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Message: <blockquote data-quote="The Cartographist" data-source="post: 4659597" data-attributes="member: 57114">Inlicere - Something that makes the History skill useful? You know, since our discussions, I have been thinking a lot about a game mechanic for research (historical or otherwise). My example is going to be poor, but try to follow me: Let's say that there is a door found in a dungeon. The door is, of course, locked. It is made of a strange material, covered with strange symbols and markings, bound by magic and strange mechanical gears, levers, switches, etc. The characters want to open the door. But only people with specific knowledge of how to work its ancient and bizarre mechanisms can do so. The best game mechanic to determine if the characters have the knowledge to open the door is the Knowledge Check. How do you simulate the ancient and bizarre knowledge necessary to open the door? An impossibly high DC--say 75. How does a character make a successful Knowledge Check against such a high DC? They can't. Unless they have been researching the knowledge to do so for quite some time. How does research work? Four adventures ago, the party came across an ancient tomb that contained some bit of lore or knowledge. Once a character "studies" (1) the book, he gains a "permanent" (2) +10 bonus to Knowledge checks regarding the topic of the book. . [(1) I'm not sure exactly how to manage "studying." Maybe it just means devoting X number of hours to reading it. Maybe something else...] . [(2) "Permanent" is a tough concept as well. Perhaps the character gains a certain bonus, and then the bonus decreases over time as he slowly forgets the knowledge that he learned when reading it.] Then three adventures ago, the party found a tapestry with a diagram on it that is very similar to the front of the door. They gain a (cumulative) bonus of +5 to Knowledge checks. Over time, the party picks up pieces of information, in the form of a scrap of cloth, an object, a book, a scroll, etc. As these things come to them, they slowly build up a cumulative bonus to Knowledge Checks regarding a certain topic. At the end of it all, they have learned enough to make a successful roll against a DC 75 check. Perhaps, the players didn't even know that all of the information that they have been gathering over time was related. Maybe they had no idea until they stumbled across the door in the dungeon when all of the information was necessary. THEN they try to open it, and fail, because they don't quite yet have enough knowledge--so the goal of the next adventure or two is to find that information. I can see a few problems (or issues to be resolved) with this system: 1. Define "Studying," as above.2. Define "Permanent," as above.3. The DM will have to track all of the knowledge that the characters are accumulating, because they might not have enough knowledge to know how it all fits together. The characters might actually be gaining knowledge on five or ten different topics simultaneously--more record keeping for the DM.4. There might be a difference between "general" and "specific" knowledge. For instance, the characters might have learned general knowledge telling them about who constructed the door in the first place, but that general knowledge might be completely useless to trying to open the door--which would require specific knowledge on the various types of locking mechanisms in use by the builders of the door. How does the difference between the two types of knowledge affect game play and how does the mechanic account for that? And so on. I think that we've all seen numerous references to this type of adventuring research in books and movies. I think it was in Return of the King where they show Gandalf looking through the room fulls of scrolls, looking for some information. Anything with Indiana Jones where he makes use of some strange bit of knowledge that he has that no one else in the movie has. Even the TV show Alias where they were always trying to find that next ancient artifact (or find out what it was or why it was important.). Now, for all I know, this type of mechanic is common in rpgs. While the idea appears original to me, I know that I am not that original. But I've not seen this type of mechanic in DnD. I think the Historian class that Inlicere has developed would fit perfectly into such a campaign. [Sorry for the apparent thread jacking.]</blockquote>

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