Tracking

Tracking by scent is an ability possessed by Kindred who have Shape of the Beast or Heightened Senses, allowing them to both identify and pursue an individual. Vampires are able to combine the instinctual drives of their Beasts with the rational mental processing skills of their human natures, allowing them to use the best of both worlds. By doing so, they are able to evaluate information and follow scents with an expertise that mortals lack, enabling them to find both prey and people, such as tracking an escaped target or finding dinner for their coterie. This ability requires a vampire to be in Shape of the Beast’s fight or flight form. Alternatively, vampires employing the gift Heightened Senses can track while in any form. The systems below should also be used when a character gains the opportunity to track by scent as a result of a merit or supernatural power. To track a person by scent, you must first identify the scent. To do so, expend 3 standard actions and tell the Storyteller who you’re seeking. You don’t need to know the target’s name; “the owner of this jacket” or “the one who was sitting in this chair” will suffice.

Make a static challenge using a test pool consisting of your Mental attribute + Investigation skill versus your target’s Mental attribute + Stealth skill to attempt to identify a unique scent that has passed within 5 steps of your present location. This attempt involves visibly sniffing the ground in the nearby vicinity and attempting to isolate the desired scent. For this challenge, the Storyteller may serve as a stand-in for the defender, who may wish to remain anonymous until discovered. If you succeed, you are able to identify the unique scent. If you have Familiarity with the target, you are able to identify who she is . Furthermore, if your target is in the same room, or within 10 steps if outdoors, you are able to pinpoint her location. If you fail the challenge, you are unable to detect the scent you’re seeking, and must wait 10 minutes before attempting again. If you succeed, but the target is not nearby, you may then track the target. To track a target character, you must make an extended opposed challenge using your Mental attribute + Survival skill versus the target’s Mental attribute + Survival skill. If you are in fight or flight form and also employing the Auspex power Heightened Senses, you receive a +3 wild card bonus to this challenge. If you fail the challenge, you lose the trail and must wait 10 minutes before attempting the challenge again, as you try to pick up the scent again. If you succeed, you are able to track the target for an additional distance beyond her originating location. The distance the tracker is able to follow the scent is determined by the Storyteller based on several factors, including how fresh the scent is, efforts taken by the target to conceal her scent, or weather conditions. In a closed room or a sheltered clearing, scents may linger for hours. On a busy street or on a windy day, scents usually dissipate within a few minutes. The Storyteller is the final arbiter of whether or not a character may attempt to detect a scent.

Tracking only permits you to target characters that have travelled by foot. If your target gets into a car or flies away, the trail ends at the last place she stood. The trail also ends if she hides her scent in water or if the ground along her route is significantly disturbed, such as by a plow or a bulldozer. Targets who can teleport are especially confounding, as their trail ends at the spot from which they teleported. In a case where the target reappeared nearby, the tracker may attempt to once again identify the scent and track her target anew. Tracking cannot defeat individuals using the Streetwise skill to evade pursuit, as they can make use of the environment to confound their scents, nor can Tracking be used to pinpoint an individual who is hidden using Obfuscate or a similar power.