Quote:
Originally Posted by stefanj
I riff a little bit about Area Knowledge in an article I just submitted for Hexagram. I won't go into the specifics, but I'd like to suggest that a character might take Area Knowledge about an organization. Such as, the Catholic Church, or the Enok faith.
It gives the character comprehensive knowledge of the hierarchy, notables, which churches / temples can provide hospitality.
I also really like the idea above of giving a character a free Area Knowledge for the town / rural county they grew up in.
Nomads might get area knowledge of the migration route they traveled!
|
I consider
Area Knowledge to refer to a geographical area.
For a village, this describes neighborhoods, streets, shops, government facilities, days and location of markets, when the village gates close and what is adjacent to the village. It might include what the trade is like in this village, who the government officials are.
For AK of 5 miles around village, this gives a little less general knowledge of the village but increases the data about the fields, woods, roads, rivers, marshes, farms in this area. They can navigate this area like the back of their hand because they know it so well, even at night. They know what area to stay away from after a heavy rain, have a pretty good idea of where the moonshiners keep their stills, what the crops are in almost all areas and such.
I would consider
Area of Knowledge - Organization to be a Mundane Talent. This is a knowledge gained of an organization because one has been in it for a long period of time or because one has studied that organization.
So Stefanj's Area of Knowledge - Catholic Church organization would give them this hierarchical structure and possible the nearby church locations of this organization as well.
For soldiers, Mundane Talent - Area of Knowledge - Military would give Army Organization ranks, military etiquette, the broad military tactics that that organization applies.
The Military Area of Knowledge could even be given freely by the GM to somebody who has a profession of Army soldier (but not recruits). And since militaries are often similar in ranks, one can make a good guess about the enemy's Military also.
-------------------------
I would say that the difference between spending points for IQ 8 Talent Area Knowledge and Mundane Talent Area Knowledge is that if you bought the IQ 8 AK Talent you have that knowledge at the tip of your fingers and shouldn't have to roll for success unless it was a stressful situation or to confusing a problem. On a Mundane Talent AK (1 IQ) you would have to roll your IQ to see if you can recall the area, but it should be otherwise the same style as the IQ 8 AK Talent. I go with Shostak thought, that Mundane AK should cost less though I would say you get two Area AK for that 1 point.