How does non-spell research work?

[Ravilah]

My PCs are about to stumble upon an ancient cache of Elvish writtings, more or less like a medium-sized, badly disorganized library. Provided they kill off the Ogre Mage lurking about the joint, they will have opportunity to research some Elvish history for several days (in this world, the Elves are a fallen civilization and all-but-extinct race). There are some story relevant points I will want them to come across (no great loss if they don't), along with some interesting bits and pieces for pure flavor.

I have two questions for you:

1.) What exactly are the mechanics for researching info in a "library" such as this? (A Search check lasting 8 hours/check? What constitutes a good check? What is the benefit of a good roll?)

2. Aside from story-driven information, what other goodies could they come across in this cache of writings that would make the time they spend worth while (to, say, the fighter or the paladin?).

Thanks!

 

[Crothian]

I actually use Knowledge: Research, with a synergy bonus to it for other knowledge skills that the person has. So, if you are researching the ancient King Drakken you'd get a synergy bonus if you have the 5 ranks in Knowledge royality.

Fiurst though people need to obviously be able to read the books they are researching. They could be in an old archaic klanguage that the people have to trasnlate and try to research at the same time.

Mechanics, I set a DC usually pretty high, and use the rules from Unearthed Arcana about multiple skill rolls and achiving a high DC. A roll can equal a day, a week, or even a year of research. Length of time is determined by how hard the translations and source material is to read. Size of the library also increases the DC as does its organization.

There are all sorts of fun things the players can find in the library. You can include scandels, long forgotten tales, ancient proficies, or just a fun recipe for Beef Golage.

 

[DM_Jeff]

Good Link

I've handled this differently depending on the type of game youn run. If the PC's like doing the research and finding little snippets, then I prepare them in advance as handouts and let them do Search checks, with the deeper stuff requiring a higher DC. If the PCs NEED to know the info to keep the game going, they Take 20 and I briefly describe the days of research and then let them have it.

For more detailed rules, like how much can you read in a day and real nitty-gritty rules that my group has enjoyed, there's a free PDF from Bastion Press all about nonmagical research, no kidding!

http://www.bastionpress.com/Downloads/Ink_and_Quill.pdf

-DM Jeff

 

[Tonguez]

1. A search check works. A good roll works like Bardic Knowledge to determine what is discovered
exceptional rolls give skill bonuses and even feats

2a. The Fighter-type finds a manual of ancient elfish fighting techniques which grant a feat Melee+2 to the fighter that studies it

 

[tensen]

I've handled this differently depending on the type of game youn run. If the PC's like doing the research and finding little snippets, then I prepare them in advance as handouts and let them do Search checks, with the deeper stuff requiring a higher DC. If the PCs NEED to know the info to keep the game going, they Take 20 and I briefly describe the days of research and then let them have it.

For more detailed rules, like how much can you read in a day and real nitty-gritty rules that my group has enjoyed, there's a free PDF from Bastion Press all about nonmagical research, no kidding!

http://www.bastionpress.com/Downloads/Ink_and_Quill.pdf

-DM Jeff

Don't forget the decipher script rules for interpretating the obscure languages.
Ah.. the wonders of a DM that has to deal with an overzealous researcher.

 

[General Barron]

Cool topic. I am about to start a campaign that also has an ancient, advanced race that used to inhabit the land. This situation might arise. What you let the PC's get would depend on how rare/special this event is. Some ideas on what benefits the PCs might get from the library:

*Formulas for new alchemeical items. If you don't want to make up new items, just make more powerful versions of existing ones.

*New spell scrolls for wizards (obviously). If you don't want to make up new spells, then perhaps take, say, an existing 3rd level spell, and say that the 'elven version' is simpler, and is only a 2nd level spell.

*Skill bonuses arising from learning superior elven ways of doing certain things (+1 or +2 max). The skills would have to make sense, and would have to be able to translate across time/cultures of course. Physical skills like climbing, swimming, jumping, etc are good candidates. Certain non-physical skills are also good (knowledge: arcane, spellcraft, healing, some craft, etc). You could rule that only characters with a certain number of ranks in these skills could understand the material enough to get bonuses.

*A book on elven weapon/armorsmithing. In the hands of a competent smith, it could help them craft a superior weapon or armor, perhaps granting an extra +1 to AC or damage, reducing weight/ACP, increasing damage die, etc. Make the book only describe one or two particular weapons/armors, so that the smith can't just make improved versions of everything.

*Treasure maps are always nice, leading to a small side-adventure. The rewards of which could be designed to please the characters that didn't get as much from the library.

*A manual describing elven combat techniques. Studying it would allow a character access to new, powerful combat feats. The players would still have to spend feats to acquire them, but these feats could be more powerful than regular ones. Again, if you don't want to make new ones up, then you could just increase an existing feat, or combine two feats into one.

*If this is a really rare find, then perhaps allow the PC's to take up a new prestige class.

 

[wingsandsword]

I use an adaptation of the Arcana Evolved rules. A library effectively gives a bonus to a Knowledge skill, anywhere from +1 to +6 depending on the quality and expansiveness of the information, and assuming you can read the materials in question.

The PC makes a relevant Knowledge check (I would allow it untrained, since they are looking it up, but at least double the check time, they have much less of a base to begin with, they don't even know the right questions to ask, but I'd let a character with Bardic/Loremaster knowledge not suffer that penalty either since they know a little of everything). The time to perform the check would depend on the complexity of the answer, anywhere from an hour or two for simple questions where you just have to find basic subject matter in a common book, to days or weeks for esoteric questions where you might have to look up many books and figure out the meaning of things, translating passages from other languages and pouring through huge tomes for a single piece of detailed and obscure information.

With what you describe of finding the remains of an Elvish library, from a GM's perspective, if they spent some time there, assuming they speak Elvish I'd let them buy ranks in relevant Knowledge skills and get some basic exposition about elvish history. If they want to look up specific information, I'd let them make relevant skill checks (Knowledge: History, or Knowledge: Religion or whatever, as appropriate) with a fairly large bonus, and assuming they are taking several hours or as much as a day per check.