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<blockquote data-quote="77IM" data-source="post: 6770293" data-attributes="member: 12377"><p>This is a great question!</p><p></p><p>Here's how I'd do it.</p><p></p><p>For DC, I'd look no further than the typical DCs table on page 174:</p><p style="margin-left: 20px"></p> <p style="margin-left: 20px">Very easy 5</p> <p style="margin-left: 20px">Easy 10</p> <p style="margin-left: 20px">Medium 15</p> <p style="margin-left: 20px">Hard 20</p> <p style="margin-left: 20px">Very hard 25</p> <p style="margin-left: 20px">Nearly impossible 30</p> <p style="margin-left: 20px"></p><p></p><p>Now, what qualifies as "easy" versus "medium" versus "hard," etc.? I'd say it's based on who knows the information.</p><p style="margin-left: 20px"></p> <p style="margin-left: 20px">Everybody knows -> DC 5 (no need to roll under normal circumstances)</p> <p style="margin-left: 20px">Somebody in town probably knows -> Easy, DC 10</p> <p style="margin-left: 20px">Somebody in a big city probably knows, or has a book about it -> Medium, DC 15</p> <p style="margin-left: 20px">Somebody in a big city might have a dusty ancient tome about it, or the knowledge is in a vast library -> Hard, DC 20</p> <p style="margin-left: 20px">You have to travel the planes or consult powerful entities to learn this -> Very hard, DC 25</p> <p style="margin-left: 20px">This knowledge has been deliberately suppressed, ignored, or forgotten -> Increase DC by 5</p> <p style="margin-left: 20px"></p><p></p><p>Each check takes 1d4 downtime days. <em>You don't need to increase the time for the more difficult DCs: Just let the character repeat the check, taking another 1d4 days.</em> Harder checks will naturally need to be repeated more often, taking much longer! (A 1st-level PC trying to make a DC 25 check with a +5 bonus has a 5% chance every 1d4 days of succeeding, and on average will take something like 14d4 days before figuring it out.)</p><p></p><p>For someone in a hurry, I'd let them research in 1 day by taking disadvantage. (To take your time, just repeat the check every 1d4 days, as above.) Another character can aid you to give you advantage, but they have to spend the same number of downtime days doing it.</p><p></p><p>If you're not in the correct place to learn the information, then your first successful check reveals this. Like if you're in a small town and trying to research a DC 15 item, your first success reveals that you need to go to the big city to do your research. Maybe someone in the town tells you this, or maybe you have just thoroughly exhausted the town's resources so you know it's time to move on. Note that moving to a new location may change the DC. For example, if you need to go to the City of Brass to find the information, it's DC 25 just to learn that. But once you get there, maybe it counts as a big city and you only need DC 20 to find the information. Basically, the more hoops the PCs have to jump through, the lower the DC gets. "The fiend's true name is inscribed on the statue standing before you" -> DC 0, no roll needed.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="77IM, post: 6770293, member: 12377"] This is a great question! Here's how I'd do it. For DC, I'd look no further than the typical DCs table on page 174: [indent] Very easy 5 Easy 10 Medium 15 Hard 20 Very hard 25 Nearly impossible 30 [/indent] Now, what qualifies as "easy" versus "medium" versus "hard," etc.? I'd say it's based on who knows the information. [indent] Everybody knows -> DC 5 (no need to roll under normal circumstances) Somebody in town probably knows -> Easy, DC 10 Somebody in a big city probably knows, or has a book about it -> Medium, DC 15 Somebody in a big city might have a dusty ancient tome about it, or the knowledge is in a vast library -> Hard, DC 20 You have to travel the planes or consult powerful entities to learn this -> Very hard, DC 25 This knowledge has been deliberately suppressed, ignored, or forgotten -> Increase DC by 5 [/indent] Each check takes 1d4 downtime days. [I]You don't need to increase the time for the more difficult DCs: Just let the character repeat the check, taking another 1d4 days.[/I] Harder checks will naturally need to be repeated more often, taking much longer! (A 1st-level PC trying to make a DC 25 check with a +5 bonus has a 5% chance every 1d4 days of succeeding, and on average will take something like 14d4 days before figuring it out.) For someone in a hurry, I'd let them research in 1 day by taking disadvantage. (To take your time, just repeat the check every 1d4 days, as above.) Another character can aid you to give you advantage, but they have to spend the same number of downtime days doing it. If you're not in the correct place to learn the information, then your first successful check reveals this. Like if you're in a small town and trying to research a DC 15 item, your first success reveals that you need to go to the big city to do your research. Maybe someone in the town tells you this, or maybe you have just thoroughly exhausted the town's resources so you know it's time to move on. Note that moving to a new location may change the DC. For example, if you need to go to the City of Brass to find the information, it's DC 25 just to learn that. But once you get there, maybe it counts as a big city and you only need DC 20 to find the information. Basically, the more hoops the PCs have to jump through, the lower the DC gets. "The fiend's true name is inscribed on the statue standing before you" -> DC 0, no roll needed. [/QUOTE]
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