This was something that was included as a potential design goal for the Huntmaster's Challenge - including related skills to have an effect on the outcome of the hunting simulation. We opted to keep it simple for the initial release for a couple reasons. The primary reason was time - adding complexity to the hunting simulation would've taken more time to implement, test, and iterate over than we had given the short cycle and the additional promotional items we wanted to give out for the season. Adding more depth to the Huntmaster's Challenge logically should require skills like animal lore and tracking to definitely play a role, and for the initial release forcing the best results to be netted by those with a developed "Huntmaster's Challenge Template" limits who can hope to compete. Right now, anyone who can kill a turkey has a shot - which is a pretty wide breadth.@Kyronix
Real big fan of what you guys are doing. First the Trade Deals, now the Hunting. These are good ideas.
But... and you knew there was a but coming there with me
This is why I really wish you guys put these ideas up on the test center forum before bringing to Test Center because I would have thrown in some obvious suggestions.
I'm with Dot, once a month is too long of a period, it's going to cause people to lose interest because they aren't going to get much of a chance. It should be more like every two weeks.
I also feel this would have been a GREAT way to have made Tracking worth something, I mean we are trying to become a member of the Skara Brae Rangers right (sash)? You could also have included Animal Lore.
You could have done three tiers of the animals that are being hunted, with the lowest tier giving the lesser chance for a high RNG, the middle an average chance for higher RNG, and the highest a larger chance for the higher RNG. Make the high ones extremely rare in spawning. You won't know what tier they are by their name or color. You'll know what tier they are by using Animal Lore. However, you can track the middle and higher ones based on how high your tracking is. It's a win/win and you make a hardly used skill way more viable, now there is more of a reason to GM Tracking!
Sorry I am writing this at 4 in the morning, but that is what I think.
If the Huntmaster's Challenge is popular (which based on feedback so far it has been very positive) we can expand into other creature types and add more depth to the hunting simulation. Thanks for the feedback!