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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Tharkon" data-source="post: 5588756" data-attributes="member: 6674292">Considering D&D a game, a class feature meant to be an advantage to the charactershouldn't suddenly have the possibility to become a disadvantage.That's like having a Paladin who accidentally smites a non-evil character have his smite bonus subtracted instead of added,because the positive energy of the smite somehow heals his opponent.Anyway, here's an extract from the FAQ:Can a bard use bardic knowledge anytime a Knowledge skill check called for?Bardic knowledge is not a substitute for Knowledge checks. The PH doesn’t give a lot of detail about this class feature,indicating only that a bard can make the check “to see whether he knows some relevant information about local notable people,legendary items, or noteworthy places.”By its nature, bardic knowledge represents stray knowledge and random bits remembered from stories, not encyclopedic details.Compare that to the definition of a Knowledge skill, which describes it as “a study of some body of lore, possibly an academicor even scientific discipline.” This is a narrow distinction, but one that the DM should keep in mind.Asking the DM if your bard knows anything about the demon prince Orcus (whose cult the PCs are fighting),or what the local duke’s favorite delicacy is, or if there are particularly interesting legendsconcerning the so-called haunted forest just outside town, are all reasonable uses of bardic knowledge.Bardic knowledge wouldn’t, on the other hand, enable the bard to provide details regarding a particular demon’s vulnerabilities,rattle off a complete list of all the kings and queens who have ruled a particular country,or identify a particular species of fern—all those answers would be more appropriately derived by Knowledge checks.If the vagueness of bardic knowledge doesn’t suit your tastes,the bardic knack variant class feature (PH2 35) provides a much clearer way to mimic a wide range of minor talents and knowledge.Bardic KnackWhen making any skill check, you can use 1/2 your bard level (rounded up) in place of the number of ranks you have in the skill (even if that number is 0). For example, a 5th-level bard would have the equivalent of 3 ranks in Appraise, Balance, Bluff, and so on (but only for the purpose of making skill checks). You can’t take 10 on checks when you use bardic knack (to take 10 you have to use your actual ranks). If the skill doesn’t allow untrained checks, you must have at least 1 actual rank to attempt the check.</blockquote>

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