Why Do People Hunt?

The most obvious reason people would hunt was for meat. Aside from food, pelts were also very valuable. As time went on, hunting became a social activity and a form of entertainment. For some, hunting was thought to make better leaders and warriors because it improved martial prowess and hunters learned much about tactics, travel and the lay of the land.

The Most Important Thing to Know When Hunting

The most important factor when hunting is to know if you are trying to take animals that a particular hex has listed as a resource or if you are hunting incidental animals that are everyplace in small random quantities. Hunters will have a much greater returns hunting an area known to have a huge population of Elk than an empty wood which may have the occasional rabbit, duck or wild pig.

Example: Josh is an Adept ranked Hunter who is equipped with a Riding Horse, Hunting Bow and Primitive Arrows. He gets 375 HUs (300 base with a total bonus of +25% from the equipment). There is a 1% chance his horse will be lost. There is a 1% chance is bow will be lost or broken and he will loose 10 of his primitive arrows.

Effects of the Seasons on Hunting

All of the numbers above represent peak hunting during the spring, summer and fall months. Hunting in winter is far more difficult because of the elements and the steps a hunter must take to keep himself warm. Hunting during winter imposes a 50% penalty to the hunter's HUs (figured in like the percentages for equipment). Additionally, the Danger rating for any type of hunting is raised by +2% to represent further hazards from the elements.

Distance Between Home and the Hunting Range

The farther a hunter must travel each day to the place he intends to hunt has an effect on his efficiency. The biggest problem is not simply the long walk to and from work each day, but also the long walk home carrying 100 lbs of animal carcass. Each hex away a hunter travels from the hex his home is located at is a 5% efficiency penalty. Hunters can hunt their own hex for no penalty at all, but even adjacent hexes suffer the 5% penalty. The next ring of hexes out would then be a -10% penalty.

The Spooked Effect

Wild animals do not feel safe around people. The more people you have in an area, the more animals will be scared away. When hunting incidental animal resources you must take into effect how many people are working in the hex that is being hunted. For each person working or living in a hex besides for the hunter himself, a hunter suffers a -5% penalty to the HUs he generates. This can make it challenging to hunt, requiring that hunters spread themselves thin for the best results. (Example: A hex has 10 lumberjacks cutting lumber and 5 hunters hunting. Each hunter takes a 70% loss to their normal HUs generated due to the 14 other people in the local woods). The Spooked Effect only applies to hunting Incidental animal resources and not to animals that are an actual resource of the hex. Animals that exist as resources for a hex have courage in numbers, defend their territory and return to their territory even when temporarily scared away.

The Dangers and Risks of Hunting

Hunting by it's very nature is a dangerous endeavor. Each month a character spends hunting, there is a chance that ill fate will befall him. First a hunter risks loosing the gear that he uses to do his job. Arrows get lost, bows break and pet animals get killed. Secondly there are odds of greater dangers. The odds of that occurring are represented by the "Danger" ratings listed above. When hunting Animal Recourses known to be present, the danger rating is determined by the type of animal. When hunting an area for incidental game animals, the danger is set by the type of environment. This numbers ultimately represents the percentage chance that "something bad" will happen to the hunter. The most common ill fates that await hunters are injuries that will take them out of work for some time, long term injuries that will drop their rank, a permanent injury that will make them infirm and even death. Even the most cautious and skilled hunter can meet a bad fate due to bad luck alone. The danger ratings are however modified lower for more experienced hunters.