• Hunting and Hawking [Variable]: Hunting serves an important role in medieval society, providing a way for warriors to demonstrate their prowess and hone their skills. First, the hunter
must master tracking to identify and pursue the prey (Perception + Alertness), in turn exercising her riding skills (Stamina + Ride). The usual prey of such hunts are boars and bears, so a rider faces a considerable challenge in maintaining control of her mount once the prey is cornered (Wits + Ride). Finally, the beast must be dispatched, usually by means of a lance or sword, testing the warrior’s courage and skill at arms (Dexterity + Melee). Boars may also be hunted on foot with broad spears, a more difficult and dangerous proposition that tests the warrior’s courage (roll Willpower) as well as her skill at arms in the close confines of the forest (Perception + Melee). Other forms include the pursuit of deer and wild horses, hunting in this case usually by bow (Dexterity + Archery). Hawking (Wits + Animal Ken) is also appreciated, though often restricted to the loftiest social circles.
• Maintaining Weapons and Equipment [Perception + Crafts]: The equipment used in the Dark Medieval is often subject to great stress and wear, and without regular maintenance, it can lose its effectiveness or even break. Most such tasks are simple and routine — oiling a saddle, sewing a tear in a jerkin or attaching a new buckle — but others require a modicum of skill and training. Keeping a weapon in good order is perhaps the most significant and the most commonly ignored by sloppy soldiers. Without regular maintenance — sharpening blades, oiling the
mechanisms of crossbow, checking the fastenings on spearheads — weapons become
increasingly ineffective and may even break. Armor likewise needs preventative maintenance if it is to provide protection (removing rust, keeping it supple and the straps strong). This work requires a number of minutes each day (and weapons are usually maintained directly after combat), but the player need roll only Perception + Crafts (difficulty 5) once per week of game time. (To maintain appropriate weapons, the player may roll Perception + Archery or Melee instead, although the difficulty is 6.) One or more successes indicate that the character completes all possible maintenance work on her equipment, which remains in usable form. Failure indicates that, although the character tries her best, she misses something. The exact nature of the problem is left to the Storyteller, but suggestions include a strap that breaks (at an inopportune moment), reduced effectiveness of a weapon (-1 damage) or reduced armor effectiveness (-1 soak). A botch indicates that instead of maintaining her equipment, the ministrations actually harm one or more items.
• Treating Wounds [Variable]: Medieval medicine is, at best, an imperfect art. Although hospitals and medical colleges exist, most medical care is undertaken by local village women who rely on popular cures discovered through trial and error or passed down from their
predecessors, sometimes with explicitly non-Christian elements. That is not to say that such folk cures are ineffective. Indeed, they are just as useful as those administered by supposedly well- educated doctors in many cases, if not more so. The curing of disease is terribly hit-or-miss, but the treatment of wounds, though limited, is effective. Medieval healers of all sorts can ease pain and stop mild infections. The best doctors are said to be Jewish, especially Iberian and Levantine Jews who have access to the Greek medical texts preserved by the Muslims.
The most basic thing a healer can do to help a patient is to reduce her pain. This can be done with various poultices and herbal draughts, as well as splints and other bandages. To do so, the healer’s player rolls Intelligence + Medicine or Hearth Wisdom against a difficulty of 5 + the wound penalty of the patient. (If the patient is Incapacitated, the penalty is considered to be 5.) Even a single success halves that penalty for a day.
A healer can also be of significant help to those who are wounded as the result of bashing damage, which isn’t life threatening by itself. For a healer to speed recovery from such wounds, the player rolls Intelligence + Medicine against a difficulty of 5 + the wound penalty of the patient. Success halves the patient’s healing times for these wounds. A healer can try to help thus with Hearth Wisdom instead of Medicine, but the roll suffers a +2 difficulty penalty.
Given the state of medicine, European healers are of significantly less use in dealing with lethal wounds. Stanching wounds requires a Wits + Hearth Wisdom or Medicine roll against a difficulty of 3 + the wound penalty of the patient. Even one success stops further wounds from bleeding and infection. If the patient is Crippled or Incapacitated, this stabilization lasts an only hour. Actually helping the healing process is significantly harder. When a patient under the healer’s
care is ready to make a Stamina roll to heal a level of damage (as outlined on page 81), the healer’s player should roll Intelligence + Medicine against a difficulty of 7 + the patient’s wound penalty. Each success reduces the difficulty on the patient’s Stamina roll by one (see p. 81). At the Storyteller’s discretion, the player of a Jewish healer or another who has trained in Saracen lands may make this roll at -1 difficulty.
Any failed roll related to treating a patient means the current effort fails, but the healer can try again after a few hours (or minutes if stanching a wound). Any botch immediately causes an additional lethal wound to the patient.
For more on healing, see p. 81.