Skinning an Animal [Archive] - Wizards Community

Skinning an Animal [Archive] - Wizards Community

Post/Author/DateTime Post
Kouk
02-28-07, 03:08 AM I am a new DM, and one of my players likes to skin animals to pick up some spare change. The problem I have is I am not sure what skill this action would fall under.

In a sense it is a craft skill, in that you are producing the pelt from the raw materials of a (dead?) animal, but then it also seems like a profession skill because you are not assembling things as much as reconfiguring them.

I am leaning toward Profession(Skinner), but would skinning just fall under the blanket of Profession(Hunter) or (Tanner)? A hunter would presumably know how to skin, but tanning seems like it just deals with what happens after the animal is skinned.

So far I have been allowing him to use the Survival skill under the logic that "getting along in the wild" might entail using animal skins for makeshift clothes or tents etc. and so he would have some idea how to go about it.

I want a system that gets more valuable results for higher rolls and more exotic hides/furs and would like some player and DM input.

Thanks.
Hoser
02-28-07, 04:14 AM I agree with using the survival skill, but would treat it like a craft skill for the purpose of determining profits and such and DCs.
Kouk
02-28-07, 09:08 PM This never comes up for anyone else?
celloshane
02-28-07, 09:25 PM Kouk, I would certainly allow this with Profession (Hunter). Speaking from experience, Tanning is a proccess that happens after the hides are brought in from the field. In a standard D&D game, Tanning would be a full time job that usually requires a tradesman to live in town (IMO). Profession (Skinner) seems a bit specialized to me, and punitive if it can only be used after killing a wild animal. I would only change it to a Craft skill if you want to determine a gp value for the hide, and then have the PC earn that value through standard use of the Craft skill check.
I've also seen countless discussions on how to use the Survival skill in this manner. The mechanics vary from thread to thread, some make sense and some don't, but I've never had the opportunity to playtest any. You might try searching for other threads - the search function is down, but you can find instructions here. (http://boards1.wizards.com/showthread.php?t=482636)
KurenaiYami
02-28-07, 09:42 PM Profession (taxidermist) or Craft (taxidermy) for any making of money, and also can be used for the Trophy Collector feat from Player's Handbook II.
Shadowfax7
03-01-07, 09:05 PM IMC I allow a DC 15 Survival check to skin an animal well, if you fail by 5 or more you ruin the skin.

To make profit from selling skins, I would allow a Profession (hunter) check.
jacobi289
03-01-07, 09:14 PM but wouldn't an animal skin sell for like 5 cp at the most?
FrostWolf
03-01-07, 09:18 PM Hunter-prof
Survival check,
Taxadermy-Craft/Prof.
Trapper-Prof
or even a Dex check to make sure he don't ruin the pelts.
Any of those would work.

but wouldn't an animal skin sell for like 5 cp at the most?

That is a huge understatement of value right there. A simple beaver pelt would be worth a few good meals and some strong drink. Simply adding fur to a cloak adds 20 gp to the price, And 50 gp to a jacket.
If someone brings down a Dire animal and takes the time to skin it, they better be getting a bit more than 5cp.

Try the Arms and Equipment guide for fur prices, and there is a cool feat related to this in PHBII.
ninja1
03-02-07, 03:58 PM I'd certainly have a check involved to see some use of a character's skillset, and to bring value to this aspect of his/her skills.

However, if this is done as part of normal adventuring, I'd suggest that the value is predetermined by the DM and is considered as part of the treasure for a reasonable encounter.

If this is done outside of combat, I would handle it as a regular profit check is done for both craft and profession.... High checks mean he skinned lots of animals in one week, low checks... not so much.

One of the virtues of such a simplistic skill system is that you are free to allow many skill names to have the same end result. Skinning, Hunting, Butcher, Leatherworking, Tanner.... Craft or Profession... could all be considered reasonable skills that allow one to skin a cat, err animal..

You could even alow for less-reasonable skills to pull this off with a negative circumstance penalty to the roll.
WinterPsionic
03-02-07, 06:20 PM One I often use is Profession(Leatherworker) which lets me take something straight from the horses's backend all the way to the +Y XXXXXX Studded Leather Armor.

It's not exactly game breaking and truthfully a Leatherworker should have the skills to take a hide straight from a body and porcess it to completion.
Kouk
03-04-07, 03:18 AM Ok thanks everyone. I will use a DC 15 Survival for a sell-able skin, and worth more if the success is 5 or more points higher.

The Commodities table in the Arms and Equipment Guide is interesting, 20 lbs of common skins or furs selling for 1-5g seems about right I guess, just have to now figure out how much the skin of an animal weighs.
FrostWolf
03-04-07, 04:16 AM I'd base it off of critter size. say..... Half a pound per HD for small, two pound per HD for a medium, and 3 for a large or bigger.

Thus, a small dog would give 1/2 a pound, a cheetah would give 6, and a camel would get 9 pounds.

Or you could just do a 1 pound to 1 HD ratio.
Tetsubo
03-04-07, 04:18 AM The price of the hide would be based on what the market can bear.

Muskrats would be cheap, beavers less so and winterwolves down right pricy...
Potato Weasel
03-04-07, 06:30 AM Well, draconomicon has rules for skinning dragons and prices for the other bits..

Also, several dragon magazine articles have listed parts of different beasts/monsters that you can gather after you've defeated them (requiring a survival check to harvest the organs) and can be used as components to enhance spells, or to lessen the cost of potions/magic items.
Kursk
03-04-07, 10:54 AM I am leaning toward Profession(Skinner), but would skinning just fall under the blanket of Profession(Hunter) or (Tanner)? A hunter would presumably know how to skin, but tanning seems like it just deals with what happens after the animal is skinned.

It's hunter. Tanners don't deal in the whole animal. Trust me on this. If I ever delivered the whole deer to a tannery I'd be a laughing stock.
FrostWolf
03-04-07, 11:23 AM It's hunter. Tanners don't deal in the whole animal. Trust me on this. If I ever delivered the whole deer to a tannery I'd be a laughing stock.

Or trapper. My grandpa had to skin and clean what he got in his traps all the time.

But just a survival check will suffice.
Kursk
03-04-07, 12:17 PM Or trapper. My grandpa had to skin and clean what he got in his traps all the time.

But just a survival check will suffice.

Trapper, yes. Survival, okay, if you don't care what the pelt will look like...

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
Kouk 02-28-07, 03:08 AM	I am a new DM, and one of my players likes to skin animals to pick up some spare change. The problem I have is I am not sure what skill this action would fall under. In a sense it is a craft skill, in that you are producing the pelt from the raw materials of a (dead?) animal, but then it also seems like a profession skill because you are not assembling things as much as reconfiguring them. I am leaning toward Profession(Skinner), but would skinning just fall under the blanket of Profession(Hunter) or (Tanner)? A hunter would presumably know how to skin, but tanning seems like it just deals with what happens after the animal is skinned. So far I have been allowing him to use the Survival skill under the logic that "getting along in the wild" might entail using animal skins for makeshift clothes or tents etc. and so he would have some idea how to go about it. I want a system that gets more valuable results for higher rolls and more exotic hides/furs and would like some player and DM input. Thanks.
Hoser 02-28-07, 04:14 AM	I agree with using the survival skill, but would treat it like a craft skill for the purpose of determining profits and such and DCs.
Kouk 02-28-07, 09:08 PM	This never comes up for anyone else?
celloshane 02-28-07, 09:25 PM	Kouk, I would certainly allow this with Profession (Hunter). Speaking from experience, Tanning is a proccess that happens after the hides are brought in from the field. In a standard D&D game, Tanning would be a full time job that usually requires a tradesman to live in town (IMO). Profession (Skinner) seems a bit specialized to me, and punitive if it can only be used after killing a wild animal. I would only change it to a Craft skill if you want to determine a gp value for the hide, and then have the PC earn that value through standard use of the Craft skill check. I've also seen countless discussions on how to use the Survival skill in this manner. The mechanics vary from thread to thread, some make sense and some don't, but I've never had the opportunity to playtest any. You might try searching for other threads - the search function is down, but you can find instructions here. (http://boards1.wizards.com/showthread.php?t=482636)
KurenaiYami 02-28-07, 09:42 PM	Profession (taxidermist) or Craft (taxidermy) for any making of money, and also can be used for the Trophy Collector feat from Player's Handbook II.
Shadowfax7 03-01-07, 09:05 PM	IMC I allow a DC 15 Survival check to skin an animal well, if you fail by 5 or more you ruin the skin. To make profit from selling skins, I would allow a Profession (hunter) check.
jacobi289 03-01-07, 09:14 PM	but wouldn't an animal skin sell for like 5 cp at the most?
FrostWolf 03-01-07, 09:18 PM	Hunter-prof Survival check, Taxadermy-Craft/Prof. Trapper-Prof or even a Dex check to make sure he don't ruin the pelts. Any of those would work. but wouldn't an animal skin sell for like 5 cp at the most? That is a huge understatement of value right there. A simple beaver pelt would be worth a few good meals and some strong drink. Simply adding fur to a cloak adds 20 gp to the price, And 50 gp to a jacket. If someone brings down a Dire animal and takes the time to skin it, they better be getting a bit more than 5cp. Try the Arms and Equipment guide for fur prices, and there is a cool feat related to this in PHBII.
ninja1 03-02-07, 03:58 PM	I'd certainly have a check involved to see some use of a character's skillset, and to bring value to this aspect of his/her skills. However, if this is done as part of normal adventuring, I'd suggest that the value is predetermined by the DM and is considered as part of the treasure for a reasonable encounter. If this is done outside of combat, I would handle it as a regular profit check is done for both craft and profession.... High checks mean he skinned lots of animals in one week, low checks... not so much. One of the virtues of such a simplistic skill system is that you are free to allow many skill names to have the same end result. Skinning, Hunting, Butcher, Leatherworking, Tanner.... Craft or Profession... could all be considered reasonable skills that allow one to skin a cat, err animal.. You could even alow for less-reasonable skills to pull this off with a negative circumstance penalty to the roll.
WinterPsionic 03-02-07, 06:20 PM	One I often use is Profession(Leatherworker) which lets me take something straight from the horses's backend all the way to the +Y XXXXXX Studded Leather Armor. It's not exactly game breaking and truthfully a Leatherworker should have the skills to take a hide straight from a body and porcess it to completion.
Kouk 03-04-07, 03:18 AM	Ok thanks everyone. I will use a DC 15 Survival for a sell-able skin, and worth more if the success is 5 or more points higher. The Commodities table in the Arms and Equipment Guide is interesting, 20 lbs of common skins or furs selling for 1-5g seems about right I guess, just have to now figure out how much the skin of an animal weighs.
FrostWolf 03-04-07, 04:16 AM	I'd base it off of critter size. say..... Half a pound per HD for small, two pound per HD for a medium, and 3 for a large or bigger. Thus, a small dog would give 1/2 a pound, a cheetah would give 6, and a camel would get 9 pounds. Or you could just do a 1 pound to 1 HD ratio.
Tetsubo 03-04-07, 04:18 AM	The price of the hide would be based on what the market can bear. Muskrats would be cheap, beavers less so and winterwolves down right pricy...
Potato Weasel 03-04-07, 06:30 AM	Well, draconomicon has rules for skinning dragons and prices for the other bits.. Also, several dragon magazine articles have listed parts of different beasts/monsters that you can gather after you've defeated them (requiring a survival check to harvest the organs) and can be used as components to enhance spells, or to lessen the cost of potions/magic items.
Kursk 03-04-07, 10:54 AM	I am leaning toward Profession(Skinner), but would skinning just fall under the blanket of Profession(Hunter) or (Tanner)? A hunter would presumably know how to skin, but tanning seems like it just deals with what happens after the animal is skinned. It's hunter. Tanners don't deal in the whole animal. Trust me on this. If I ever delivered the whole deer to a tannery I'd be a laughing stock.
FrostWolf 03-04-07, 11:23 AM	It's hunter. Tanners don't deal in the whole animal. Trust me on this. If I ever delivered the whole deer to a tannery I'd be a laughing stock. Or trapper. My grandpa had to skin and clean what he got in his traps all the time. But just a survival check will suffice.
Kursk 03-04-07, 12:17 PM	Or trapper. My grandpa had to skin and clean what he got in his traps all the time. But just a survival check will suffice. Trapper, yes. Survival, okay, if you don't care what the pelt will look like...