genshou
First Post
Don't forget the Research skill in d20 Modern–perfectly usable in a fantasy setting, though you couldn't "browse the web" and thus checks would take longer.
As far as the D&D RAW is concerned, I've always treated Research as Knowledge checks (which can be made untrained for any level of knowledge, if you have access to a library). Having access to a book lot on the subject grants a circumstance bonus to the appropriate Knowledge check, the amount varying depending on the quality of the book lot. See the Stronghold Builder's Guidebook for rules on book lots and the bonuses they grant.
Generally speaking, a character with an 18+ Intelligence and the best possible book lot has at least a 5% chance of finding what they are trying to make a Knowledge check on. However, if your character remembers an obscure bit of text referring to a ceremony involving a specific warrior tribe's spears, seemingly trivial at the time, from when reading The Treatises on Thaumaturgic Traditions, Volume IV (Compiled by Fernleaf Goodbottle), that character probably has a very high number of ranks in Knowledge (Arcana/Arcane Lore). It's possible to succeed with lower (or no) ranks, due to indexing and the like that would be imperative to the functionality of any large library, but still not likely at all.
As far as the D&D RAW is concerned, I've always treated Research as Knowledge checks (which can be made untrained for any level of knowledge, if you have access to a library). Having access to a book lot on the subject grants a circumstance bonus to the appropriate Knowledge check, the amount varying depending on the quality of the book lot. See the Stronghold Builder's Guidebook for rules on book lots and the bonuses they grant.
Generally speaking, a character with an 18+ Intelligence and the best possible book lot has at least a 5% chance of finding what they are trying to make a Knowledge check on. However, if your character remembers an obscure bit of text referring to a ceremony involving a specific warrior tribe's spears, seemingly trivial at the time, from when reading The Treatises on Thaumaturgic Traditions, Volume IV (Compiled by Fernleaf Goodbottle), that character probably has a very high number of ranks in Knowledge (Arcana/Arcane Lore). It's possible to succeed with lower (or no) ranks, due to indexing and the like that would be imperative to the functionality of any large library, but still not likely at all.
