Knowledge roll for PFS?

[Count_Rugen]

What would a player need to roll to determine if they knew anything about the PF society? Knowledge:...?

Thanks

[Short Historian]

Depending on the exact information they are trying to find, I'd say either K: History or K: Local. If the information isn't particularly obscure and the character in question isn't some sort of a hermit, it is likely that no check would be needed. The Pathfinders are a huge global organization.

[Count_Rugen]

Short Historian wrote:

Depending on the exact information they are trying to find, I'd say either K: History or K: Local. If the information isn't particularly obscure and the character in question isn't some sort of a hermit, it is likely that no check would be needed. The Pathfinders are a huge global organization.

Thanks for the response. k:local makes sense. Im not sold on history though.

Also, I dont think i can accept that no roll is required just to know of them. It comes back to size, I guess. How are they "huge?" I mean...there simply can't be that many around, right? They'd need to constantly be harvesting antiquities...which would then saturate the market and lower prices, and thus profits. Even if we assume the PFS main "product" is gold and silver, I still can't see them harvesting enough to fund something so omnipresent that just about everyone would know of them. Hope I'm making sense.

[Short Historian]

Well, the Pathfinder Society is over 400 years old and the Grand Lodge in Absalom is, well, grand. I think you may be overestimating the secretiveness of the Society. The Inner Sea World Guide describes the Society as having lodges in most major cities around the Inner Sea region. Plus the Society publishes the Pathfinder Chronicles, illegitimate copies of which are prized by the general public. In my mind, most denizens of Golarion have probably met a Pathfinder and may be able to point you in the general direction of the nearest lodge. In the off-chance they don't know any personally, I doubt anyone is unaware of the Society's existence.

So that's my reasoning for no check for basic information. Certainly, more obscure information would warrant a check, using K: Local for local/recent developments and K: History for notable Pathfinders and expeditions of the past.

[Count_Rugen]

Short Historian wrote:

Well, the Pathfinder Society is over 400 years old and the Grand Lodge in Absalom is, well, grand. I think you may be overestimating the secretiveness of the Society. The Inner Sea World Guide describes the Society as having lodges in most major cities around the Inner Sea region. Plus the Society publishes the Pathfinder Chronicles, illegitimate copies of which are prized by the general public. In my mind, most denizens of Golarion have probably met a Pathfinder and may be able to point you in the general direction of the nearest lodge. In the off-chance they don't know any personally, I doubt anyone is unaware of the Society's existence.

So that's my reasoning for no check for basic information. Certainly, more obscure information would warrant a check, using K: Local for local/recent developments and K: History for notable Pathfinders and expeditions of the past.

With all due respect, I dont think you addressed my point. How can they be so big? The organization you're implying (something so pervasive and common everyone would know of them) would need a massive tax revenue to stay afloat.

Then again, what you're describing really isn't that big. Having a "lodge" in "most major cities" really isn't saying much. Thats, what, 7 or 8 lodges? A single rich person could keep all that paid for, I suppose.

I just don't see how the PFS could be so ubiquitous. Unless it's more of a social club and most members have day jobs (like the national geographic society).

[Short Historian]

No offense taken. Perhaps an official Paizo person could explain better than I am. The National Geographic Society is really the best analogue to the Pathfinder Society. Additionally, while the Society governs (or attempts to govern) its members' activities, it seems to me that many expeditions are formed by the members' own volition and funds. As for the number of lodges, we'll never get a solid number because that would be limiting, but Seekers of Secrets describes 13 in detail and individual PFS scenarios are constantly writing more into Golarion canon. (Pathfinder Wiki lists 18 more from various sources.)

As for how they can be so big, well, that has a complex answer in my opinion. First, magical economies are kind of weird (ask anyone who has a beef with magic item rules or craft rules). Second, the Decemvirate and the Grand Lodge have very full coffers. Third, and most important, Golarion is ridiculously adventure-dense. While Earth could only support one or two Indiana Jones types at a time, you can't throw a rock in the Inner Sea region without hitting something quest-worthy or at least worth investigating. Not all of the Pathfinders' missions are Adventure Path epics, a lot of it is more mundane archaeology and exploration.

But, really, if you want to have your players make a check, I see nothing wrong with it. I wouldn't in my game, but that hinges on my perception of the Society in Golarion. If you do ask for one, I'd say a DC 5 or 10 to know the basics about the Pathfinder Society, its goals, etc.