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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Water Bob" data-source="post: 5846285" data-attributes="member: 92305">OK, after reading these comments and studying the rule in the book, here's what I think:   1.  I think that RAW intends for Knowledge (Local) to be applied to a specified area.  It's not meant to span the entire gaming world.  I think the Greyhawk quote up thread is spot on--on how the game desingers intended the skill to be used. It's not a broad skill.  It's intended to represent a character's knowledge of a specific area, and that area is defined by the player and the GM.     2.  Therefore, this is not a skill for everybody.  It's especially not a good choice for characters who travel a lot. But, that doesn't make the skill unique.  Craft (weaponsmith) isn't a great skill for traveling characters, either, because the character with that skill doesn't have easy access to a forge. Profession (Fence) isn't a great skill to have if the character travels away from his contacts.  Etc.   3.  It is a good skill for a character to have if the game is set up in a sandbox.  Because the character will rarely leave the sandbox, the skill is very useful. The skill is also useful for certain types of characters.  An NPC Ranger who knows the Blah-Blah mountains well--Knowledge (Local) is a great skill for that character to have. If you seek out a guide, you're hoping that your guide will have a decent bonus in this skill (and the skill pertains to the area where you need the guide).          - COMMENTARY - Because the skill is tied to one area, I find that players are loathe to put precious skill points into a skill that the players forsee as not being useful and worthy of the points. The net effect is that you end up with characters who don't know anything more than Joe Blow about their native environment. OTOH, the broad use of the skill, where the skill is not tied to any specific area, makes for a more desireable skill--because the players find it more useful in more situations.  But, playing the rule this way is really a house rule and not RAW. The broad use of the skill, too, usually breaks the rule of common sense.</blockquote>

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