05-31-2013, 06:29 AM | #1 |
Join Date: Jan 2005
Location: Gothenburg, Sweden
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Research skill
How is this supposed to work? According to the rules, it seems I could find exciting stuff about, say, treatment of a disease even if I don't know the squat about physiology, pathology or pharmacology. If it's in the book I can find it...
But that's hardly realistic. If I don't know anything about a subject then I don't know what information is relevant and what can be safely discarded. Maybe I work off of the knowledge assumed to have a default? But then what about skills that don't have a default, like the Hidden Lore skills? I don't know how to interpret what I found - is that a separate issue? Do I roll against the pertinent skill to do that? Or is that part of the skill? I suggest that you roll at -5 if you don't have the relevant skill, and that you can't research skills with no default unless you have put a point in them.
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05-31-2013, 06:47 AM | #2 |
Join Date: Jul 2008
Location: Where the Celts originated
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Re: Research skill
As I interpret it, one already has to know what information one is looking for
in order to research it in a library or database, "research" without a specific aim would be just browsing. The aim of the research depends on the previous knowledge of the person in question, for example someone without any skill in medicine will hardly have a reason to research the details of the use of lithi- um in the therapy of depression and the required knowledge to comprehend what he finds. So research is basically an auxiliary skill which requires general or specific knowledge in order to find additional knowledge, it is useless on its own. |
05-31-2013, 06:54 AM | #3 |
Banned
Join Date: Jun 2005
Location: Bristol
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Re: Research skill
You know how to look and where to look.
Over time you know which is the best place for information rather than the easiest. Say the difference of searching the National Geographic catalogue and knowing what Journals would be best to go to for a specific field. |
05-31-2013, 07:46 AM | #4 | |
Join Date: Apr 2005
Location: France
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Re: Research skill
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05-31-2013, 07:57 AM | #5 | |||
Join Date: Jun 2006
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Re: Research skill
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05-31-2013, 08:08 AM | #6 |
Join Date: Oct 2006
Location: Chagrin Falls
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Re: Research skill
If a knowledge skill doesn't provide a specific bit of information, research should be able to be used as a '2nd try'.
E.g. My chemistry skill roll failed and I couldn't map the process for synthesizing trinitrotoluene. Fortunately I can hit the library and look for that specific answer with a research roll. If time were critical I might have been out of luck, since research takes too long. E.g. 2 Dungeon-Delver Dave grew up in a wholesome household and never took Hidden Lore (Demonology) but that otherworldly thing that is trying to beat down the library door had horns and a tail… Rolling research at default he gets a 5 and succeeds! Quickly scanning through books until he finds one with pictures of creatures he starts flipping through until one looks like the thing he saw out in the hall… if only he could read the writing under the picture! I would consider using Serendipity in a situation like this as well, regardless of research skill. Xander would occasionally walk up to the rest of the Scooby Gang and say something like ‘Hey, is this ancient tome important?’ (All IMHO of course)
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05-31-2013, 08:23 AM | #7 | |
Join Date: Oct 2005
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Re: Research skill
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Last edited by gjc8; 05-31-2013 at 10:00 AM. Reason: complementary not complimentary |
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05-31-2013, 08:32 AM | #8 | |
Join Date: Oct 2005
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Re: Research skill
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Last edited by gjc8; 05-31-2013 at 10:02 AM. |
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05-31-2013, 09:08 AM | #9 | |
Join Date: Oct 2006
Location: Chagrin Falls
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Re: Research skill
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Benundefined Life has a funny way of making sure you decide to leave the party just a few minutes too late to avoid trouble. |
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05-31-2013, 09:16 AM | #10 | |
Join Date: Nov 2008
Location: Yukon, OK
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Re: Research skill
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To use Medical Research as an example. You dont have access to all the material so a Physician may get a bonus by using better databases and resources. The non medical person can research and learn everything about a disease and may even learn stuff their doctor does not know about it. However to apply that knowledge requires sifting through reviews and other skills to see what is accurate (I would say most of this can still be Reasearch, with crit success or failure meaning you believed the wrong/right journals). If it requiires drugs then your off to a doc or pharmacist for help. If it requires treatment your going to need help for many cases. But research is enough to let you treat minor injuries in most cases. This is primarily true of skills with a default. Lawyers have much information blocked from the public and special databases they have access to that most do not. But anyone can research what laws are on the books. So same thing as medical stuff.
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