Longest Road House Rules

Knowledge Checks

I stole this from OOTS! Link

You can attempt a Knowledge check to give yourself an advantage in a situation. You may attempt one such check per day for each Knowledge skill in which you have ranks. A basic check (DC 20) gains you a +1 competence bonus to AC, attack rolls, damage rolls, or the save DCs of your spells against one particular opponent , or a +2 competence bonus to one saving throw against a particular effect (a certain wizard's spells, poison, or to avoid traps, for example), or a +2 competence bonus to one skill check to accomplish a particular task. A DC (30) check increases these bonuses to +2/+4/+4 respectively. You must specify the opponent, effect or task upon making the check, and the bonuses last until the conditions are met or a day passes, whichever comes first. You must describe how your knowledge produces these results; a knowledge skill which is incompatible with a particular result increases the check DC by +10, at the DM’s discretion. If you fail the Knowledge check, you may not attempt to gain an advantage through that Knowledge skill for the rest of the day, though you may still use a different Knowledge skill.

Examples:

• Boris the Brave raises his sword and begins to stalk towards the party, plate mail clinking heavily. Rosa the bard knows that the Brave family is an old and chivalrous line, and has a duty to protect women. She uses that to her advantage, unbinding her long hair and taunting, "You wouldn't hit a girl, would you?" as she tries to stab him with her rapier. Boris is thrown off by her taunts, and fights poorly. (Rosa makes a successful Knowledge (nobility and royalty) check, and gains a +1 AC bonus versus Boris).

• Marco squints around the ruined great hall and comments to his fellow adventurers, "You know, that support pillar there doesn't actually support anything. And it's not decorated. I wonder why it's there?" A quick search later and the nimble halfling has found a secret tunnel hidden behind the pillar. (Marco makes a successful Knowledge (architecture and engineering) check, and receives a +2 bonus to his Search check to find the secret door).

• Hedda growls as she sees the enemy wizard preparing to cast. Her sorcerous companion shouts, "It's another fireball!" "Get down!" Hedda calls back, and her companions begin diving for cover. Hedda recognizes the tall grass to her left as not being flat land, but a recessed divot common to plains. She rolls into the sheltered hollow just as the fireball bursts overhead, safe from the flames. (Hedda makes a successful Knowledge (geography) check, and receives a +2 bonus to Reflex saves against area spells).

Extended Example:

A party is facing off against a band of orcs. The party wizard targets the orcs with a fireball, and really wants the orc shaman to be affected. She first makes a Knowledge (arcana) check, gets a 22, and declares her understanding of the arcane mysteries to be so thorough as to increase the saving throw DC on her fireball by one, for the shaman only.

When the fireball clears, only a few orcs are standing. The party rogue dashes up to one, makes a Knowledge (local) check and gets a 20, and suddenly remembers these orcs consider spiders to be their totem animal. "Wow, what a big spider!" she calls, pointing. The orc turns to look, and the rogue gets a +2 competence bonus on her Bluff check to feint him.

The fighter is up next, and he first makes his Knowledge (geography) check. He gets a 20 as well, and declares he is using the slope of the ground to add momentum to his charge. He gets a +1 to attack the orc he singles out for his charge, lopping the orc's head off.

Finally, the party cleric decides to just bash one of the remaining orcs with his mace. He knows the undead-infested tomb is just up ahead, and he wants to save his situational advantage for when he really needs to turn some of them.