Scholarly Skill Unlocks (Part 1)
Skill unlocks are a fun way to get players more interested in their skills, something I always thought they should be doing more of. For the next two weeks, we’re going to be looking at a type of new skill unlocks, called scholarly skill unlocks. These work similarly to the occult skill unlocks, but without requiring your character to be psychically attuned. We will be focusing on the knowledge skills—skills that, for most players, end up overlooked unless they need to fight the appropriate monster. This article aims to get people more invested in their character’s education.
New Feat
Educated
You are well learned and have an avid academic interest in various branches of knowledge.
Prerequisite: 1 rank in at least 2 different Knowledge skills.
Benefit: You gain access to scholarly skill unlocks. You must have at least 1 rank in the corresponding Knowledge skill to gain access to a scholarly skill unlock.
New Scholarly Skill Unlocks
The following skill unlocks are available to all characters who get all Knowledge skills as class skills (either from a single class or as a result of multiclassing), or to any character with the Educated feat. They are listed in alphabetical order, by the name of the corresponding skill.
Mystical Literacy (Knowledge [Arcana])
You have studied countless arcane tomes and observed magical intricacies in writing that allow you to spot out-of-place or magically concealed text, as well potentially retrieve altered text.
Check: Whenever you read an arcane text, you may choose to read it at half speed. If you do, the GM makes a Knowledge (arcana) roll in secret. If the text you are reading includes any magically altered pieces of information (such as a passage destroyed by an erase spell or similar magic), or contains a magical trap (such as a sepia snake sigil), you become aware of the effect if the result of the Knowledge (arcana) check is equal to or greater than 10 + the caster level of the effect. In the case of a magical trap on the text, you may choose to avoid triggering it, or may attempt to disarm or dispel it with a successful Knowledge (arcana) check. The DC for this check is equal to 11 + spell’s level + the caster level of the effect. In the case of magically altered or erased text, you can attempt to restore the text with a successful Knowledge (arcana) check, utilizing your knowledge of magic to reverse-engineer the process used to erase the text. The DC for this check is equal to 15 + the caster level of the effect used to alter the text.
Action: Using this ability halves your reading speed, but does not require a separate action to activate.
Try Again: No.
Numerology (Knowledge [Arcana])
Numerology is a complex process, often deemed a pseudoscience or superstition by those who don’t understand the complex symbolism and relationship of mathematics. You can use significant numbers in order to divine facts about an individual by creating equations and formulae based on those numbers.
Check: You can spend 10 minutes working on the mathematical formula of an individual in order to divine information about him. The level of detail revealed is determined by the amount of information you possess about the target’s significant numbers. There are 4 numerically significant facts about an individual which can help you to complete your equations. These facts are the target’s name, birthday, exact height and weight, and date of death. The difficulty of these equations never varies, regardless of the information you have, but in order to achieve any useful results you must have at least one of the four facts. When you choose to divine facts about an individual in this way, you must succeed on a Knowledge (arcana) check (DC = 15 + the target’s Hit Dice). The information gained depends on the amount of information you possess, as indicated below.
1 fact: You can divine the character’s alignment.
2 facts: You can also determine whether the character is capable of casting spells.
3 facts: You also learn the answer to a single yes or no question about the target (as with the spell divination). The information gleaned from this answer is only truthful 75% of the time.
4 facts: You also learn the history of the target, as though you had succeeded on a successful Knowledge roll to identify the character. You learn all significant facts about the target’s life that could be determined with a Knowledge check equal to 20 + your ranks in Knowledge (arcana) + your Intelligence modifier.
Action: Numerology takes 10 minutes.
Try Again: You can retry numerology against a given subject multiple times, provided you have learned some new fact about the character’s numerology or have gained a new rank in Knowledge (arcana).
Well-Finder (Knowledge [Dungeoneering])
You can use your knowledge of underground systems and specialized tools to learn what lies under the surface of an area, while remaining aboveground.
Check: You spend 1 hour to survey an area of up to a 1,000-foot radius. Up to 10 other characters can aid you in this process, and for each such character, you gain a +2 bonus on your Knowledge (dungeoneering) skill check. When you use this ability, make a Knowledge (dungeoneering) check. The base DC is 20 and allows you to discover disturbances up to 5 feet below the ground’s surface; for every 5 points by which you exceed the DC, the depth at which you can discover these irregularities is increased by 5 feet. You can learn about the presence of liquids, cave systems, metallic mineral deposits, graves, and other disturbances in the ground around you. However, you must still use independent means of excavating such irregularities (such as digging or magically moving earth).
Action: Surveying an area in this manner takes 1 hour.
Try Again: No.
Blueprint (Knowledge [Engineering])
Your knowledge of engineering lends itself to creating construction blueprints to aid in the completion of projects large and small. In a short amount of time, you can create instructions to improve the efficiency of construction, allowing workers to work quickly and safely.
Check: You spend 1 hour drafting a construction blueprint for an item or structure. If you are making a blueprint for an item, you make a Knowledge (engineering) check and must expend 1 gp’s worth of writing materials (charcoal, ink, or lead and 1 sheet of paper, or similar). Whenever a character makes a Craft check to create the associated item, they may add the result of your Knowledge (engineering) check to their Craft check for the purposes of determining the amount of progress they make towards completing the project.
If you are making a blueprint for a structure, you make a Knowledge (engineering) check (DC = 20 + 5 for every 1,000 square feet of the structure) and must expend 1 gp’s worth of writing materials (charcoal, ink, or lead and 1 sheet of paper, or similar). If the check is successful, the structure can be constructed in half the normal time, provided that each character contributing to the construction of the structure consults the blueprint for at least 10 minutes each day she contributes to the project.
Action: Creating a construction blueprint takes 1 hour.
Try Again: You may create new blueprints for a project as often as you like.
Trailfinder (Knowledge [Geography])
Your knowledge of terrain allows you to make the most out of any map to quickly navigate through regions you visit.
Check: You can spend 1 hour carefully examining a map in order to more quickly and effectively navigate terrain. When you do, make a Knowledge (geography) check (DC = 10 + 1 for every 1-mile radius depicted in the map). If you succeed, you can move overland through the area depicted in the map at a hustle and conduct a forced march through the area without needing to make a Constitution check. Finally, you count as having seen every area in the map once for the purposes of spells and effects such as teleport.
Action: Examining a map in this way takes 1 hour.
Try Again: No; you may only attempt this check once per map you examine.