Urban Tracking
( CityScape, p. 64)[General]
You can track down the location of missing persons or wanted individuals within communities.
Prerequisite
Benefit
To find an individual's trail, or to follow a trail for 1 hour, requires a Gather Information check. You must make another Gather Information check every hour you search, as well as each time the trail becomes more difficult to follow, such as when it takes you to a different part of town. The DC of the check, and the number of checks required to track down your quarry depends on on the community size and the prevailing conditions. If you fail a check, you can retry after 1 hour of questioning; the DM should roll the number of checks required secretly, so that the player doesn't know exactly how much time the task will require. You can cut the time between Gather Information checks in half: (from 1 hour to 30 minutes), but you take a -5 penalty on the check. Obviously, this feat will not allow you to locate someone who has gone beyond the boundaries of the community, but it could inform you that they've done so.
| Community Size* | — DC — | Checks Required |
|---|---|---|
| Thorp, hamlet, or village | — 5 — | 1d3 |
| Small town or large town | — 10 — | 1d4+1 |
| Small city or large city | — 15 — | 1d6+1 |
| Metropolis | — 20 — | 1d8+2 |
| *See DMG 137 | ||
| Conditions | DC Modifier |
|---|---|
| Every three creatures in group being sought | —2 |
| Every 24 hours group has been missing/sought | +1 |
| Tracked group "lies low" | +2 |
| Tracked group matches community's primary racial demographic * | +2 |
| Tracked group does not match community's primary racial demographic* | —2 |
| *See DMG 139 | |
Special
A character with 5 ranks in Knowledge (local) gains a +2 bonus on the Gather Information check to use this feat. (Note This feat first appeared in Unearthed Arcana. This update supersedes the original.)
Normal
Characters without this feat can use Gather Information to find out about specific individuals, but each check takes ld4+1 hours and doesn't allow for effective trailing.
