The Quintessential Barbarian
The Quintessential Barbarian cover
| Author | Robert Schwalb |
| Series | Quintessential Series |
| Publisher | Mongoose Publishing |
| Publish date | 2003 |
| Pages | 128 |
| ISBN | 1-903980-92-5 |
| OGL Section 15 | qbbn |
The material below is considered Open Game Content
Long-Distance Signalling
There are times when it becomes necessary to signal allies across vast distances, especially when magic is not your ally. A classic example of communication is through the use of smoke signals. By constructing a heavily-smoking fire and systematically restricting the amount of smoke carrying into the air, the fire itself acts as an ideal means of signalling.
Several prerequisites are required to ensure the effectiveness of the signal. High ground is necessary. A character must locate a suitable and moderately visible locale to build the fire. Forested hills, mounds or mountains are suitable locales for signalling, but the
barbarian must beware lest the conflagration spread beyond his capacity to control it.
Second, the barbarian must have a suitable amount of firewood to build the fire. Locating brush, twigs and fallen tree limbs is usually an easy affair, requiring no rolls whatsoever. However, in this case, it is desirous to have young, green wood capable of providing
billowing clouds of smoke. Finding these trees is simple in forested areas. In plains or barren mountains, finding wood of this quality is less easy and requires a Survival check against a DC 10.
Building fires is easy. Any character in the d20 system can construct one with little effort. In fact, there is no roll needed provided flint and steel or a tindertwig are available tools. Once the fire is constructed, the character must have a means to limit the amount of
smoke rising. As the goal is dispersal, a large blanket, tarp, even sail canvas will work adequately.
Signals are difficult to transmit and to decode. The signaler must roll a Survival check against a DC of 15. The person decoding the message must first see the smoke for what it is. They must succeed at a Spot check against DC 15, modified by a number of conditions described in the table below. A successful roll indicates the witness identifies the signal and the process of decoding may begin.
For the purpose of simplicity, smoke signals may convey a limited number of messages: Help, Danger or Stay Back. Fundamentally, smoke signals convey a message of great importance, but for obvious reasons are not protracted conversations. A character who sees
a smoke signal may make a Survival check (+2 if the character has 5 ranks or more in Sense Motive) against a DC 18. Success indicates the message is successfully transmitted and interpreted. Like spotting the signal, decoding the messages are significantly aided or hindered by the circumstances of the terrain and weather between the signal and the decoder. The same modifiers affecting the DC to spot the signal apply to the DC to decode the message.
Spotting and Decoding smoke signal modifiers
| Situation | Modifier to the DC |
|---|---|
| Day | -4 |
| Night | +8 |
| Smoke or heavy fog | +10 |
| Dense forest or jungle | +8 |
| Light forest | +6 |
| Scrub, brush or bush | +0 |
| Grasslands, plains, any locale with little cover | -1 |
| Total darkness | +20 |
| Moonlight | +8 |
| Starlight | +10 |
| Light wind | +4 |
| Moderate wind | +8 |
| Strong wind | +12 |
| Severe wind | +16 |
| Windstorm or more severe winds | +32 |
| Overcast, but no precipitation | +2 |
| Light precipitation | +4 |
| Precipitation | +6 |
| Heavy precipitation | +12 |
All conditional modifiers stack. On a clear day while on the plains, the DC to Spot the signal is only a DC 10 (base 15-4 (for day) -1 (grasslands) = 10). On the other hand, the DC to spot a signal while at night in the total darkness of a torrential downpour under strong winds is a DC 67 (15 (base) + 8 (night) + 20 (total darkness) + 12 (strong winds) + 12 (heavy precipitation) = 67), which is just about as close to impossible as one can get.
