When introducing things from Distant worlds into a Goloraian setting, would it be Knowledge Planes to identify it, or what ever the beast/NPC is. Example would be Lashunta, they are simply humanoids, but they are from another planet so I was thinking planes.
By RAW, they are humanoid, so they'd be a Knowledge (Local) check to identify.
By RAI, there are too many possible answers (including "they can't possibly know).
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When introducing things from Distant worlds into a Goloraian setting, would it be Knowledge Planes to identify it, or what ever the beast/NPC is. Example would be Lashunta, they are simply humanoids, but they are from another planet so I was thinking planes.By RAW, they are humanoid, so they'd be a Knowledge (Local) check to identify.
By RAI, there are too many possible answers (including "they can't possibly know).
Thanks, that's pretty much how I see it too. The only thing I could see that might allow them to have any insight is things like spells or abilities, like the Knowledge Domain power. I think I will stick to Knowledge Planes as a catch-all for now.
A successful check may let them rule out that it is anything they have heard or read about before. Basically, "They know that they do not know". Unless in your world, there has been information from these other worlds introduced somewhere, what would be the basis of their knowledge? The more they are around, and study these other worldly creatures, the more chances they would have to make a knowledge check that tells them something. If these are magical beings, an Arcane check might be most appropriate. If they are mechanical in nature, perhaps Engineering. And the catch all, as has been mentioned would be Planes. But, with severe penalties on any check (or extremely high DC's), on anything that the party has no way to be familiar with.
I'd prefer just keeping it a Knowledge check based on creature type.
I don't want to add a "and which planet are you from?" layer to knowledge checks, nor to add a layer of difficulty to monsters that may not have been intended by further obscuring their strengths and weaknesses, nor do I want players begging me to be from Akiton or the Diaspora to play the other side of this Knowledge gap.
There are ways to justify knowledge about creatures reaching Golarion, if that's your wish. There are spells to contact strange intelligences, summon spells that can port creatures in, planar teleports, creatures that can travel through space itself, magic ships that can do the same ... most of the elven race even stayed on Akiton for a while (iirc), and could have brought back their lore for inclusion to Golarion's knowledgebase. Hell, Lirgen had an otherworldly colossus fall on it.
The worlds aren't separate enough for me to start denying my players Knowledge checks.
You have three options:
1) invent a new knowlege skill like Astronomy/Astrology
2) do what you did and apply them wholesale to an existing skill like Knowlege(arcana). As an aside I would choose Arcana because I feel that wizards are more likely to know about these options then priests.
3) use the existing skill structure according to type and raise the DC by 5 or 10 to account for rarity.
I myself would choose option 3.
Assuming you are playing in a baseline Golarion:
I would make up a Knowledge (Worlds)
Or maybe use Knowledge(History). Lashunta have had somewhat regular contact with Golarion given their history with elves, and so someone well read up on lore might be familiar with them
I suppose you could also expand Knowledge (Geography) to cover other planets
Assuming you are playing in a baseline Golarion:
I would make up a Knowledge (Worlds)
Or maybe use Knowledge(History). Lashunta have had somewhat regular contact with Golarion given their history with elves, and so someone well read up on lore might be familiar with them
I suppose you could also expand Knowledge (Geography) to cover other planets
I've got to hand it to you, it'd finally make Knowledge: Geography useful.
I've literally had a GM ask me for it one time, to determine where a handful of soil (from a vampire's coffin) came from.
I've gotten far more use even out of Nobility and History, which are kind of soft knowledge skills.
Geography (lands, terrain, climate, people)
That would make sense for knowing what kinds of people inhabit specific worlds, if not in great detail.
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For creatures from a different planet you wouldn't use Knowledge (planes) as planets and the Dark Tapestry are part of the Material Plane. As a creature from a different planet is quite rare I would use a base DC for the normal Knowledge check by type of DC 15 + CR.
Check: Answering a question within your field of study has a DC of 10 (for really easy questions), 15 (for basic questions), or 20 to 30 (for really tough questions).
You can use this skill to identify monsters and their special powers or vulnerabilities. In general, the DC of such a check equals 10 + the monster's CR. For common monsters, such as goblins, the DC of this check equals 5 + the monster's CR. For particularly rare monsters, such as the tarrasque, the DC of this check equals 15 + the monster's CR, or more. A successful check allows you to remember a bit of useful information about that monster. For every 5 points by which your check result exceeds the DC, you recall another piece of useful information. Many of the Knowledge skills have specific uses as noted on Table: Knowledge Skill DCs.