[RPG] Fishing for Knucklehead Trout in Icewind Dale

dnd-3.5epublished-adventuresskills

Need a way to catch "Knucklehead Trout" from Icewind Dale

Background: I am running a 3.5 "rules-lite" version of the published adventure "Legacy of the Crystal Shard" for my son. While it is "rules-lite" I try to run as close to RAW as possible.

My player has decided that since these fish are so valuable, he would like to attempt to catch one/many himself. Due to the information provided in the book, it does not appear a simple "survival skill check" will suffice to catch these things. However, he does have a character with a high survival skill and I believe it would break the spirit of the game to simply tell him "no". I am searching for a way to give him the opportunity to try.


The setting stipulates that:

"Fishing for Knucklehead Trout is very dangerous and requires cooperation."

Also, while not explicitly required, all the fishers in the region use boats to catch these fish, while my player plans to fish from the shore. The only "stat" the book gives us on the Trout themselves is they grow "up to" 5'.

  • Is there a 'published' statblock for these Knucklehead Trout
    (preferably 3.5, but any statblock provides a starting point for me
    to work off of).
  • Failing the above, is there a known existing template/skill challenge/adventure that addresses PCs fishing for Knucklehead Trout? (or similar event that could be shoehorned into this situation)

My Thoughts so far:

While the book does say it is "dangerous", everything an adventurer does is "dangerous" and they are much more skilled than simple "commoners" or even low-level experts, so the level of danger and skill accomplished by many of them should/could be doable by an adventurer.

Why a statblock for a fish? Since the module stipulates this is a dangerous endeavor I need to know how/why it's dangerous. I can assume the main dangers arise from the Strength of the fish pulling the fishers in (bullrush/modified grapple?) and possibly attacking/eating/drowning them.

Actions I've taken so far:

Informed player that normal fishing gear is inadequate for this endeavor. He plans to buy:

These prices seem to be simultaneously too high & too low. Too high because the commoners could never afford them (resolved by NPCs using other methods) but too low specifically for the fishing pole because there is no wood like I've described in D&D that is able to bend so far without breaking without some type of magic).

So followup question: Do these requirements/prices seem right/fair? Is there another item/substance that would better fit?

Final note, I really struggled with getting this question properly worded while also keeping it "on-topic" SE rules wise. If it seems like there's too much info this is why.

Best Answer

I couldn't find anything in 3.5, but Volo's Guide to the North says knucklehead trout have fist-sized skulls, and in the Icewind Dale video game they both say that the trout are "enormous" and give them an item weight of 1 lb.

Given that, it may be better to base your answers on real trout. One of the most widespread varieties of trout, the brown trout, has on average a "fist-sized" head and a top weight of more than 40 pounds, making it potentially larger than most salmon. Personal experience says that attempting to catch a full-sized salmon with a trout pole is a great way to ruin your trout pole, so you're correct in saying a typical pole wouldn't work and people would commonly use boats (and nets) to haul them in- if they're using set nets, for example, they could manage with two or three people per rowboat, which would explain the need for cooperation. I believe the setup you have is a little overkill, but then, an average size "knucklehead", if treated as a brown trout made out of ivory as a gross simplification, would be worth about 50 gold pieces. Your son will probably earn his money back.

It would also be dangerous, not because of the animal itself, but because of the working conditions. Icewind Dale is never far over freezing, and the lakes even less so- falling into such water is a quick way to die of hypothermia. For that, you can use the rules for cold exposure, though a quick and dirty way of dealing with it is to make any unlucky fellow who goes into the drink due to poor balance, bad weather, or horrible luck make a Con save to avoid going into shock, with a new save for every minute that they don't dry off.

All that said, when I started researching this question the first picture I pulled up for a knucklehead trout had it looking like a man-sized shark. If you'd rather make fishing a combat encounter, use a Medium shark with maybe an extra point of AC or a slam attack to represent their thick skull.

As a final note, remember that just because the fish itself is large doesn't mean the useable amount of ivory will be. It's entirely possible that your shark-trout is only good for a 1-pound, fist-sized chunk of solid ivory, as the rest is filled with air holes and such, making it too fragile to work. Two or three commoners working to pull a few of those fellows in on a net would be dangerous, and earn them maybe a gold piece a day each... plus as much trout as they could eat. A good living for a commoner, but not for the likes of adventurers.

Hope this helps!

Related Topic