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So although this comes up in PFS a lot, I think this question is better suited for all of Pathfinder. How do you let a player know how to destroy a haunt? There is no DC set for a GM to tell a player the text following "Destruction." I believe this is something that could go in the GMG FAQ / errata.
I would venture to say the DC for a Knowledge (religion) check would be 15 + CR of Haunt. Thoughts?
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So although this comes up in PFS a lot, I think this question is better suited for all of Pathfinder. How do you let a player know how to destroy a haunt? There is no DC set for a GM to tell a player the text following "Destruction." I believe this is something that could go in the GMG FAQ / errata.
I would venture to say the DC for a Knowledge (religion) check would be 15 + CR of Haunt. Thoughts?
This is covered quite nicely in the Haunt article in Carrion Crown AP #43 by Brandon Hodge.
Generally to understand what a Haunt is and how to fight one you make a Knowledge (religion) check. However to learn how to permanently destroy one, you must make a Knowledge (local) check. Haunts are really a Story Device with Trap mechanics.
Some event happened to cause the Haunt to manifest originally. To deal with an individual Haunt you have to learn what makes it tick. This really allows GM's to craft a nice sub-plot to any adventure and throw in some folklore-ish method of destroying said Haunt. Once you learn the means to destroy a Haunt, not just disperse it, then you can go back to it when it respawns and deal with it permanantly.
--Vrocky Horror
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This is covered quite nicely in the Haunt article in Carrion Crown AP #43 by Brandon Hodge.
Generally to understand what a Haunt is and how to fight one you make a Knowledge (religion) check. However to learn how to permanently destroy one, you must make a Knowledge (local) check. Haunts are really a Story Device with Trap mechanics.
Some event happened to cause the Haunt to manifest originally. To deal with an individual Haunt you have to learn what makes it tick. This really allows GM's to craft a nice sub-plot to any adventure and throw in some folklore-ish method of destroying said Haunt. Once you learn the means to destroy a Haunt, not just disperse it, then you can go back to it when it respawns and deal with it permanantly.
--Vrocky Horror
Interesting, I'll need to freshen up on that then. It doesn't make sense to me to use a Knowledge (local) though. I'd rather it be one check as opposed to two checks.
Regardless of the fact the AP covers it, I think it would be useful to update the GMG as an FAQ because that book talks about haunts but leaves that part out. Regardless if it takes a Knowledge (religion) or (local), the GMG needs that info.
Vrock and Lincoln covered my take on it pretty well, but the information comes from a messageboard thread where I waxed poetic on the subject, rather than the haunts article. You can find the original thread, as well as some other haunts-related topics, in this thread.
I think my original turnover addressed Knowledge (religion), (history) and (local) checks to discern the destruction method of haunts, and if I recall the DC was 15+ the CR of the haunt. It didn't make final publication, but use it if it works for you. BUT, that's for generic haunts like cold spots and stuff, and as Haunting of Harrowstone expertly demonstrates, haunts are meant to be customized —they are, after all, used best as story elements, and much more than just damage-inflicting traps. In any case the haunts in the article are meant more as drag-and-drop tools for you to use and modify as you see fit and as best suites your game and play style.
As a (related) aside, I've always found Knowledge (local) and Knowledge (history) to be very strange skills.
They feel like they really ought to be tied to a specific location. If I'm from Ustalav, why would my +10 in Knowledge (local) tell me a darn thing about, say, Numeria?
Back in the 1e days, the rules for sages were pretty good about this; you could ask a sage a question in their area of expertise or outside of it and the quality and depth of their answer would be related to how close it was.
I guess that's what they were going for with the bonuses in Carrion Crown if you used the local libraries/resources - it's just too bad that it's not inherent in the usage of the skill.