Deep Imaskari Track Identity

[Kuma]

Someone sent me this screenshot after trailing my character. Do DIs have clown feet? They should probably show up as human tracks.

[Apokriphos]

Similarly, drow pcs and elven pcs should have very similar foot structure, with drow being slightly smaller to the average elf as imaskari are slightly taller to the average human.

However the tracking system in Arelith separates those two tracks as well.

Following this, I would assume that duergar and dwarves are distinguishable and svirfneblin and gnome are as well.

[DM Rex]

Deep Imaskari are allowed and completely accepted on the surface. Ideally they'd be bigger footed than humans, but not as big as say firbolgs.

Drow aren't. And you can probably smell the mold on their heels.

[The Rambling Midget]

There's a lot more nuance in tracking than just foot shape.

"Tracks" are just a placeholder for all of the other things that a tracker would observe, like gait, odor, debris, effects of passage on other elements of the environment, and the absence or presence of Kuma's clown shoes.

[Kuma]

what does "being allowed or not" have to do with anything?

either way, deep imaskari are not physiologically all that different to humans, and honestly considering the utmost steps to which deep imaskar went to preserve their secrecy, i really doubt that some level 5 ranger on the surface could tell that they were different to any other human's, never mind their cultural differences and origin. it'd be like saying a thayan's tracks would be different to someone from calimshan's, or a shadovar's - probably true, but not supported and shouldn't be the case for only one of them!

as for duergar, they should also just show up as dwarf considering they aren't physically different either, and all dwarves would probably show up as "these tracks belong to a dwarfish creature that dwells primarily in subterranean environments..."

5% increased size on top of the usual human -5/+5% margin would super not single someone out as hailing from the 100% unknown unless your character has been specifically told about their existence deep imaskari.

[helitron]

Have you tried to disguise and see how the tracks describe who passed?
That works for NPC -investigate. NPCs recognize deep imaskari, but when disguised they describe DI as human.

[Eira]

Not to mention the "these are dragon tracks" or "these are rakshasa tracks" when they're polymorphed.

I know some FR books have mentioned that large creatures polymorphed into something smaller (like dragons) leave deeper footprints because something something mass, but wouldn't make sense for Rakshasa. And no idea how canon most books are anyway.

[Kuma]

Have you tried to disguise and see how the tracks describe who passed?
That works for NPC -investigate. NPCs recognize deep imaskari, but when disguised they describe DI as human.

brb disguising as Deep Imaskari and really throwing folks off

[The Rambling Midget]

It does seem like tracking should follow a similar scheme to investigation, where search and lore are used to identify traits, or in this case, subraces.