Associated Ability Modifier: Intelligence

Knowledge is a representation of what a character knows about a specific type of field of study or topic. Many Knowledge skill have a specific use. Each type of knowledge is its own separate skill check, but much of its functions overlap and thus are listed on this page.

Below are listed fields of study:

• Knowledge(Arcana)(aberrations, ancient mysteries, magic traditions, arcane symbols, constructs, dragons, magical beasts).
• Knowledge(Engineering)(buildings, aqueducts, bridges, fortifications, robots)
• Knowledge(History)(wars, colonies, migrations, founding of cities)
• Knowledge(Region)(legends, personalities, inhabitants, laws, customs, traditions, humanoids, lands, lineages, heraldry, personalities, royalty)
• Knowledge(Religion)(gods and goddesses, mythic history, ecclesiastic tradition, holy symbols, undead)
• Knowledge(Nature)(animals, fey, monstrous humanoids, plants, seasons and cycles, weather,  terrain, vermin, oozes,  caverns, spelunking)
• Knowledge(Planes)(the Inner Planes, the Outer Planes, the Astral Plane, the Ethereal Plane, outsiders, planar magic)

Action/Retry

Unless otherwise specified knowledge checks are a non-action and are representative of what your character already knows, and thus seeing an object or event allows a character to identify it. As a result this means unless otherwise specified it is impossible to retry a knowledge check as a failed knowledge check is representative of a lack of knowledge of that creature or subject.

Monster Knowledge

You may use the appropriate knowledge skill to identify a monster’s abilities and weaknesses.

The check varies on how common the monster is Starting at 5+CR for common monsters (like a goblin) and rising by 5 as they become more and more rare. Usually meeting the CR will let you identify the creature and usually how many hit dice it possesses, from there for each degree of success you have in your check you can recall an additional piece of information (such as weaknesses, immnuities, attacks, abilities, etc..)

If attempting to simply identify what a creature is, but no information about it, the DC becomes 10, rising by increments of 5 based on obscurity of the creature. As such it is generally simple to identify a human, but identifying a planesborn might cause confusion due to their rarity. Identifying the specific heritage of a creature raises the DC by an additional 5; though the GM may decide to raise it by 10 if the heritage itself is particularly rare.