Library Use?

[Greybar]

What would be the appropriate equivalent of a "Library Use" or "Research" test in d20?

I'm thinking of calling it a Profession(Librarian) test which would make it a Wisdom based test...

I have a PC that will soon want to start digging through a library for clues about the plot...

Thanks for your thoughts, everyone,

John

 

[Crothian]

I always used Knowldege research. There really is a knack to proper research and scanning books to know if it can actual help you. I then gave synergy bonuses if you had five ranks in the knowledge you were researching.

 

[Valmur_Dwur]

Knowledge(Dewey Decimal)? I personally would be against this thing in my campaign. They could HIRE sages that might be able to tell them after a liberal soaking of the money sacks but otherwise I as DM would not waste time making up a new skill for something that you are going to supply anyway. I roll a 22 what do I know? Well the treasure your looking for is in a large room with 12 skeletons and an acid trap. But if you say "fizzernub" and toss a silver piece in the air the skeletons will de-activate and the acid trap will be neutraalized long enough to grab it and go. But hey YMMV

 

[dcollins]

In general, this is a Knowledge check.

The recent WOTC Stronghold Builder's book has rules for quality-of-a-library, which gives a bonus (+2, +4, or +6) to any appliable Knowledge check made using that library.

 

[danzig138]

Call of Cthulhu

You could always swipe the Research skill from CoC d20. Book's not handy right now, so I can't give you any details.

 

[hong]

What dcollins said. Roll the research process up into one skill check, with a bonus that depends on how big the library is. D&D is about killing monsters and taking their treasure, not doing homework in a library.

 

[danzig138]

D&D is about killing monsters and taking their treasure, not doing homework in a library.

Are you sure it's not about killing treasures and taking their monsters?

 

[candidus_cogitens]

As a DM, I try to allow skills to be somewhat flexible. The reason is that I feel obligated to provide opportunities for players to use every skill that they take now and again. So, if I made a player take a special skill in Knowledge Research, for example, I would feel obligated to make libraries a fairly common feature of the campaign world. What fun is a skill that you never get to use?!?

So, from my perspective, it would seem appropriate to allow a PC to use any knowledge skill or a search skill in doing research. Actually, what I would do is have them make a simple Intelligence check, and allow them to add a +2 to that roll if they succeed at a check (DC 10) with a related skill such as any knowledge skill or Search.

 

[candidus_cogitens]

And another thing ....

Why shouldn't Knowledge skills be used untrained? I mean, shouldn't there be some remote possibility that a character might have picked up some stray information about a given subject?

IMO, they should either be usable untrained, or else they should be usable very frequently. That is, you should provide frequent opportunities for players to make use of their obscure knowledge that they have invested skill points to acquire.

 

[Caliban]

And another thing ....

Why shouldn't Knowledge skills be used untrained? I mean, shouldn't there be some remote possibility that a character might have picked up some stray information about a given subject?

They can be, but only if the DM determines that the piece of knowledge you are making the check for is something that could be considered "common knowledge". If its not something that might be generally known, then you have to have ranks in that specific knowledge skill (or a closely related knowledge skill), or have a bard do their Bardic Knowledge thing.