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<blockquote data-quote="DMScott" data-source="post: 1226094" data-attributes="member: 11734">D&amp;D follows a default implied setting corresponding to Europe from around 500 to 1500 AD, and math simply wasn't a particularly important field of knowledge in that time period (edit - in Europe, it was pretty important elsewhere). For example, the number 0 was introduced to Europe around 1200 AD, but didn't become a common part of mathematical thinking until the 1500s, and didn't get widespread acceptance until the 1600s.As to what's appropriate, it sort of depends on what you plan to do with the skill. It sounds like you're mostly looking at arithmetic rather than higher mathematics, for which I'd agree with an intelligence check or a related profession skill to simulate a character doing arithmetic on demand. If you want a character who can invent the calculus or discover the foundations of geometry, you're looking at a specialized knowledge skill.For a character who's a numerologist capable of accessing some actual hidden knowledge, I'd just have them use either Knowledge: Religion or Knowledge: Arcana for numerology-related checks. The idea being you as players don't care what math the character goes through to get the answer, it's just another way of accessing that hidden knowledge.Another option is to use something like Decipher Script for cryptography-type applications. One person reads the &quot;List of High Kings&quot; and sees a dry recitation of dates and places, but the numerologist can break the code and access whatever true prophecy is concealed in that tome.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="DMScott, post: 1226094, member: 11734"] D&D follows a default implied setting corresponding to Europe from around 500 to 1500 AD, and math simply wasn't a particularly important field of knowledge in that time period (edit - [I]in Europe[/I], it was pretty important elsewhere). For example, the number 0 was introduced to Europe around 1200 AD, but didn't become a common part of mathematical thinking until the 1500s, and didn't get widespread acceptance until the 1600s. As to what's appropriate, it sort of depends on what you plan to do with the skill. It sounds like you're mostly looking at arithmetic rather than higher mathematics, for which I'd agree with an intelligence check or a related profession skill to simulate a character doing arithmetic on demand. If you want a character who can invent the calculus or discover the foundations of geometry, you're looking at a specialized knowledge skill. For a character who's a numerologist capable of accessing some actual hidden knowledge, I'd just have them use either Knowledge: Religion or Knowledge: Arcana for numerology-related checks. The idea being you as players don't care what math the character goes through to get the answer, it's just another way of accessing that hidden knowledge. Another option is to use something like Decipher Script for cryptography-type applications. One person reads the "List of High Kings" and sees a dry recitation of dates and places, but the numerologist can break the code and access whatever true prophecy is concealed in that tome. [/QUOTE]

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