Fish are an important aspect of the common diet in most villages and cities. Most fishers rely on large nets and tidewater traps to catch the fish, though a growing trend among the leisure class is to take poles and lures to try their hand at the profession.
Fishing tackle includes a medium-firm rod, silken line, corkwood bobbers, steel hooks, lead sinkers, velvet mundane lures, and narrow netting.
Fishing tackle weighs 4 lbs and costs 1 gp.
Fishing can be as simple as setting up fishing traps, like nets, to catch fish as the tide comes and goes, or they might use spears to hunt individual fish or spend leisure time with a fishing pole. During a short rest, a fisher, who is near a source of water with fish in it, can catch enough fish to feed one meal for a number of medium-sized creatures equal to their proficiency bonus times two. This does not require a check and doesn't cost anything.
Typically, enough fish to feed a medium-sized creature for a single meal can be sold for 1 sp.
For those who are wishing to fish as more of a sport than as a profession, they'll often take up fishing with a pole and lure. Due to how long this method of fishing takes, most fishers never use them; instead, they prefer fishing traps like nets.
Specialty fishing requires more preparation than a typical fishing expedition and is about more than just catching enough fish to feed yourself and your allies. Instead, specialty fishing revolves around the fisher attempting to hunt a specific type of fish, looking for an exceptional-sized fish, taking part in a fishing competition, or a special event where the outcome is based on showing off your skill as a fisher, not on feeding a group. These types of events often require the use of a fishing pole instead of a net or spear.
When you go on a specialty fishing expedition, you must make a Fishing Check to determine how well you do at the task. You use your Wisdom whenever you recall information about fishing, attempt to craft new lures or rods for fishing, and when making an ability check to hunt fish.
Fishing Check = your proficiency bonus + your Wisdom modifier
One way of fishing is using a wooden rod with a line that ends with a hook. A fishing pole can be made of a variety of materials of different sizes and lengths, with different effects on the DC of your fishing check as well as the likelihood of your fishing rod or line breaking in the attempt.
There are three types of flexibility for rods as well as three lengths, with each factor dictating the maximum weight of a catch as well as how easy it is to use the rod. When determining what rod you want to use, it is a careful balance of adjusting the DC and ensuring your rod is strong enough to catch what you want. Depending on what you are fishing for, each rod has a chance to break upon its use. A fish's statistics dictate when and how many Break checks you must make, as well as the difficulty of that check. When determining the fishing rod you want, pick one from each chart below. A typical fishing rod, unless made of special materials like mithral, costs only 1 sp each regardless of the size or thickness.
Flexibility determines how much give a rod has. A fishing rod that is lighter and bends easier allows you to notice when you are getting even just a few small nibbles on your hook. A stiffer rod is going to be heavier and harder to move about while fighting a fish, but offers greater durability, especially when reeling in dire bass or even sharks. The size of the fish determines how likely a fishing rod is to break.
| Flexibility | DC Adjustment | Break Tiny | Break Small | Break Medium | Break Large | Break Huge |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mild | -3 | +1 | +2 | +2 | +3 | +4 |
| Firm | 0 | - | +1 | +2 | +2 | +3 |
| Stiff | +3 | - | - | +1 | +2 | +2 |
Length dictates the distance that you can cast your line, as well as the difficulty of moving your fishing rod when you cast and when you reel in fish. A shorter rod doesn't provide as much leverage to throw your line but does allow you to easily move the rod about and grab any nibbling fish. When you use a longer rod, it weighs more but gives you greater leverage to send your lure more than a hundred feet away.
| Length | DC Adjustment | Distance |
|---|---|---|
| Short | -3 | Near; up to 50 feet |
| Medium | 0 | Further; up to 100 feet |
| Long | +3 | Far; beyond 100 feet |
Special materials, like adamantine, might decrease the break chance while increasing the DC of the Fishing Check.
Lines are used for connecting the fishing rod to the lure and come in a variety of materials, though the most common is a thin silken line. The type of line you use affects the overall size of creatures you can reel in, though as you get stronger material, the cost for it increase as does the difficulty of using it. If you attempt to use a line for a creature larger than it is rated for, it breaks.
The length of line you need is based on the size of the fishing rod you are using. If you only have a short amount of line on a long rod, you would be limited to only near fishing instead of further or far.
| Line | Cost Near | Cost Further | Cost Far | DC Adjust. | Max. Size |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Silken Strand | 3 sp | 4 sp | 6 sp | - | Small |
| Silk, Braided | 1.5 gp | 2 gp | 3 gp | +1 | Medium |
| Mithril Chain | 30 gp | 40 gp | 50 gp | +2 | Large |
| Mithril, Braided | 50 gp | 70 gp | 90 gp | +3 | Huge |
Different materials may have different effects if made into line, like adamantine line might be impervious to snapping, though that won't help if your fishing rod snaps instead.
There are a huge variety of fishing lures available, some hide hooks within pieces of vegetation while others are wooden shapes that resemble small minnows. Each lure is said to attract different fish, and if you have the wrong lure you may be unable to catch what you are hoping for.
Most fish can just be caught with the usual hooks and bait that comes with fishing tackle, though specific types of fish may require different lures as determined in their statistics. A few specialized lures are detailed below.
If your line or rod breaks, the lure is lost unless you can find it either in a fish's mouth or stomach, or on the bottom of the waterway you are fishing in.
A typical tiny-sized fish doesn't require much effort for someone proficient in fishing tackle. The following fish are atypical and only experienced fishers have any chance.