[DF] Monster classes & recognition

[Varyon]

Originally Posted by Onkl

• Mundane --> Heraldry

This seems an odd choice. Mundanes should probably just be instantly recognized if not from some exceedingly obscure race, in which case you're probably talking Area Knowledge, although other skills (Theology if the race is of religious importance, Architecture if the race has built famous structures, etc) might work as well. If you're allowing for more complex hybrids than just "Half-<race>," Perception-based Physiology for either parent race can probably identify what the character is.
Heraldry is more for identifying what country/mercenary army/noble house the character belongs to, and would require some sort of visual tell - actual heraldry is obvious, but favoring certain colors or a certain style of dress/hairstyle can also work. Given, in a DF setting, you're likely to have something like the Elven Empire, the Dwarf Kingdom, and so forth, with each race having its own country, and thus you may end up with features of the races being features of the country. In that case, Heraldry will work - but note when some obscure race shows up wearing elven clothing, Heraldry will tell you it's an elf, not a Whatsit (it will also tell you an orc in elven clothing is an elf, humorously). If the character clearly isn't an elf (like the orc), Heraldry will just tell you they're dressed like an elf, not what race they actually are (again, common races are automatic - "It's an orc in elven clothing" - but obscure ones need an appropriate skill to identify them).

Originally Posted by Onkl

5) Do you allow the Survival skill to recognize monsters if they fit the speciality. Eg. Survival (Swampland) to identify an Alligator?

I would, but you'll want to float it to IQ, as it's more an application of knowledge than your ability to see/find something.