I have a question about the Know Thy Enemy archetype's ability. The text of the ability reads thusly:
At 7th level, a lore warden can take a standard action to study a specific target in sight. He must make a Knowledge check to determine the target’s abilities and weaknesses as part of this standard action. If successful, the lore warden not only notes the appropriate abilities and weaknesses, as detailed under the Knowledge skill, but also gains a +2 competence bonus on all attack rolls and weapon damage rolls made against that enemy. Note that this bonus on attack and damage rolls applies only to that specific creature. This bonus lasts for the duration of an encounter, or until the lore warden attempts a new Knowledge check to use this ability on a different target.
My question is what is the Knowledge check's DC to learn the opponent's weaknesses?
From the knowledge skill:
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.
So basically, it varies from monster to monster, with higher dc values against monsters of higher CR and rarity. This quote specifies that a successful check is equal to the given value, therefore I'm assuming the lore warden's "if successful" qualifier follows the same guidelines.
To simplify it further, if you learn anything at all useful, you also get the +2 competence bonus.
Excellent. Thanks for the reply!
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.
Bold emphasis mine. Essentially, you're making a knowledge check to know one useful piece of information. If you exceed the DC, you learn more. Just make sure the piece of information you're trying to learn is in line with the ability.
In general, every GM has their own way of handling knowledge checks. Some GMs even have little homebrew systems where one can pick from a list of what to try and identify about a creature. They're neat. Others typically say 'okay, you succeeded. Here's everything you need to know...'
Basically, as long as you make that check, you're golden. The rest is up to the GM to give.