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Nature

The Nature Skill is the Atomic RPG System system skill that players will use in a wide variety of ways to discover the many mysteries of the natural world in which they playing. The skill Nature is a very versatile skill and can be used in a variety of ways. In a natural setting campaign or in adventures where you will be in the wilderness, the Nature skill will be quite useful.

Using the Nature Skill is almost always an Action. A player must stop and concentrate on the skill at hand to use Nature Skill.

Here are some of the common uses for the Nature Skill:

Sample Nature Skill Checks

The Nature Skill in the Atomic RPG System will be used in a wide range of situations. Below is a list of some of the most common uses of the Nature Skill. The difficulty of these checks will be determined by the GM. Most checks will range between 15 and 40, but may be as low as 5 or as high as 100. Reference the GM guide for Skill Checks for more details.

  • Identifying Weather Patterns
  • Tracking
  • Identify Plants or Animals
  • Tending Wounds
  • Identify Poisons
  • Orienteering
  • Animal Calls
GM Guide to Skill Checks

A character's Spirit Trait determines the base skill bonus.

Player Cooperation - Aid Another

Multiple characters can work together to figure something out. This is called Aiding Another.

To successfully Aid Another character the character helping must make the same check the as the one rolling the Skill Check. If they succeed then the player rolling the Skill Check can add their Character Tier to their roll.

However, if the character helping fails in the check, the player will get a penalty to the roll of their Character Tier. Only one player may Aid another at a time. 

Passive Nature Checks

Your Passive Nature check is your normal bonus + 10. This is used by the GM to determine things that you may notice or know without having to actively ask to use your skill. 

This is a useful tool the GM can use to give out information in the game. Or can even be prompted by the player to see if the GM is willing to give you something for free.

Nature Check as an Action

Nature as an Action will happen when a player character tries to do something that may require a Nature Skill. Examples that would require the use of an Action would include determining if the plant is poisonous, determining time of day, or tracking an animal through the woods.

Animal Handling

Characters can use Nature to calm and train animals.
The Nature Skill will be the skill that is used anytime a player is trying to work with and interact with an animal outside of combat. The most common situations will be riding mounts and training animals such as guard dogs or wild horses as mounts.

As a general rule a Nature Skill Check of 15 needed to calm or train a Tier 1 creature. Add 5 to this difficulty per Tier above 1st the creature is. So a Tier 4 creature would need a Nature Skill Check of 30 to train. This can of course be modified by the GM for animal type, situation, and temperament.

Camping

Characters can use the Nature Skill to find a warm and safe shelter.
One of the most common and useful way to use the Atomic RPG System Nature Skill is to find good, safe places for your party to camp during the night. With a good roll a player may be able to find a secluded and sheltered spot out of the prying eyes of anyone on the road. With a bad Nature Skill Check the party might find themselves caught out in the open. This might expose them to weather or marauding bandits during the night. A Nature check of 15 should be enough to find an ok campsite off the beaten path under normal conditions.

Change Movement Type

Characters can use Nature to move in different types of movement.
Players can swim, burrow, climb.

The Speed at which the player can move is equivalent to an Nature Skill check divided by 5. One check is required per turn when moving in a Movement style different to the player's own. Nature Skill check of 22 the character can swim at a Speed of 4.

Players have a standard Movement type of Ground.

Players can not use this method to Fly.

Holding Your Breath

Characters can hold their breath using Nature.
For every 5 the player has in Nature they can hold their breath for 1 turn/round without rolling.

After that the player must start to roll nature Skill checks each round to keep holding their breath. It starts at 5 and increases by 5 each round.

Nature of 13 can hold their breath for 2 rounds without rolling. On round 3 they start rolling.

When a checks is failed, the Character is affected by Deadly Environmental Effects.

Hunting

Nature can be used for hunting and gathering food and other resources.
The Nature Skill can also be used as a great way to hunt for food or scavenge for edibles. This doesn't just cover hunting game animals but also fishing, gathering of edibles, finding water, and anything else that may be appropriate for the environment. With a good Nature check a player can find enough food and water to survive on their own.

An Easy Skill Check is enough to survive.
A Moderate Skill Check will get plenty of good resources.
And a Hard Skill Check will get you everything you need and more!

Reduce Falling Damage

Characters can use Nature to lessen they damage they take when falling from heights.
Characters must use an Action to Reduce Falling Damage.

Characters can fall the same distance as their Speed or less without taking damage.

Characters will take 5 Hit Points times Character Tier of damage per Space they fall.
Spaces Fallen - Speed = Final Spaces | Spaces * ( 5 * CT ) Damage

Rolling a Critical Skill Check the player character takes only half damage.
Rolling a Fumbled Skill Check the player character takes double damage.

Characters fall at a rate of 20 spaces per round.
(This is for simplicity, not Newtonian accuracy.)

Identifying Natural Things

Nature can be used to help characters identify and understand all manner things in nature.
Another very useful way to use the Nature Skill would be to determine if some kind of phenomenon the players are encountering is nature or not. Is the desert they are in something that natural or is it a weapons testing range? This knowledge may be very helpful to the players!

Rolls to determine things such as this will need to be assigned by the GM on a case by case basis.

Predicting Weather

Characters can use Nature Skill to determine upcoming weather.
Knowing what the weather is going to be today or in the week to come can be very helpful to the players. They can use the Nature Skill to try to predict or identify local weather. Are the clouds rolling in normal or is a vicious blizzard coming their way? This can have all kinds of implications in an adventure.

Rolls to determine things such as this will need to be assigned by the GM on a case by case basis.

Tracking

Nature can be used for tracking creatures.
Tracking enemies and monsters has always been a long standing skill in many role playing games. This is no different in the Atomic RPG System. In the Atomic RPG System a player will use the Nature Skill to find out information about the tracks they find. However, the players may need to use the Perception skill to find the tracks.

Check for Tracking can vary greatly and should always is up the GM to determine the difficulty and what players may learn.

Wound Care

Characters can use Nature Skill to treat wounds and natural afflictions.
Being able to identify and treat wounds is a very important part of the Nature Skill. This can range from anything from treating wounds, broken bones, poisons, and disease.

The difficulty of this kind of task is also completely up to the GM. They will set appropriate difficulties and outcome depending on the situation.

Characters can make a Moderate Check to heal another character. This is a slow process and cannot be done in Battle Time. If outside of Battle Time a character can add their best Healing Bonus with a successful check.
These are the main uses for the Nature Skill in the Atomic RPG System that players should normally run into. However, this is not a comprehensive list. Due to the widely flexible and malleability of the Atomic RPG System system there is no way we could cover every conceivable application of the Nature Skill. Just keep in mind that if the player is trying to do something, learn about something, or otherwise interact with the natural world it is likely they will need to use the Nature Skill in the Atomic RPG System to do so.
 
You may also take note that several of the uses for Nature also appear as things that Athletics can handle. These are here as examples of how diverse skill use can be and how someone with a good score in one should be able to do things related to another. More on this in the Skill Runs section for the GM. 

Learn about the other skills by clicking on one below.

Are you a GM looking for Skill rules? Click below!

Skill Check Rules for the Game Master

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