ValhallaGH
Explorer
I never, ever want a practical skill to get subsumed into a Knowledge. Knowledge is theoretical; Knowledge (Nature) covers species categorization, general habits and notable abilities, and other academic information. Survival is a practical skill, one that applies techniques to withstand the rigors of the world; constructing shelters out of native materials, starting fires under varied circumstances, hunting & gathering supplies, land navigation, and so forth.
While knowledge is important to successful survival, the techniques, habits, and practices of actual application is even more important. People who read up on a topic know about it; people who actually practice and train in the topic have a completely different skill set (and a better understanding even if their knowledge is scantier). Training and study lead to a complete understanding of both the "what to do" and the "why it works", which is the key to ultimate mastery of any subject.
In my observation, Architecture & Engineering plus Nobility & Royalty combined is about as useful as any of the 8 other knowledge skills. So combining them both under social / civics / academics is balanced.
While knowledge is important to successful survival, the techniques, habits, and practices of actual application is even more important. People who read up on a topic know about it; people who actually practice and train in the topic have a completely different skill set (and a better understanding even if their knowledge is scantier). Training and study lead to a complete understanding of both the "what to do" and the "why it works", which is the key to ultimate mastery of any subject.
In my observation, Architecture & Engineering plus Nobility & Royalty combined is about as useful as any of the 8 other knowledge skills. So combining them both under social / civics / academics is balanced.
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While a lot of the assumptions are different in D&D, the folks with book-learning also have practical experience in their specialist fields (i.e. the wizard doesn't just read about arcane mysteries and the planes, the cleric has more than an academic interest in matters religious, etc). The only iconic exception is the bard - but his knowledge is of the folk tales and legends that form the substance of his trade.
I would prefer to see knowledge skills removed altogether. Knowledge then becomes a function of character class (i.e. knowing about X is part of Y class's 'professional knowledge' - a character of that class can make a check using their class level + int modifier + half of their levels in other classes) or other skills. This removes player knowledge entitlement, which feels like an improvement.
