Let's say your party enters a room with a taxidermy house cat (animated object) that you've spent construct points and flaws on to give it Improved Attack and an Extra Attack (bite) at the expense of making it Haunted (positive energy channel affects it).
Now your party contains a cleric of Erastil with a maxed out Knowledge: Religion, a wizard with maxed out Knowledge: Arcana and both have a decent Spellcraft. When they enter the room and the thing begins to animate, would you at that point:
1. Call out for them both to make appropriate Knowledge checks
2. Make passive checks for both of them
3. Wait for them to declare a knowledge check
I typically don't do automatic knowledge checks. I do automatic perception checks and some other checks, but I feel players should be responsible for having their players think.
There are some cases where I will suggest that the player make a knowledge check, particularly with new players, but not generally.
I sometimes prompt my players to try Knowledges when their turns come around, but I usually don't have to. At this point they know that a Knowledge check is a free action that might very well tell them what a monster's weaknesses are. They're not dummies - they usually ask to roll Knowledge themselves.
I'd recommend prompting your players to roll them if they aren't jumping at the chance to do so. Just don't give flat-footed PCs information until their turns come around! Talking is a free action, but you can't take free actions until you're no longer flat-footed, and you can't council your allies about a situation if you haven't even reacted to that situation yet.
Prompt them (and then reward them with the fruits of their checks) for long enough and they'll eventually start rolling without being nudged.
Daron Woodson
Abandoned Arts
I agree with Abanded Arts, prompt them until they get into the habit themselves. As a gm this is what i do because my group is still fairly new to the game.
As a player I do this automatically because i love skills and take every chance i get to use them, after all i spent points in the skill why not use it.
Dubl A Battery: did you just call my players dummies?
But seriously it never fails; my players are big time roleplayers and like you Benoc they enjoy using skills ALL the time...when nothing's attacking them. Suddenly their brains fall out. I feel like a jerk saying "ok, so, you all run in, taking attacks of opportunity and such. The monk NPC uses Acrobatics (rolls), moves through their squares and as a double move gets up on top of the heavy statue. Next round she can either attack from higher ground or attempt a strength check to drop the heavy granite statue on the creature..."
Its as if combat occludes skill use. And the thing I think is funny is that with the situation I cited above the party did in fact destroy everything and then say "ok, so now that they're down, we're going to use knowledge: arcana or knowledge: religion along with Detect Magic to see how they were animated."
I will take your advice and start prompting them. Hopefully it will sink in and, as it does, more will occur to them besides.
This problem brings me right back to a "new player's card" I made for my daughters which I still think should be standard issue to every player at all levels, as well as GMs.
The card would have a combat side and have a list of recommended/possible actions:
1. Roll Initiative
2. Knowledge check
3. Perception against hidden/invisible attackers
4. Move + Standard or Double Move actions
1. Ready and state conditions
2. Charge or CMB
3. Attack or use spell
4. Move actions
1. Tactical movement
2. 5' Step
3. Move + Skill such as Acrobatics or Climb
4. Draw a weapon/load a weapon
...you get the idea
One more question: how much info to give out on a Knowledge check? Raw says "a bit". Is there a guideline?
I auto-roll the knowledge rolls. After all, if someone with 10 ranks in knowledge nature is running around in the woods and sees a wolf, he's not going to sit there and ponder if he knows what it is. As soon as he sees it, he knows it or he doesn't. I will be implementing a knowledge roll along with an initiative roll at the start of every fight.
The only time knowledge isn't auto is if my players are researching something, or are studying something closely. ie: Searching a library for information, closely examining a bridge to see if it's sturdy or not, examining the corpse of unknown creature after a battle.
Ok but how much do you give them once successful. Guy with 10 ranks in Knowledge: Nature sees a wolf; what does that roll or auto-success tell him?
That's really DM fiat there. Like I had my party run into a troll in the wilderness, someone rolled a 15. That was enough to give them that trolls are vicious and fearless, and that they have a rend special attack. But it wasn't quite enough to get that they can regenerate and how to stop it.
Due to the RAW of the knowledge skill, I prefer to refuse to make a check until combat has ended.
As there is no rerolls for knowledge checks, I prefer to take 10.
I'm not sure you can take 10 on knowledge rolls.
Anyway, in the example of an animated taxidermized cat, as a DM/GM I would make the roll in secrets if nothing indicate it isn't a normal cat at first (could change during combat).