From Wild to Pack
Branch Effect Tree
Growth Points: 5
Level Requirement: 1
The pack you make is your wild family. Creatures you spend time with slowly become partially domesticated. They follow commands that suit their nature, and will endeavor to remain within your territory or near you.
Formation: A wild creature on its own terms takes time to warm up to you, and eventually become bonded with you. These scenes are not as simple as, “I tamed a tiger, his name is Joe, and he might eat you, I don’t know.”
You may choose any creature to be part of your pack. These creatures may require special interactions to become a part of the pack, and have special considerations to remain a part of the pack. Poorly treated pack members may abandon the pack.
Some creatures will attack, eat, or kill other creatures in the pack. Pack dynamics may be a common issue.
Keeping a simple Pack List helps keep track of our bonds.
The Pack may have any number of members. Individual Pack Members do not get stat blocks or require tracking other than adding their creature type and name to the Pack List.
Tamers may consider Hominidae to be pack members, as well as party members. When these Supporting and Player Characters are part of the pack, From Wild to Pack Actions may target them.
From Wild to Pack is Within Reason and Discretion of the Story Guide.
When the Story Guide decides you have successfully cleared the taming criteria for a Pack Member, you will name the Pack Member, add them to your Wild Pack List. All this needs is their Name & Species, unless of course, they’re one of your two Wild Beasts Tandem Companions.
More on Bonding: Forming a pack begins with a bonding period. Wild creatures have a domestic range to them, bonding a pack of dogs is much easier than taming a bear. The Tamer may also bond with party members. This allows the use of some effects with bonded Player Characters. These effects will fail if the bond is not true, or if the Effect is currently or technically impossible.
Alpha Development Notice: There are currently no Actions associated with Bonded Player Characters, other then making them easy targets for Courier Pack Members to find.
Pack Companions
Pack Companions
Utility Pack Companions do not join in Combat Engagements and typically fill a niche skill. The most common Utility Pack Companions may be put into the Passive Companion Spot to serve as expanded inventory and carry weight while others may scout ahead, forage for food, or a multitude of other tasks.
Most Fauna Entries includes how to Bond with them, what their Utility or Tandem effects are, and their Pack Companion Caveats.
Each member of the pack may introduce special actions or passive interactions, such as a murder of crows or conspiracy of ravens occasionally bringing refuse, stamps, and even small notes or other objects. From Wild to Pack assumes the whole ecosystem is somehow connected, and the Character is an integral part of the community of fauna.
Courier
Pack Action • Delivery
After preparing a note and sealing it in a vial, you may trust one member of your Pack to delivery it to another member of your Pack. Flying Pack Members or Pack Members who have strong senses may be the best at this, but any Pack member may be trusted. This will always be 100% successful if they are delivering to a place they know. The chance for failure increases depending on any number of factors. If Courier fails as an action, the Pack Member returns, usually with the package intact.
Lookout
Pack Action • Data Mining
This Action is best used with Pack Members who are already pack animals. The kind that have eyes everywhere, and can get into places other Pack Members can’t. A family of mice or a congress of cats could be asked to find someone or something, or just keep an eye out for a specific interaction. Lookout Pack Members are usually easy to find, and can finish a Lookout fairly quickly, especially if they’re a species able to fly. Smarter animals are really effective Lookouts, such as Corvids. With From Wild to Pack, you may have a maximum number of Active Lookouts as you have Awareness. Lookout is also good for setting Alarms.
Tail
Pack Action • Tracking
Tail functions a lot like Lookout, but uses a single Pack Member, and has a specified Target. When a Pack Member is Tailing a Target, they will report once per Day and give updates as best as they can communicate.
Porter
Passive Companion • Mobile Storage
Porter Pack Companions may store up to 1/3rd of their Weight. The most common Porter Companion is the Bull Hound. The Porter Companion will run from Combat Engagements return after the Combat Engagement and generally have Plot Armor.
Design Notes: We are continuing to brainstorm just what building an Ecosystem of Animal Kingdom would really look like from Wildling perspective. Oneness with nature is often shown as a peaceful moment as a cliche, and we love this cliche, but our favorites are when they entire animal kingdom is on their toes, paws, and claws working together along with someone with a very special connection to them all. With that said, these basic mechanics will continue to evolve as we develop the much larger functioning cycle of the ecosystem of Cirrus Ethereal.
