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Quick question about the way people use knowledge checks. Some games the players ask to make a knowledge check and the GM will says "OK make are Arcana check". When I GM the players ask to make a knowledge check I always reply "OK which one do you want to use?". I had a player the other day tell me that is not how it works....I read the rules I could not find anything saying one way or the other. Did I miss something? What do most people do?
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If you prompt the player which check to make, you inadvertently give away a lot of information.
Eg, if the NPC is a dragon shapeshifted into a human, the player asks to make a Local roll (thinking to identify what nationality/ethnicity of human) and you say "Oh, no, roll Arcana.", you instantly tip your hand that something may not be as it seems.
Better to have the PCs' bonuses written down, and roll for them in secret.
Have you ever looked at an object and said "I wonder if that's a couch?"*Roll your knowledge furniture* "No I know all the different types of couches, and I don't think I've seen one like that. I know a lot about cars, I wonder if that's a car?*Roll your knowledge cars* "Yup that's a '58 Corvette!"
Is that how it goes in your head? Or does it go more like:
Look at an object, "Okay, I've seen a car like that, but what kind is it?" *roll your Knowledge cars* "Oh yeah, that's a '58 Corvette"
Playing "guess the knowledge check" seems silly. If they pick the wrong one that in no ways means their C has suddenly lost their knowledge in the correct skill (assuming they have the skill.)
I suggest letting players make these rolls, not the GM. However, if there are occasional cases where a thing is not what it seems, such as Snorter's example of a shapeshifted dragon, tell them to roll the KS that fits what it SEEMS to be - if they make that roll, then tell them the pertinent info (again in Snorter's example, reveal the ethinicity/nationality of the apparent human the dragon shapeshifted into).
In other words, in that example, just looking at a dragon shapeshifted into a human won't automagically allow a Knowledge (Arcana) to immediately know it's a dragon; you'd still use Knowledge (Local) to identify what kind of human he is, then maybe if his behavior didn't fit (assuming you made a decent Knowledge (Local) roll), then you might notice something odd, maybe even get a Sense Motive against the dragon's Bluff to realize that he is not really what he seems to be, but still no automagic Knowledge (Arcana) until you use some kind of means to reveal the shapeshifted creatures true form (dragon) - at which time you can THEN, finally, apply your Knowledge (Arcana) to figure out details of it.
I would keep record of the PC's knowledge and ranks. When they ask what they know about the creature, I'd ask them to roll.
I have seen many different ways to handle this. If they hit the base DC, I give them creature name, type, and some generic stuff about the type. For each 5 above the base, they get to ask a question. I have seen some GM's want very specific questions "Does it have damage reduction that can be avoided using magical silver weapons?". I am a bit more relaxed. "What are it's defenses?" will get you some of it's defenses, butnot all of them. "What are it's special abilities?" will get you some, butnot all of it's SA. "What are it's weaknesses?" Will get you things like, "It is easy to hit., or "It is easily manipulated using mind-affecting spells."