Skip to main content

Handle animals (Draw Steel)

Skills

Definition

Handle Animals covers everything short of magic that gets a creature to cooperate: settling panicked horses in a burning stable, teaching a hawk to carry messages, backing away from a bear without triggering a charge, judging whether a strange beast is hunting or guarding. It is an Intuition skill because animals answer to instinct and body language. It comes up on the road, in stables and kennels, at the edge of a lair, and whenever the party would rather not fight something that only wants to be left alone.

Ask AI about this term

How it works

**Characteristic**: Intuition. **Skill group**: Intuition skills. **Test**: 2d10 + Intuition; 11 or lower is tier 1, 12 to 16 tier 2, 17 or higher tier 3. Training grants a benefit and unlocks attempts untrained heroes cannot make. **How it is used**: Tier 3 gets full cooperation or a lasting bond. Tier 2 buys compliance for the moment. Tier 1 fails, and a frightened or hostile animal may bolt, bite, or raise an alarm. **Edges and banes**: Food, a familiar handler, or a domesticated animal grants an edge (+2). Wounded, starving, or magically enraged creatures, and anything that has been trained to hate your kind, imposes a bane (-2).

Tips

**Best for**: Heroes who travel with mounts or animal companions, and scouts who work in the wild. **Character concepts**: Laborer career teamster, rural culture herder, a Fury raised among wolves. **Synergies**: Ride for staying on the animal once it agrees, Nature for knowing what a species wants, Monsters when the creature is more than an animal.

Frequently asked questions

Can I calm a monster with this skill?

Only if it is beast-minded. Intelligent or supernatural creatures call for Monsters knowledge and a social skill instead.

Does training an animal take a test?

One test usually covers a stretch of downtime spent training. The Director may ask for more for complex tricks or dangerous animals.

Further Reading

All Draw Steel Skills
Previous
Gather rumors
Next
Heal
Explore Draw Steel
Full system guide and terminology.
Back to glossary
Browse all terms and categories.