| Pappas |
First off, let me start by saying I’m very, very excited about Pathfinder, and am part of a 4 person group starting up next weekend: got my Dwarf Cleric of Irori all ready to go. That being said, there was one change I was hoping to see right off the bat that I don’t. That is, the complete annihilation of the most useless skill in the normal 3.5 bunch: Knowledge(local).
Knowledge(local) covers “legends, personalities, inhabitants, laws, customs, traditions, and humanoids” of the local area. But what is the “local” area, exactly? One would assume the area that you’re born in. (unless you took the time to read up on another area of the world for some reason, but who does that?) Using Eberron as an example, shouldn’t it be called “Knowledge(Sharn) or “Knowledge(Thrane)” or something like that? Say your character has spent his entire life in one area (like a Monk)… his points into Knowledge(local) are worth as much as, say, a Bard’s… whose traveled the world and seen the sights? Say you take K(l) at it’s word… local knowledge. Then it’s useless outside of that area. Sure, if you’re playing a campaign that takes place in one area, then you’re okay, but it’s useless if you’ll be traveling the world. Might as well forget it and pump up Knowledge(history), (geography), and (religion). Then there are the maximizers… the people that use K(l) as Knowledge(everywhere). Your Thrane-based party is in Stormreach? Use K(l) to find out who the mayor is. Now your rogue (who gets K[l] as a class skill), despite spending all his time in Flamekeep, is a regular Encyclopedia Britannica, full of knowledge a rogue wouldn’t really be privy to despite his underworld connections. Now, while this may not exactly hamper gaming, it does make K(l) either a) useless or b) ill-fitting.
So, that’s my problem with it. And here’s my solution: Knowledge(events) or Knowledge(news) or something along those lines… I can’t tack down the descriptor, but you get my drift. Basically, it’s a measure of your characters efforts at keeping up-to-date with current events, through reading newspapers and almanacs, to asking travelers about the big events in their hometown, to keeping an ear out for gossip and rumor across the land. Basically… it’s your newspaper aficionado or CNN junky. This makes the skill useable anywhere… you can roll a knowledge(events) check to find out if you’ve heard about the Festival of Gold in the Mror Holds, despite being born and raised outside Fort Light in Thrane. The DC is easy to scale… just use the table for Scrying and replace “person” with “place”:
(Familiarity with Area : DC Modifier)
None (Never heard of it) : +10
Secondhand (Know of it) : +5
Firsthand (Been there) : 0
Intimate (Born there/lived there) : -10
You could also provide situational negatives or bonuses: Does the city have a newspaper? -2 mod. Is there a longtime war going on between your birthplace and that area (thus exposing you to propaganda and the like)? +5 mod. The possibilities are endless, but still very easy to incorporate. As for possible class additions… rogues and bards keep it as a class skill, due to the extended number of people they interact with. You could make a case for including it in the class list for Rangers (since they’re travelers, classically) and maybe even Wizards/Sorcerers and Clerics (academia/church connections), but none of that is necessary.
Opinions wanted!