How would you treat Knowledge (astronomy)?

[Olive]

One of my players has taken knowledge astronomy as a skill at first level. I've allowed it, but feel that I should reward an unusual skill choice by bringing elements of it into the game... any ideas?

I keep thinking of the Dragonlance stuff where raistlin notices the missing constelations, but my party doesn't have an over arching theme like that yet...

 

[Crothian]

The ability to see the future in the stars.

 

[Olive]

which is of course tricky, when the DM doesn't know exactly what the future holds.

 

[Crothian]

which is of course tricky, when the DM doesn't know exactly what the future holds.

Give vague hints that may or may not be true. Have the PC make a knowledge Astronomy check. Then consult the total on a table. It doesn't matter what table, your making up the answer but you want it to look like your not making up and answer. While consulting the table and making a few die rolls come up with something that sounds good, but not too specific. Remeber, DMing is as much about perception as talent. Yoiu need not be talented, you just have to be percieved as such.

 

[alsih2o]

timing, have the stars tell when the best time to do things is...

"no,no, we have to wait till whoziewhatsis is rising in the thingymabob before raiding the orc camp"

"the waining of sumthinrather isin our favor"

yada yada....on a good role, this will have them sneaking past a rowdy, noisy feast, where they might not be noticed, on a bad roll, they walk into recon

 

[Humanophile]

Fortune-telling would be cool, but the knowledge is astronomy, not astrology, and besides I could see a fortunetelling skill being too commonly taken and/or requiring the DM to be better at making up properly mystical-sounding, cryptic BS on the spot than he actually is. Proper fortunetelling should always be in the DM's hands, not the player's, at least IMHO.

However, astronomy can have several uses. Magic rituals or locations may only be useable during certain astrological conjunctions, and there could easily be astrology-based riddles that the players have to figure out. And any halfway compotent astronomer would know his constellations and be able to predict when the stars will be right.

I'd hold off the seeing signs of doom in the stars until way later in the game, though. It's best to hold off the epic grandeur until the characters are able to handle it by themselves and care enough about the world to have reasons to save it.

 

[ColonelHardisson]

This is a tricky one. In a D&D campaign world, would astronomy and astrology overlap? We know they did in the real world back centuries ago, but a D&D campaign world has access to magic and other knowledge that would help the learned of such a world draw a distinction between the two. Or maybe your cosmology is different, wherein astrology and astronomy really do go hand-in-hand. That's what you have to decide.

 

[reiella]

Knowledge astronomy or Profession Astrology?

If it's Astronomy, give it the typical +2 synergy bonus to Wilderness Lore when it gets 5 ranks.

Also have a puzzle or two where the star layout is important.

You could also talk with the player and work at setting up a star related prestige class if you wanted.

If you do want to have astrology be a presence, possibly also give it the typical +2 synergy bonus to Profession Astrology. Although if you make them the same, well I don't personally like dealing with spells like Augury, let alone an 'at-use' skill.

 

[Alaric_Prympax]

In an area of the world were the weather/climate is nearly the same year round astronomy could tell one what time of year they are in and get ready for floods (like Sirius and ancient Egypt with the Nile). Also roughly the latitude, if there exists a polar star then which way is north (like intuit direction) at night especially at sea. It would allow one to know upcoming metor showers like our Leonide(sp?) and Perseid(sp?) showers and of course comets, solar and lunar eclipses, planet occults and transits, ect.

I would think that Clerics of Celestian would have several ranks in this IMO.

Just my couple of cps on the subject.

 

[mseds99]

another synergy bonus

if you have Astrology skill, i'd also give +2 bonus for the intuit direction if the player could see the sky.