Producing Offspring
Breeding is a seasonal activity that involves both the act of the male covering the female, and the fertilization that leads to successfully producing offspring. As mentioned, animals in captivity are reluctant to breed, so breeders take great pains to assist their captured beasts. If a male and a female are put together in the same pen, the player may make a Breeding Roll to see if they produce offspring. This Breeding Roll is modified by several conditions.
Breeding Roll: stress die + modifiers vs. 9
If the Breeding Roll is successful, the animals produce offspring. If the roll fails, they do not, and if the roll botches, something bad happens. Either one or the other escapes (one botch), is actually sterile (two botches), is harmed during mating (three botches), or worse. The offspring must still survive birth, as detailed in the Birthing & Weaning section, earlier. The number of offspring should be appropriate for the type of beast, with equal chance that any individual offspring is male or female — roll a simple die for each, with evens being male and odds being female.
| Condition M | odifier |
|---|---|
| Adequate diet | +1 |
| Aggressive | – Ferocity Personality Trait |
| Agreeable environment |
+1 |
| Appropriate Hermetic spell |
+1 per 2 magni tudes of effect |
| Carnivore | –1 |
| Competent handler |
+1/5 lead handler's Animal Handling (rounded up) |
| Enlightened handler |
+1/5 lead handler's Magic Lore (rounded up) |
| Herbivore | +1 |
| Inadequate diet | –2 |
|---|---|
| Magical Creature | – Magic Might (in magnitudes) |
| Only beast of its kind besides mate |
–3 |
| Similar animals in proximity |
+1 |
| Tamed animal | +3 |
| Unsatisfactory environment |
–2 |