PFSRD:Knowledge

This material is published under the OGL

Knowledge (Int; Trained Only)

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.

• Arcana (ancient mysteries, magic traditions, arcane symbols, constructs, dragons, magical beasts)
• Dungeoneering (aberrations, caverns, oozes, spelunking)
• Engineering (buildings, aqueducts, bridges, fortifications)
• Geography (lands, terrain, climate, people)
• History (wars, colonies, migrations, founding of cities)
• Local (legends, personalities, inhabitants, laws, customs, traditions, humanoids)
• Nature (animals, fey, monstrous humanoids, plants, seasons and cycles, weather, vermin)
• Nobility (lineages, heraldry, personalities, royalty)
• Planes (the Inner Planes, the Outer Planes, the Astral Plane, the Ethereal Plane, outsiders, planar magic)
• Religion (gods and goddesses, mythic history, ecclesiastic tradition, holy symbols, undead)

Check

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).

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. Many of the Knowledge skills have specific uses as noted on Table: Knowledge Skill DCs.

Task	Knowledge Skill	DC
Identify auras while using detect magic	Arcana	15 + spell level
Identify a spell effect that is in place	Arcana	20 + spell level
Identify materials manufactured by magic	Arcana	20 + spell level
Identify a spell that just targeted you	Arcana	25 + spell level
Identify the spells cast using a specific material component	Arcana	20
Identify underground hazard	Dungeoneering	15 + hazard's CR
Identify mineral, stone, or metal	Dungeoneering	10
Determine slope	Dungeoneering	15
Determine depth underground	Dungeoneering	20
Identify dangerous construction	Engineering	10
Determine a structure's style or age	Engineering	15
Determine a structure's weakness	Engineering	20
Identify a creature's ethnicity or accent	Geography	10
Recognize regional terrain features	Geography	15
Know location of nearest community or noteworthy site	Geography	20
Know recent or historically significant event	History	10
Determine approximate date of a specific event	History	15
Know obscure or ancient historical event	History	20
Know local laws, rulers, and popular locations	Local	10
Know a common rumor or local tradition	Local	15
Know hidden organizations, rulers, and locations	Local	20
Identify natural hazard	Nature	15 + hazard's CR
Identify a common plant or animal	Nature	10
Identify unnatural weather phenomenon	Nature	15
Determine artificial nature of feature	Nature	20
Know current rulers and their symbols	Nobility	10
Know proper etiquette	Nobility	15
Know line of succession	Nobility	20
Know the names of the planes	Planes	10
Recognize current plane	Planes	15
Identify a creature's planar origin	Planes	20
Recognize a common deity's symbol or clergy	Religion	10
Know common mythology and tenets	Religion	15
Recognize an obscure deity's symbol or clergy	Religion	20
Identify a monster's abilities and weaknesses	Varies	10 + monster's CR

Action

Usually none. In most cases, a Knowledge check doesn't take an action (but see “Untrained,” below).

Try Again

No. 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.

Untrained

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.

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