, sea navigation, specific locales.)
Direction sense is
the ability to determine relative positions between a character’s current
location, where she has traveled from, and where she is going. It is most often
used in wildernesses, at sea and in strange environments. The skill covers use
of maps, determining routes, finding the points of the compass (i.e., which way
is north), recognizing landmarks and estimating distances.
Instead
of forcing gamemasters to keep detailed maps of all the areas characters might
travel though, the rules for navigating a trip and not becoming lost are kept
abstract. Time is determined for the completion of a trip from one point to
another without getting lost rather than keeping track of how far a character
travels and in what direction. Should a character become lost en route, the
exact time and location it occurs during the trip can be determined by the
gamemaster as best benefits the flow of the story rather than stranding the
character somewhere boring. Whenever a character is in a situation where they
could become lost, the gamemaster should call for a direction sense skill
check. The base difficulty is 6 but any number of possible conditions can modify
this:
DIRECTION SENSE MODIFIERS
Condition Modifier
Clear
day +0
Darkness
(night) +2
Overcast
skies +3
Surroundings
obscure the view (forest, jungle, etc.) +3
In
the living land +3
Traveling
by vehicle +2
Traveling
on foot or mount +0
Character
familiar with area -3
On
minor roadway (back roads, rural areas, etc.) -3
On
major roadway (freeway, interstate, main city streets, etc.)
-5
No
distinctive landmarks (open fields, large bodies of water, etc.)
+5
Detailed
map of the area/route -5
Crude
map of the area/route -3
If
the skill check is successful, the character continues on her voyage. The
gamemaster should make additional direction
sense skill checks as seems appropriate over
the duration of the trip. To keep a trip from being just a boring series of
skill checks, the gamemaster should prepare a few minor, nonessential story ideas
that they can use along the route to liven up the experience. If the skill
check fails, the character may not initially realize that she is lost. If it
failed by more than three points, the gamemaster should assume that the
character travels a significant way off-course before realizing her mistake.
She will have to successfully determine her current location compared to where
she is supposed to be before she can try to back on course. This requires two
successful direction sense skill
checks; the first to determine her current location and the second to travel in
the right direction to get back on course towards her destination. If the skill
check failed by only one or two points, the character realizes that she has
become lost soon enough that she only has to make one successful skill check to
get back on course. Several direction
sense failures in a row can get a character completely
lost; the gamemaster should assume that after three or four successive failures
the character needs to make a fresh start in Order to get anywhere. The
character either needs some outside assistance (asking for directions, road
signs, acquires a map, etc.) or will have to stop traveling for a while and try
again after resting for a while, at least several hours.