Knowledge:Local... What is meant by Local?

[gnfnrf]

There is a variant for Eberron on the wizards website, which is that knowledge:local applies to one region per rank spent. You can find the article here. http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/ebds/20040830a

This is the version I use, and it works quite nicely.

--
gnfnrf

 

[argo]

I think all three options are correct and you (the DM) should choose the one that works right for your campaign.

Option 1 - good if your campaign is centered on the struggle over the succession of the Duchy of West Duchland. Knowing the mayor of Ratville might actually be usefull in this game.

Option 2 - good if your campaign is centered on uniting the people of the Three Kingdoms against the threat of the Northern Goblin Tribes.

Option 3 - good if your campaign is centered on collecting the Seven Legendary and Widely Scattered Artifacts in order to close the Eleven Demongates.

Also option 3 is best if you want your PC's to have that hyper-competent "pulp" feel to them. Porfessor Indiana Jones does not have sixteen different Knowledge (local) skills, he has one skill at max ranks that applies everywhere he goes.

Later.

 

[MarkB]

Seems more like Gather Information to me.

I like to think of it as Knowledge (Gossip) - basically, an investment in this skill means that the character is always keeping his ears open, absorbing the local rumours, reading the newspapers, essentially doing the equivalent of lots of very unfocused Gather Information checks that don't take time away from pursing other goals, and aren't aimed at gathering specific information.

As a result, such a character - once they've been in town a little while - will have a good general knowledge of the area, local celebrities, current events etc. However, to learn about something more specific, that wouldn't be common knowledge to the local residents in general, would require Gather Information checks.

 

[RangerWickett]

I think of it as "Knowledge (culture)," rather than being knowledge of a specific area. I mean, if you live in a particular area you shouldn't have to spend skill points to be familiar with that place.

 

[Vegepygmy]

Option 3 (unless you're playing Forgotten Realms, then Option 2). They really should have named Knowledge (local) something different. I'm not exactly sure what. Knowledge (anthropology) comes close, but isn't quite right, IMO.

Tonguez's reference to Marco Polo is dead on, though.

 

[Altair-the-Vexed]

my Knowledge (local) house rule

Since Knowledge (local) is a Rogue class skill, I like to use it as a sort of "streetwise" skill - how to act right with the different underground groups and cliques of a town translates reasobnably well between regions.
If a character leaves their home culture (like an elf among dwarves, or a human among gnomes, in "standard" fantasy settings), then I apply circumstance penalties.

 

[taliesin15]

I certainly agree with those who favor Gather Info in lieu of Option #3...I had a player IMC who wrote up a biography for his 1st level Rogue including being kidnapped by Pirates from his homeland on another continent, and suddenly he's in this town 500 miles from the coast (having escaped Rum, Sodomy and the Lash) and 20 minutes into the new town he attempts to use Knowledge: Local...? I mean, even if one were to accept the idea of it being like the info in a travel guide, one still needs to have realistic requisite time to actually read the thing...

 

[billd91]

I prefer option 2, myself. But I can also see potential for a mix of options 1 and 2. Pick a specific place (city, town, forest, whatever) for your knowledge (local). Get a -2 on checks for option 2-style checks for the region your specific local is in. Then you could even go -2 for the next band out, -2 for the next one after that, etc.

 

[Victim]

It's option 3. Knowledge categories are predefined to avoid an infinite proliferation of skill types.

 

[Ogrork the Mighty]

The way I run it is you get to pick a new location for every rank you spend (but all ranks are counted towards the skill check modifier). So if you have 5 ranks, you know 5 areas.

You can still use the skill on regions you don't have ranks in, but the DC increases by 5.

I like the idea of just saying that someone with the skill knows a little bit about everywhere he goes, but that's sorta infringing on the bardic knowledge ability and it also is a little too unrealistic for me to think that someone with a few ranks knows local knowledge for every location on the planet.