Brain Drain

[Theaitetos]

How exactly does the Lore Oracle's revelation spell Brain Drain work at the table (or VTT)?

After the enemy failed their Will save and you get your chance to RK:

Quote:

You probe the target's mind to glean knowledge. This deals 1d8 mental damage with a basic Will save. If the target fails the save, you sort through the stolen memories to attempt a single check to Recall Knowledge. Choose a skill that has the Recall Knowledge action, and use the target's skill modifier for the check.

The first major issue is: You don't even know which skills the target is untrained/trained/exp/mas/leg in, or is the GM supposed to tell the player that? Because not knowing the modifier you roll with, in fact not even knowing the Lore skill options the target has, really makes this borderline unusable.

Example: You successfully brain-drain a car expert [Legendary in these Lores: "Sports Cars", "Race Cars", "Luxury Cars", "Historic Cars", "Modern Cars"] and you ask the GM to roll RK with "Lore: Cars" because you expect him to have that, and the GM then rolls with a +0 modifier [because untrained in "Lore: Cars"]... seems RAW how it should be done but also too bad to be true.

The second major issue is: Which skills do you roll if you want to access a target's very individual knowledge: Where are the traps in your headquarters? What's the secret passphrase to enter the crypt? What are the plans of your BBEG boss?

The victim most likely knows the answers to these questions (maybe partially, GM decision), but which skill can be used to access this information? Especially considering that the target might not be trained in a single RK skill.

Or, even more trivial things: What's your name? Where do you live? Who are your friends? What's your favorite food? The target definitely knows these things, but they might not be trained in Society at all [assuming they're a Humanoid]. So as per RAW it would basically be impossible for a target to even access that information.

Example: Would a Baomal be able to know that it can swim or breathe underwater? It's a level 20 aberration, not trained in Occultism nor any applicable Lore, and has an INT modifier of -3. It would fail a RK check on that question 15% of the time, even if the GM were to set a DC of 1.

tl;dr

How should this spell be interpreted and how would it be used at the table, step-by-step?

For RAI purposes, if it's applicable even, here's the Pf1e Lore Oracle's Brain Drain revelation:

Quote:

Brain Drain (Su): You can take a standard action to violently probe the mind of a single intelligent enemy within 100 feet. The target receives a Will save to negate the effect and immediately knows the source of this harmful mental prying. Those who fail this save are wracked with pain, taking 1d4 points of damage per oracle level. After successfully attacking with this ability, you may use a fullround action to sort through the jumble of stolen thoughts and memories to make a single Knowledge check using the victim’s skill bonus. The randomly stolen thoughts remain in your mind for a number of rounds equal to your Charisma modifier. Treat the knowledge gained as if you used detect thoughts. This is a mind-affecting effect. You can use this ability once per day at 1st level, plus one additional time per day at 5th level and for every 5 levels beyond 5th.

[NorrKnekten]

The Recall knowledge skill is certainly a bit to open ended. Creatures do not have proficiency but you would find that spellcasters typically have a great modifier matching their tradition, Others have good modifiers to the same skills that would be used to identify them, Like some Beasts and Undead.

Sadly the question as to what skill comes down to how much the GM is willing to work with the player. With your example of a Baomal one could argue that survival and athletics could be used as it relates to its behavior and ability to swim. Personally I would ask what they wish to ask and then give them some options for that.

Like in the same example I would give Athletics, Survival and Nature as potential skills to use. I am not telling them which skills the creature has or what modifier each skill has. Thats up to the player to figure out.

Thats the problem with recall knowledge's open endedness.

Quote:

"You might need to collaborate with the GM to narrow down the question or skills, and you can decide not to Recall Knowledge before committing to the action if you can't don't like your options."

[Lia Wynn]

This is really a question for your GM.

What I would do is have the player roll a d20 for the RK and add the modifier for the roll that would be the most advantageous for the player. Given that RK is a secret roll, the GM could even roll it themselves, but I prefer to let my players do that. If your GM insists on you picking the skill before the roll, then the GM needs to let you know what options you have.

As for the second point that you bring up, RAW the spell does not allow that usage. However, again, ask your GM. I would allow it, but it might not be the best use of the ability in combat.

With things like the Baomal example, of course it knows it can swim, the same way you know what locomotion and senses you have. If that is what the oracle wanted to ask, just say "Yes, the two-headed creature that is attacking your boat can swim."

[Super Zero]

Just because the target knows the answer to the question doesn't mean that you're able to extract that information. It works fine if you fail to recall something they definitely know. You have a jumble of random thoughts. The target isn't failing to remember something about themselves, you're failing to get that information.