Appraising
“My mother always used to press the importance of taking one’s time and not jumping into things. This advice holds true whether one is harvesting a creature, engaging in a fight, or literally jumping into a river.” – Hamund Before a player begins hacking and butchering their hunt, they may instead choose to take a moment first and appraise the creature to be harvested. To do this, they must spend 1 minute examining the creature to be harvested and then roll an Intelligence check, adding their proficiency bonus if they are proficient in the skill corresponding to that creature (see table below). For example, appraising a Beholder (which is an aberrant), the check would be an Intelligence (Arcana) check, while appraising an Ogre (which is a giant) would require an Intelligence (Medicine) check. The DC of the check is equal to 8 + the Harvested Creature’s CR (treating any CR less than 1 as 0). Success on this check grants the player full knowledge of any useful harvesting materials on the creature, the DC requirement to harvest those materials, any special requirements to harvest them, and any potential risks in doing so. In addition, any harvesting check made on that creature by that player is rolled at advantage. A character may only attempt one appraisal check per creature.
Monster Type/Skill Check Creature Type Skill
Aberration Arcana
Beast Nature
Construct Investigation
Dragon Nature
Elemental Arcana
Humanoid Medicine
Monstrosity Nature
Ooze Investigation
Plant Nature
Undead Arcana
Splitting up the responsibilities
Some party members may prefer to let one character handle the appraisal of materials, while another more dexterous character handles the actual harvesting. In this scenario, all benefits of appraising a creature are conferred to the player doing the harvesting, so long as the player that performed the appraising assists the harvesting player through the whole duration of the harvest.
Harvesting
In order to harvest a creature, a character must make a
Dexterity ability check using the same skill proficiency as
listed in the above appraising table. For example, a
character attempting a harvest check on an Aberrant would
receive a bonus equal to their Dexterity modifier and their
proficiency in Arcana (if they have any).
This check reflects a character’s ability to not only
properly remove the intended item without damaging it, it
also involves any ancillary requirements of the harvest such
as proper preservation and storage techniques.
Using other proficiencies
If a player is harvesting a certain creature, or harvesting a
creature of a certain type of material, the DM may allow
them to use a relevant tool proficiency rather than a skill
proficiency.
For example, the DM may allow a player to add their
proficiency with Tinker’s Tools to their attempt to harvest a
mechanical golem or use their proficiency with
leatherworking tools when attempting to harvest a creature
for its hide. Alternatively, all creature type proficiencies may
be replaced by proficiency with the harvesting kit.
Each individual item in a creature’s harvesting table is
listed with a DC next to it. Any roll that a player makes that
equals or exceeds this DC grants that player that item.
Rewards are cumulative, and a player receives every item
with a DC equal to or below their ability check result. For
example, rolling a total of 15 on a check to harvest an azer
will reward the player with both “azer ash’, and “azer
bronze skin”, but not a “spark of creation”. If they so wish,
players may opt to not harvest a material even if they have
met the DC threshold to harvest it.
Only one harvesting attempt may be made on a creature.
Failure to meet a certain item’s DC threshold assumes that
the item was made unsalvageable due to the harvester’s
incompetence.
For most creatures, the time it takes to harvest a
material is counted in minutes and is equal to the DC of
that material divided by 5. For huge creatures however, it is
equal in DC of that material, while for gargantuan
creatures, it is equal to the DC of that material multiplied
by 2.