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Draw Steel skill

Track

Track is a skill in Draw Steel: Following trails: reading prints, broken ground, and other signs of passage across country.

Last reviewed

Key facts

Characteristic
Intuition

Overview

Track is trailcraft: picking up a set of prints at the treeline, judging how many passed and how long ago, telling a walking pace from a running one, noticing where a trail was deliberately confused. It is an Intuition skill because it is pattern reading in a landscape that is always being erased. It comes up in pursuits, in hunts, when a party member goes missing, and whenever the party must find out where something went after it left the scene.

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 follows the trail and reads the story in it: numbers, timing, condition. Tier 2 keeps the trail with delays. Tier 1 loses it, and following the wrong sign can lead into an ambush. Edges and banes: Soft ground, fresh sign, daylight, and a known quarry grant an edge (+2). Rain, stone, crowds, a trail that has been covered on purpose, and a flying or incorporeal quarry impose a bane (-2).

Tips and playstyle

Best for: Hunting parties and any campaign built around pursuit rather than dungeon crawling. Character concepts: Laborer career trapper, wilderness culture hunter, a Shadow trained to follow a mark through a city. Synergies: Nature for the ground and creatures leaving the sign, Monsters to identify an unfamiliar print, Navigate to keep your bearings during a long chase.

Frequently asked questions

Can I track through a city?

Yes, with a bane in busy areas. Crowds erase sign quickly, and Gather Rumors is often faster than reading the pavement.

Do I roll once or repeatedly?

The Director usually calls for one test per stage of the pursuit, with new tests when the terrain or conditions change.