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<blockquote data-quote="DammitVictor" data-source="post: 8197840" data-attributes="member: 6750908">Mechanically, I understand this kneecaps the value of lore skills... but generally speaking if there's more than a handful of this type of monster in multiple locations around the world, then anyone with a background (or Background) in operating where the monsters live is going to know pretty much everything a &quot;lore check&quot; would tell them. Adventurers who ask non-hostile locals what kind of threats are around the area are going to get this information for free-- the locals will be eager to tell them.This is... a pet peeve on par with hardened soldiers in heavy armor being practically helpless against the grease spell because 2 skill points per level isn't enough to let them take Balance: it's the kind of thing that only makes sense when you view the game world strictly as the interaction of game objects as defined by the rules.If the monster &quot;isn't from around here&quot;, or is a one-of-a-kind monster, then lore checks might be called for.If you want to preserve the mechanical utility of the various lore skills I would suggest-- and a friend only just suggested it to me-- that those lore skills provide interaction/exploration pillar information, like &quot;trolls venerate the demon lord juiblex, and consider people/animals visibly infected with green slime to be sacred&quot; or &quot;rendering the fat from a troll's body produces fumes that make ghosts and other spirits irritable and combative&quot;.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="DammitVictor, post: 8197840, member: 6750908"] Mechanically, I understand this kneecaps the value of lore skills... but generally speaking if there's [I]more than a handful[/I] of this type of monster in multiple locations around the world, then anyone with a background (or Background) in operating where the monsters live is going to know pretty much everything a "lore check" would tell them. Adventurers who ask non-hostile locals what kind of threats are around the area are going to get this information for free-- the locals will be [I]eager[/I] to tell them. This is... a pet peeve on par with hardened soldiers in heavy armor being practically helpless against the [I]grease[/I] spell because 2 skill points per level isn't enough to let them take Balance: it's the kind of thing that only makes sense when you view the game world [I]strictly[/I] as the interaction of game objects as defined by the rules. If the monster "isn't from around here", or is a one-of-a-kind monster, then lore checks might be called for. If you want to preserve the mechanical utility of the various lore skills I would suggest-- and a friend only just suggested it to me-- that those lore skills provide interaction/exploration pillar information, like "trolls venerate the demon lord juiblex, and consider people/animals visibly infected with green slime to be sacred" or "rendering the fat from a troll's body produces fumes that make ghosts and other spirits irritable and combative". [/QUOTE]

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