So my ranger is taking Favored Terrain: Water and I'd like to know how the trackless step and track bonuses work in well...water.
I'll take it anyway if there's no benefit but I'm just wondering.
I had the same situation, and our group went with:
Swimming creatures leave a wake and a wake can be tracked. Albeit it disappears in a matter of rounds (if a smallish creature) or minutes (if a ship).
You don't leave a wake or scent when in your favored terrain, thus cannot be tracked. The same would apply if you are in a one person vehicle, such as a small canoe, but not if you were aboard a ship.
Ehhh, there aren't any clear rules for tracking through water. The highest DC provided is for "hard ground" with a DC of 20. At the very least you would leave no trail in water, and you should gain a bonus to tracking in water. However, it would seem that the DC for tracking in water should be at least a 20, though I would probably say that it's at least a 30.
I guess what I'm saying is you definitely get the bonus, but there aren't clear rules to handle tracking in water.
Scent works perfectly fine in water (better, actually for many aquatic creatures with Scent), and it says you cannot be tracked, not just that you leave no visual trail.