WoD Tracking

Many shifters possess keen olfactory senses, allowing them to track their prey by scent. This is the system used to govern those mechanics.

Getting the Scent

If the tracker has no Scent Familiarity to the prey, then he must get some. This involves acquiring possessions of the target that bears their distinctive scent. Each instance of that access grants a bonus or a penalty to the roll to acquire someone's scent, and the tracker uses only the best of those rolls.

• Getting the Scent Roll (Instant, 1 minute): The tracker rolls Wits + Survival as an olfactory Perception test, using the following modifiers:
  • Public place frequented by quarry (-5)
  • Private place with heavy traffic frequented by quarry (-3)
  • Public areas of quarry's residence (-1, or +0 if quarry lives alone)
  • Public items or facilities used by quarry alone, such as a locker (+1)
  • Private areas of quarry's home, such as bedroom or bathroom (+2)
  • Private items or facilities used by quarry alone (+3)
  • Intimate items used by quarry, such as shoes, underclothes, or hygeine items (+4)
  • Intimate bodily fluids (+5)

Results

• Dramatic Failure: You cannot get a decent scent, and cannot attempt to track the quarry at all.
• Failure: You get a faint lock on the scent. You have an effective Scent Familiarity penalty of -5.
• Success: You gain a scent. For each success, reduce the -5 penalty by one point.
• Exceptional Success: You not only have a strong enough scent to have no penalty, but you may take 9-Agains on the first Tracking check you make.

Tracking

• Dice Pool: Wits + Survival (wilderness) or Wits + Streetwise (urban); this roll is penalized by the target's own Survival or Streetwise, as increased familiarity with a given environment usually results in a reduced trail.
• Action: Instant
• Modifiers: Scent Familiarity: Encountered (-2), Recognized (+0), Familiar (+1), Intimate (+3) • Prey leaves strong trail (up to +3), Prey is bleeding (+1), Prey is Size 7-9 (+1), Prey is Size 10+ (+2) • Prey leaves weak trail (up to -3), Time since trail was made (-1 per 24 hours), Precipitation or other bad weather (-1 to -5), Prey is Size 1-3 (-1)

Results

• Dramatic Failure: You lose the trail, and gain the Lost Tracker Condition.
• Failure: You lose the trail, but may attempt to find it again.
• Success: You find your prey, though the ST determines how long this takes.
• Exceptional Success: You find your prey in half the time, or you gain the Invisible Predator Condition.

Contested Tracking

Tracking someone who knows they are being hunted and are taking steps to throw off their trackers is different than a simple tracking effort. This is more of a race, an attempt to follow the trail, by pass countermeasures and catch the prey before they can escape.

• Dice Pool: Wits + Survival/Streetwise vs prey's Resolve + Survival/Streetwise
• Action: Extended (one hour per roll) and Contested
• Difficulty:
  • The tracker begins the contest with a number of successes equal to her Wits.
  • The tracker must gain a number of successes equal to the target's Resolve + Survival/Streetwise in order to catch up to her.
  • The prey must reduce the total successes to 0 in order to lose her tracker.
• Modifiers: As above

Results

Tracker

• Dramatic Failure: You gain the Lost Tracker Condition.
• Failure: You fail to make progress.
• Success: Add +1 to your total successes.
• Exceptional Success: Add +2 to your total successes; if this gets you enough to find your prey, you also gain the Invisible Predator Condition.

Prey

• Dramatic Failure: You gain the Easy Prey Condition.
• Failure: You fail to make progress.
• Success: You subtract -1 from the hunter's total.
• Exceptional Success: You subtract -2 from the hunter's total, and gain the Untraceable Condition.