Security Clearance - why is it worth anything?

[Varyon]

Originally Posted by cosmicfish

But it isn't the same thing - Security Clearance gives you the ability to obtain special knowledge in the future, while Hidden Lore represents special knowledge you already have. Depending on the stage of the career, a given individual could have both or only one.

The way I see it, Hidden Lore is the skill you have when you don't have Security Clearance. SC allows you to use the actual relevant skill, rather than some sort of Hidden Lore, to know things appropriate to your SC. It's also more reliable, as Hidden Lore is likely to be rather contaminated with false conspiracy theories.

It would probably be appropriate for a character with Hidden Lore to have to roll against it and, on a success, roll against the actual relevant skill (or IQ, whichever is better) to be able to apply the knowledge in any way. SC bypasses this, but only for information up to your clearance - for information beyond this, you'll need Hidden Lore.