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Old 08-29-2022, 10:11 PM   #1
Rasputin
 
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Default [Dungeon Fantasy] Area Knowledge: What does it do?

I'm trying to piece together what Area Knowledge does in GURPS Dungeon Fantasy.

Area Knowledge is on the Dungeon Delvers Cheat Sheet in Adventurers, p. 17, but no template has it. As such, Dungeons doesn't have any mention of it, and neither does the DFRPG. Sages, however, does mention scholars using Book-Learned Wisdom (Sages, p. 8) to get that skill, and even gives an example of a scholar picking up Area Knowledge (Ice Caverns), which sounds like some kind of dungeon, though there's no specified game benefit for it. Wilderness Adventures has many uses of the skill, many of which are substitutes for Navigation in the specified area. Both Caverntown and Cold Shard Mountain have NPCs with Area Knowledge for those locales, though only Caverntown specifies a use, namely to avoid getting lost (Caverntown, p. 25).

Aside from the wilderness uses, what does this skill do? I can gather the urban uses from the Basic Set (though, since Dungeon Fantasy defines society as, "[T]own, where we buy and sell stuff," knowing the names of civic leaders isn't all that important in RAW GURPS Dungeon Fantasy). The uses in a dungeon, however, are a mystery for me. Does it substitute for some skill in the dungeon (like Traps) if the delver has Area Knowledge at a higher level? Something else?
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Old 08-29-2022, 11:37 PM   #2
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Default Re: [Dungeon Fantasy] Area Knowledge: What does it do?

Quote:
Originally Posted by Rasputin View Post
I'm trying to piece together what Area Knowledge does in GURPS Dungeon Fantasy.

Area Knowledge is on the Dungeon Delvers Cheat Sheet in Adventurers, p. 17, but no template has it. As such, Dungeons doesn't have any mention of it, and neither does the DFRPG. Sages, however, does mention scholars using Book-Learned Wisdom (Sages, p. 8) to get that skill, and even gives an example of a scholar picking up Area Knowledge (Ice Caverns), which sounds like some kind of dungeon, though there's no specified game benefit for it. Wilderness Adventures has many uses of the skill, many of which are substitutes for Navigation in the specified area. Both Caverntown and Cold Shard Mountain have NPCs with Area Knowledge for those locales, though only Caverntown specifies a use, namely to avoid getting lost (Caverntown, p. 25).

Aside from the wilderness uses, what does this skill do? I can gather the urban uses from the Basic Set (though, since Dungeon Fantasy defines society as, "[T]own, where we buy and sell stuff," knowing the names of civic leaders isn't all that important in RAW GURPS Dungeon Fantasy). The uses in a dungeon, however, are a mystery for me. Does it substitute for some skill in the dungeon (like Traps) if the delver has Area Knowledge at a higher level? Something else?
I would tend to assume that the "Ice Caves" in the example are a whole cave system, the kind that's functionally a region of wilderness in spite of being underground. (I believe there was a Pyramid article that termed that sort of thing a "super dungeon".) Area Knowledge for more a more typical dungeon with a dozen or so rooms seems pointless.
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Old 08-30-2022, 01:20 AM   #3
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Default Re: [Dungeon Fantasy] Area Knowledge: What does it do?

The simple answer is "Not much."
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Old 08-30-2022, 01:36 AM   #4
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Default Re: [Dungeon Fantasy] Area Knowledge: What does it do?

With Dungeon Delving the point is, more or less, that none of the PCs have knowledge of the "dungeon".

Area Knowledge is more for the City or region the PCs are from originally. Makes it easier to find shops, navigate good/bad parts of town, locate people of note, find cheaper supplies... none of this kind of stuff would apply to Delving an unknown area.

I suppose of someone was a miner and stumbled into a dungeon area and managed to get out alive you might argue they have some basic knowledge of parts. But its just really not appropriate to Dungeon adventures, unless you role play time in the "Town" like Cavern Town or something, then it might be useful for those parts of the RP.

Scholars are more putting together Lore and history to try and extrapolate whats going on. Sort of like knowing you need an unlimited ball of string to navigate the maze, you have to plan ahead for something like that and to do that you have to have an idea that you'll need it.
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Old 08-30-2022, 02:01 AM   #5
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Default Re: [Dungeon Fantasy] Area Knowledge: What does it do?

Well since scholars can get it from maps, I've allowed a successful roll to substitute or compliment rolls for Cartography or Navigation in mapped dungeons or wildernesses (with critical failure meaning the map was badly or even deliberately flawed).
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Old 08-30-2022, 12:18 PM   #6
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Default Re: [Dungeon Fantasy] Area Knowledge: What does it do?

Yeah Area Knowledge for a dungeon seems kind of superfluous. If you know it that well its probab;y already cleared. An exception would be dungeons or caven complexes with gates that kept spawning new monsters.
For a wilderness area you would know game trails, watering holes, animal dens (especially bears and badgers) and things useful as complimentary rolls to Navigation, Survival, Tracking, perhaps even stealth used to avoid being tracked.
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Old 08-30-2022, 12:50 PM   #7
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Default Re: [Dungeon Fantasy] Area Knowledge: What does it do?

AK for a wilderness area should be a complementary skill for Survival. You don't have to hunt for good places to find food, water, or shelter, you know them already.

AK for a town of a few thousand people should give you enough knowledge that you know just about all the locals by sight, and just about everyone important by name. You'll know all the local political factions, which crafters can do custom orders, who can be entrusted with an important secret, and which taverns are watering their beer without having to ask.

AK for a small city will give you names and personalities of important locals, a list of local power brokers, knowledge of what goods and services are available in town and where, and the names of people you might be able to ask to get more detailed area knowledge. You'll probably also know your personal haunts as well as you would a small village - the names of the staff at your favorite pub, and the names and personalities of neighborhood upstanding citizens and ne'er-do-wells. Again, all without having to ask, which would show up up as an an outsider.

From a game mechanics perspective, AK for an urban area might give you a list of people you can attempt to Influence without needing to make formal introductions or seeming too out of place.

It could also be a complementary skill for just about any other skill.

Urban Survival - Because you know the good places to find shelter or scavenge food.

Scrounging - You know where all the best junk is and which flea market junk dealers are likely to have what you need.

Stealth or Shadowing - Because you know all the good places to hide or the areas where you might be spotted.

Influence skills - Because you can play on local prejudices or sympathies. (E.g., "If you don't want to buy my loot, I'm sure that Bodo would be happy to take it off my hands, but I'd much rather do business with a trustworthy fellow like you . . .", when you know that Bodo is your fence's hated brother-in-law.)
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Old 08-30-2022, 02:08 PM   #8
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Default Re: [Dungeon Fantasy] Area Knowledge: What does it do?

A man stumbles into the party's camp at night, terrified, his fine clothing caked in dust and mud and a bleeding wound on his side. He says his group - a small merchant caravan - turned off the road to make camp at a copse of trees, but were waylaid in the night by goblins. He alone escaped, being fortunate enough to see their campfire after hours of flight, and offers a handsome reward if they can mete out justice against the monsters, with bonuses if any cargo - or better yet, survivors taken prisoner rather than slaughtered - can be recovered. Yet he doesn't know the area - this was a new route for him - and can only give a description of the area where he was attacked. A PC with Area Knowledge for the local region may be able to recognize the location from the man's description - otherwise they've got to search each copse of trees until they find evidence of the attack, so they can track the goblins down. Area Knowledge may also provide knowledge of how the local goblins operate - perhaps the local tribes do indeed tend to take prisoners, sacrificing them to their horrible gods at the new moon... but that's nearly a fortnight away, so there's time to be cautious (or it's only days away, and the party will know they need to hurry).

When the party reaches the site of the attack, they find the tracks of the goblins - and indeed, it would appear they have taken some of the horses (undoubtedly for carrying what they looted from the wagons), as well as many of the members of the caravan as live captives. A PC with Area Knowledge may be able to deduce where the goblins are likely headed, in case the trail is lost, as well as identify locations where the goblins may attempt to ambush them based on the local terrain, if the creatures realize they are being followed (although this last bit would also require Tactics and/or Strategy - but I'd let whoever in the party normally handles that do those rolls, if it isn't the same as the one who has the relevant Area Knowledge).

When the party gets close to the goblin camp, a PC with Area Knowledge may be able to identify where the goblins are likely to have set up sentries, or the optimal path to approach, again based on the local terrain (again, Tactics and/or Strategy may be needed here). Perhaps there is a natural cave in the area that would be ideal to evacuate the prisoners to, to keep them safe during the battle - or even for the party to make their stand against the goblins, using the narrow entrance as a bottleneck. Or the nearby river leads down to a local town, so they could make a raft and escape on that with the prisoners.


That's the kind of stuff you can use Area Knowledge for in a DF campaign, if you're so inclined.
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Last edited by Varyon; 08-30-2022 at 02:11 PM.
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Old 08-30-2022, 11:00 PM   #9
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Default Re: [Dungeon Fantasy] Area Knowledge: What does it do?

My take is just this:

If the GM goes with the default DF (and DFRPG) non-setting, where there's just "Town" and "Dungeons" and no particularly detailed lands, countries, etc., then there's no real use for Area Knowledge.

If the GM does flesh out the world with named cities and lands and countries and physical features and all that, then there's a use for Area Knowledge.
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Old 08-31-2022, 02:22 AM   #10
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Default Re: [Dungeon Fantasy] Area Knowledge: What does it do?

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Originally Posted by Refplace View Post
Yeah Area Knowledge for a dungeon seems kind of superfluous. If you know it that well its probab;y already cleared.
You csn have maps of places from before they were abandoned and partial maps from incomplete expeditions.
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