If you’re trained in this skill, you are educated in a field of study and can answer both simple and complex questions. Like the Craft, Perform, and Profession skills, Knowledge actually encompasses a number of different specialties. Below are listed typical fields of study.
Knowledge checks don’t take an action, and you can’t retry a Knowledge check. The check represents what you know, and thinking about a topic a second time doesn’t let you know something that you never learned in the first place.
You cannot make an untrained Knowledge check with a DC higher than 10. If you have access to an extensive library that covers a specific skill, this limit is removed. The time to make checks using a library, however, increases to 1d4 hours. Particularly complete libraries might even grant a bonus on Knowledge checks in the fields that they cover.
| Knowledge task | Requires | Time | Retry | DC |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Answer question | — | — | No | 10 or more |
| Identify common monster | — | — | No | 5 + monster’s CR |
| Identify uncommon monster | — | — | No | 10 + monster’s CR |
| Identify rare monster | — | — | No | 15 + monster’s CR |
Answer Question: Answering a question within your field of study has a DC of 10 (for really easy questions), 15 (for basic questions), or 20 to 30 (for really tough questions).
Identify Monster: You can use this skill to identify monsters and their special powers or vulnerabilities. In general, the DC of such a check equals 10 + the monster’s CR. For common monsters, such as goblins, the DC of this check equals 5 + the monster’s CR. For particularly rare monsters, such as the tarrasque, the DC of this check equals 15 + the monster’s CR, or more. A successful check allows you to remember a bit of useful information about that monster. For every 5 points by which your check result exceeds the DC, you recall another piece of useful information.
If you have the Signature Skill feat, the rogue’s edge ability, or another ability that grants you the skill unlocks for this skill, you gain access to the following abilities when you have sufficient ranks. Each Knowledge skill gains access to skill unlocks separately.
5 Ranks: When you successfully identify a creature, you gain one additional piece of information for every 5 ranks you possess in that Knowledge skill.
10 Ranks: When you successfully identify a creature, you gain a +1 competence bonus on attack rolls, opposed ability checks, skill checks, and caster level checks against creatures of that kind (e.g., glabrezu demons, but not other demons or evil outsiders) for 1 minute. This bonus increases by 1 for every 5 ranks beyond 10 you possess in that Knowledge skill.
15 Ranks: When you fail a Knowledge check, you can reroll the check at a –10 penalty. The competence bonus above also applies to saving throws against exceptional, spell-like, or supernatural abilities used by creatures you identify.
20 Ranks: Whenever you attempt a Knowledge check, you can roll twice and take the better result.
The text on this page is Open Game Content, and is licensed for public use under the terms of the Open Game License v1.0a.
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SECTION 15