Rules

Skill: Survival

BREED ANIMAL (DOWNTIME)
A character may breed any animal with a male and female of the species. Many common fantasy mounts are provided on Table 4.15: Mounts (see page 170). The character must have a combined Survival skill bonus + Career Level of at least the animal’s Breeding value.
With success (DC 20), the parent animals couple and the mother gives birth to standard NPC offspring after the duration shown in the Table 4.15 Breeding column. A critical success yields special NPC ofspring and a critical failure results in complications that prevent the same parents from coupling again.

TRAIN ANIMAL (DOWNTIME)
To train an animal, a character must have a combined Survival skill bonus + Career Level of at least the animal’s Training value, as shown on Table 4.15: Mounts (see page 170).
With a successful 1-month check (DC 20), the character trains a wild animal. A trained animal can be ridden, accepts commands, and may receive advanced training. With a critical success, the animal is trained and automatically gains 1 advanced training benefit. With a critical failure the character turns the animal against him and may not attempt to train it again in the
current year.
Advanced training also involves a 1-month Train Animal check (DC 20). With success, the animal gains 1 of the following benefits.

• Attribute Training: +1 to any attribute
• Combat Training: +1 to any Trait grade (Initiative, Attack, Defense, Resilience, or Health)
• NPC Quality: Any 1: Beguiling, bright, cagey, charge attack, favored foes (1 enemy), fearless, feral, ferocity, frenzy I (frenzy II and frenzy III cannot be trained), improved stability,
• knockback, light sleeper, menacing threat, monstrous attack (1 grade), monstrous defense (1 grade), natural attack (any 1 the animal can perform but doesn’t have, or improving any 1 it already has by 1 grade), rend, swift attack, tough (1 grade), treacherous, tricky (any 1 trick the animal can perform), unnerving
• Skill Training: +1 to any Signature Skill grade (Acrobatics, Athletics, Blend, Intimidate, Notice, Resolve, Search, Sense Motive, Sneak, Survival, or Tactics)
• Speed Training: +5 ft. to any Speed the animal already has
  With a critical success, the animal gains 2 benefts. With a critical failure, the animal reaches its peak for the moment and may not receive further advanced training in the current year.
  An animal may gain each advanced training beneft no more than 4 times, and no training may raise any score above the maximum allowed during normal NPC creation. The GM may determine that certain animals can’t gain certain benefits.

Forge Listing: Mounts

MOUNTS
Animal descriptions and statistics are located in Chapter 6 (see page 253), and animals are bred and trained with the Survival skill (see page 83). Only a trained animal may be ridden; wild animals refuse to follow commands and buck riders. All mounts listed on Table 4.15 are trained, though a character may find a wild animal and train it with the Survival skill (which is also used to breed animals and improve their statistics).
Unless otherwise specified, a mount is a standard NPC controlled by the GM. It is guided with the Ride skill but otherwise follows the same rules as a character. It can carry 2 characters 1 Size smaller, 4 characters 2 Sizes smaller, 8 characters 3 Sizes smaller, and so on. A mount is subject to encumbrance, including all items and riders it carries.
A mount’s Travel Speed in miles per hour is equal to its Speed divided by 10, rounded up (see page 371).
Animals don’t have Complexity, so Availability is used to determine whether a certain animal is offered in the area.

MOUNT UPGRADE DESCRIPTIONS
Exceptional Specimen: The mount is a special NPC rather than a standard one.
Training: The mount has already learned 1 or more training benefits (see page 83).