Research In Game

[DonTadow]

How do you handle research in game? Say the pcs find that all important Tome they've been looking for, do they instantly know the material in the 300 pg tome or do you have them tell you when they are reading the tome. If so, how long before they know the information?

I"ve been pondering ways to reflect the time it takes for research. I've been considering having a set of "3.5 core rules questions" made up. Everytime a PC wants to read or research a tome for specific information I'd hand them the rule and then ask them to find the rule in the book and give me the page number. Then I'd give them a pdf of the condensed important info of the book. It takes an hour in game per attempt.

Right now I have them make an intelligence score for every hour of reading the book. They can substitute a knowledge if the book is a subject they are familiar with. A DC 15 gets them a page of the pdf (usually 3-8). Every attempt gets them a +2 for the next roll.

Which way would you do research?

 

[Hjorimir]

The Black Company Campaign Setting has some amazing Research rules. Research is an actual skill. There are two mechanics involved depending on the nature of the information one is seeking.

The one that I really like is for those huge, dark secrets that can take years to uncover. You can basically assign a value to the secret...say 400. As the character(s) gain more and more knowledge on the topic you keep a running tally of all their Research rolls. Once they meet the DC (400) they have unraveled the secret.

 

[Drew]

The Black Company Campaign Setting has some amazing Research rules. Research is an actual skill. There are two mechanics involved depending on the nature of the information one is seeking.

The one that I really like is for those huge, dark secrets that can take years to uncover. You can basically assign a value to the secret...say 400. As the character(s) gain more and more knowledge on the topic you keep a running tally of all their Research rolls. Once they meet the DC (400) they have unraveled the secret.

That sounds kind of cool. Unearthed Arcana has Complex Skill Checks, which would work fairly well for research methinks.

 

[Prest0]

Yeah, I'd assign a DC for finding the information in the book. Is it one sentence in a 300 page book? Or is it a whole chapter and thus easier to find by skimming? Or is it information that only becomes clear after reading different sections of the book and putting together the pieces?

I generally say Research takes 1d4 hours per attempt. However if they know the clue is in a particular tome then you could say that it takes 1d4 hours for every 200 pages. If the hereos are searching a library then I allow assists, but you couldn't do that if they know the info they need is in a single book.

The main thing is not to get too caught up in the mechanics. Set a DC, let them do the research, and move on. Just focus on the roleplay and keeping the game fun.

 

[Drew]

Reading, schmeeding! Let's go out an kill stuff!

In all seriousness, this thread has reminded me that I need to sit down and write out some rules for handling research.

I don't suppose the Black Company Stuff is open content, is it?

 

[The Shaman]

How do you handle research in game?

Like this...

Research
(Int)
Check: Researching a topic takes time, skill, and some luck. The GM determines how obscure a particular topic is (the more obscure, the higher the DC) and what kind of information might be available depending on where the character is conducting his or her research. Information ranges from general to protected. Given enough time (usually 1d4 hours) and a successful skill check, the character gets a general idea about a given topic. This assumes that no obvious reasons exist why such information would be unavailable, and that the character has a way to acquire restricted or protected information. The higher the check result, the better and more complete the information. If the character wants to discover a specific fact, date, map, or similar bit of information, add +5 to +15 to the DC.

Try Again: Yes.

Special: A character can take 10 or take 20 on a Research check.

A character with the Studious feat gets a +2 bonus on all Research checks. Computer Use can provide a +2 synergy bonus on a Research check when searching computer records for data (see Skill Synergy).

Time: A Research check takes 1d4 hours.

In the case of looking through a book, for example, I'll set increasingly difficult DCs to reflect more obscure information or inferences from the text - who won the battle of Pevlan in 1878 might be DC 10 while the name of the horse ridden by the commander of a regiment of uhlans (which also happens to be the password to a computer system) is DC 30.

 

[adwyn]

I usually use house rules I've adapted from running CoC. Old tomes by there very nature are large books with obscure text and references written by people who abhor indexes, logical order, consice lines of thought, foot notes and everything else we expect in a modern book. As such the information therein can sometimes be hard to find, almost a puzzle in there own right.

For tomes important to the plot I have several times summarized the book into six to a dozen clues. Each clue is considered to be hidden in one to three chapters or about four hours reading. As characters are able to do the reading they get a check of some sort, such as a Knowledge (history or religion are common) or Gather Information check. If successful they then get the clue for that section of the book. Skimming the section cuts the reading time and increases the DC.

 

[Hjorimir]

Reading, schmeeding! Let's go out an kill stuff!

In all seriousness, this thread has reminded me that I need to sit down and write out some rules for handling research.

I don't suppose the Black Company Stuff is open content, is it?

I don't think so.

 

[howandwhy99]

My favorite way is live action. It helps if you own a large library, but if you are near a university or city you should have access to one (or more if possible).

When preparing for the session, determine all the books you plan to be using. It helps if they each reference one or more in their bibliography or text, but this can be gotten around with taped in notes. Then once you've determined the multiple lines of research (clues to the mystery) prep before play by marking all the books. A common bookmark works wonderfully.

During play players tend to start pulling down books randomly if you are in a private library, so try and have an authority figure somewhere in-game just in case. Then follow your group around as they try and track down the clues. Books can have: spells, treasure, curses, monsters, traps, etc.
EDIT: and of course - lots of hard to find information.

Think: In the Name of the Rose or Foucault's Pendulum [DaVinci cOde]

 

[the Jester]

The Black Company Campaign Setting has some amazing Research rules. Research is an actual skill. There are two mechanics involved depending on the nature of the information one is seeking.

The one that I really like is for those huge, dark secrets that can take years to uncover. You can basically assign a value to the secret...say 400. As the character(s) gain more and more knowledge on the topic you keep a running tally of all their Research rolls. Once they meet the DC (400) they have unraveled the secret.

Wow, I really like this. Will have to adopt something similar.

I really like the idea of a Research skill- I've always kinda shoved the round peg of Knowledge (x) into the square hole, but making a new skill seems like a great idea. Class skill for... bards, clerics, sorcerers and wizards... hmmm... *ponders*