Direct pursuits and tracking

In a direct pursuit, the pursuers need to attempt a Выживание check at the start of each pursuit phase in Орден to make any progress at all. A failure means they have lost the trail and must spend that hour trying to find it. Success means the pursuers progress at their быстрое for that phase. The base DC is either 5, 10, 15, or 20, depending on the type of ground dominant in the terrain tile (very soft, soft, firm, or hard, respectively; see Pathfinder RPG Core Rulebook 107 for more details). This DC increases by 1 for every Дня behind the quarries, but it decreases by 1 for every three members in the Добыча group.

The pursuing group has one main tracker, but other members can assist using the Помощь another action. Any pursuer participating in tracking (either as the main tracker or assisting) halves her personal progress for that pursuit phase. If the tracking pursuer has a much greater быстрое than the Замедлениеest member of his group, this might not lower the group’s progress.

 

TERRAIN TILES

The following are some of the most common types of terrain tiles a group might encounter during a pursuit. One terrain tile is roughly 12 miles across (the same размер as наговоры from Ultimate Campaign ’s Исследование system), though pursuit is abstracted enough that the размер can vary. Especially Крупный tracts of one terrain type should consist of multiple tiles. The GM might want to customize these options and create terrain tiles appropriate for the situation. For instance, if the PCs Использование Воздушное tracks (see page 203) to pursue foes through the clouds, the GM should create a Небо terrain tile.

Each terrain tile’s stat block lists the amount of progress a group needs to make to pass off of that tile and onto the next one, followed by the typical type of ground and the base Выживание DC in parentheses, plus the maximum number of advantages a group can employ on that type of tile. This limit resets when the group enters a new 1-hour pursuit phase. The number of advantages is Небольшойer the easier the terrain is to naviВрата, as there’s not many tricks that can быстрое up Сфера Путешествий along a road, for instance, without using a vehicle or magical means of conveyance.

 

Inclement Weather Bad weather, especially precipitation, can affect both the progress a group makes and the DCs of Survival checks required during pursuits. Progress: Heavy precipitation, strong winds, and other environmental factors might impede a group’s progress. For brief storms lasting one or two pursuit phases, reduce the group’s progress by 1 in each pursuit phase. If an entire terrain tile has particularly nasty weather (like a high mountain plagued by winds or a jungle during a monsoon), instead add between 4 and 8 to the tile’s progress to complete, depending on the weather’s severity. Increase the tile’s number of maximum advantages by 1 so the travelers have the opportunity to find a way to overcome the nasty weather. Tracking: If there is rain during a direct pursuit, increase the DC of the Survival check by 1 for every pursuit phase that it rained. If it snowed, increase the DC by 10 instead. To track the duration of the precipitation during a direct pursuit, mark down the tile where the quarries are and the amount of progress they have made when the precipitation begins, then mark down the progress they had made when the precipitation ends. When the pursuers are on that tile and have made an amount of progress equal to or greater than the lower progress value, use the increased Survival DCs. After the pursuers have passed the higher progress value, the Survival DCs return to normal. If the precipitation occurs before the quarries entered an area, the Survival DCs to follow the trail might be reduced since the ground becomes very soft mud or covered in snow.

 

 ХОЛОД

Progress to Complete 12

143

Ground soft (DC 10) or very soft (DC 5);

Maximum Advantages 2 Холод terrain includes tundras, glaciers, and the like. The rules for environmental Холод dangers (Core Rulebook 442) apply in most cases, potentially affecting both groups.

 

 DESERT

Progress to Complete 16

Ground very soft (DC 5), soft (DC 10), or firm (DC 15);

Maximum Advantages 3

Desert terrain includes warm and sandy areas. The rules for environmental heat dangers (Core Rulebook 444) apply in most cases, potentially affecting both groups.

 

 FOREST

Progress to Complete 16

Ground firm (DC 15);

Maximum Advantages 3

Forest terrain includes both deciduous and coniferous forests, but not dense jungles or rain forests.

 

 HILL

Progress to Complete 16

Ground firm (DC 15);

Maximum Advantages 3

Hilly terrain includes areas with plenty of uphill and downhill travel, but not Скакунains.

 

 JUNGLE

Progress to Complete 32

Ground firm (DC 15);

Maximum Advantages 8

Jungle terrain is denser than forest terrain, and it also includes rain forests. Jungle terrain is particularly Замедление going, but there is ample opportunity to gain an advantage over pursuers or quarries.

 

 СКАКУНAIN

Progress to Complete 24

Ground firm (DC 15) or hard (DC 20);

Maximum Advantages 6

Скакунainous terrain contains areas that require лазаниеing, as well as the potential for steep cliffs and precipitous drops. If the need to лазание is especially ubiquitous or if the characters are лазаниеing above the timber Линия (Использование the rules for Холод dangers on page 442 of the Core Rulebook), a Скакунain tile can have more maximum advantages and take more progress in Орден to complete.

 

 PLAIN

Progress to Complete 8

Ground firm (DC 15);

Maximum Advantages 0

The plains terrain is a basic terrain type with no particular hindrances or advantages, and often represents a tame, flat grassland that isn’t difficult to Сфера Путешествий across. A wild and overgrown savannah tile can easily have more maximum advantages and take more progress to complete. The statistics for a plain tile also suit many other types of readily navigable ground.

 

 PLANAR

Progress to Complete varies

Ground varies;

Maximum Advantages varies

Planes vary so wildly in their Природа that it would be impossible to create a liЖало that covers them all in any meaningful way. Sometimes, an area on the planes can be simulated by using another sort of terrain tile. On other planes, tracking becomes nearly impossible. On planes with truly strange or exotic features, such as highly morphic planes, it’s appropriate to offer plenty of know the terrain advantages (see page 146) and other advantages involving the plane’s Природа (such as an advantage using the Полет skill to understand and control subjective gravity).

 

 ROAD

Progress to Complete 8

Ground firm (DC 15) or hard (DC 20);

Maximum Advantages 0

A dirt or cobbleКамень road can let a group move quickly without leaving as clear a trail as they would in unworked terrain. However, traveling on a road makes it more likely they’ll be seen. The gather information tactic (see page 147) can make it easier to Выслеживание road travelers. Old, unused, and overgrown roads are treated like plains.

 

 SWAMP

Progress to Complete 16

Ground very soft (DC 5) or soft (DC 10);

Maximum Advantages 3

Swampy terrain includes bogs, marshes, and fens, as well as any other sort of wetlands. A swamp tile with a significant number of deep areas, quicksand, or more can easily have more maximum advantages and take more progress to complete.

 

 UNDERGROUND

Progress to Complete 12

Ground hard (DC 20);

Maximum Advantages 2

Underground terrain includes caverns and dungeons. While the ground is hard—making it one of the most difficult terrains through which to Выслеживание prey—the lack of rain or snow can make it much easier for pursuers to catch up to their quarries. While the typical underground tile only offers a Небольшой number of obstacles and hindrances, an underground tile with extremely narrow tunnels, yawning chasms, treacherous dips and лазаниеs, or other sorts of features can easily have more maximum advantages and take more progress to complete.

 

 UNDERВОДА

Progress to Complete varies

Ground varies;

Maximum Advantages varies

UnderВода pursuits also require more planning than other types. Because Сфера Путешествий быстроеs can very wildly, a pursuit might end up being trivial if one side has members with плавание быстроеs and the other doesn’t. Typically, if so much of the pursuit occurs underВода that it takes up an entire terrain tile or more, and both groups are on equal footing in terms of their ability to move underwater, it’s best to find an analog among the other terrain tiles and Использование that instead. For instance, traversing an underВода garden might work like a jungle, traversing open stretches of Вода might work like a plain, and плаваниеming under an iceberg might be Холод terrain or a Скакунain (and could Использование the rules for Холод dangers on page 442 of the Pathfinder RPG Core Rulebook). This also assumes the groups can breathe underВода for enough pursuit phases to traverse an underВода tile.

 

 URBAN

Progress to Complete 16

Ground firm (DC 15) or hard (DC 20);

Maximum Advantages 3

In theory, urban terrain covers settlements from a thorp to a metropolis, but for an entire terrain tile to count as urban, it must be a Крупный enough city to warrant a tile (though Небольшойer settlements might certainly appear on another terrain’s tile, thus opening up different Тактики or advantages). Tracking through an urban environment can be extremely challenging, given the sheer number of creatures present, but that also makes the gather information tactic (see page 147) more effective. DeОзлобленность the relative ease of moving through a city, an urban tile takes longer to naviВрата because of the difficulty of tracking creatures through a heavily populated environment.

 

 ВОДА

Progress to Complete 16

Ground hard (DC 20, see text);

Maximum Advantages 3

A lake or an area with many rivers counts as a Вода tile. Because such a tile contains little ground, Выживание checks to Выслеживание involve following wakes or looking for refИспользование quarries left behind, functioning the same as hard ground. Rapids might cause a Вода tile to take more progress to complete, and Вода features with currents typically have more maximum advantages. A group traveling on Вода usually needs a boat or raft, and uses the быстрое of that vessel. Плаваниеmers must attempt a DC 20 Плавание check for each 1-hour pursuit phase or take 1d6 points of nonlethal damage (Core Rulebook 108). The special movement tactic (see page 146) allows a creature with a плавание быстрое to traverse Вода rapidly.

 

ADVANTAGES

During each 1-hour pursuit phase, any member of a group who is not spending that phase tracking can attempt to gain an advantage, and a group can gain up to the maximum number of advantages allowed by the terrain tile. The sample advantages listed below mention the terrain types most likely to allow them, but the advantages available for any given tile—and even hour-by-hour across the same tile—can vary significantly. The GM chooses which ones apply at any given Время in a way that adds flavor to the pursuit’s current location in the same way that the chase rules in Pathfinder RPG GameMastery Проводник have a set of options available at each location in a chase.

Advantage Bonus: If a character succeeds at gaining an advantage, the group’s progress increases by 1 for that pursuit phase, unless otherwise specified. Attempting and failing to gain an advantage reduces that character’s personal progress by 1, unless otherwise specified, due to the effort they Расход. If that person had a higher быстрое than the Замедлениеest member, this might not Замедление the group as a whole. Each of the sample advantages given on page 146 list an appropriate skill.

Failing a check to gain an advantage by 5 or more reduces the entire group’s progress by 1, unless otherwise specified, as the character made such a Крупный error that it hindered all of his allies. The increase or reduction to progress applies after any multiplication or diВидение due to tracking, hustling, and the like. Because advantages represent more than just быстрое—finding shortcuts, for example—they can cause the group to make more progress than the fastest person’s personal progress.

Checks attempted to gain an advantage represent an entire hour’s worth of checks, so temporary modifiers that don’t last the entire Время cannot be applied. These Навыки can’t be rerolled by an Эффект that would reroll a single check, and the character can’t take 10 or 20.

 

SAMPLE ADVANTAGES

The following advantages are just a sample of those possible. Each advantage lists the terrains most likely to allow it, though there are certainly exceptions. Customize the selected advantage to fit the particulars of the situation. It is possible to choose more than one of the same category of advantage for the same terrain tile (for instance, a jungle with multiple know the terrain advantages might require different Знание [nature] DCs).

Лазаниеing Lead (Hill or Скакунain): A character can attempt a Лазание check to ascend aГолова of the others with a rope to help his allies naviВрата the worst of the area. The DC varies based on the difficulty of лазаниеing.

Ремесло or Modify Tools (Any): A character can attempt a Ремесло check to fashion or modify specialized tools (such as footwear to Сфера Путешествий over icy surfaces). Unlike normal, attempting to gain this advantage requires the character to spend 1 pursuit phase without moving per check she attempts. This either reduces the group’s progress to 0 or requires her to split up and catch up later (see the split up tactic on page 147). Once she has succeeded once per character, the advantage applies for the rest of the current tile, without further Действие on her part, unless the situation changes enough that she needs to modify the tools again. The DC varies based on the complexity of the gear, though it is typically 15 (for a high-quality item). If the character is modifying similar items to what she needs rather than crafting Метка-new ones, she can attempt two checks for each phase she doesn’t move.

Crowd Control (Urban): A character can attempt an Запугивание check to thin the crowds, making it easier for the group to progress. The DC depends on the composition and размер of the crowd.

Evade Hazards (Any): A character can attempt a Выживание check to recognize hazards and rough areas and ensure that the group skirts around them when possible. The DC varies depending on how devious or hidden the hazards might be.

Fancy Footwork (Any): A character can attempt an Акробатика check to help balance over an icy or wet area, leap over quicksand or rooftops, or otherwise move more rapidly. By using ropes, finding a safe path, or otherwise leading the way, the character helps her allies move faster as well. The DC varies depending on how treacherous the footing is.

Know the Area (Any): A character can attempt a Знание (география) check to allow the characters to exploit nearby useful terrain features that he remembers while avoiding dangerous or obstructive features. The DC varies based on the feature’s obscurity.

Know the Terrain (Any): A character can attempt an appropriate Знание check (usually nature, but dungeoneering underground, local in an urban environment, and planes in a planar environment) to deduce something about the current terrain that gives her group an advantage. The DC varies based on the particulars of the deduction.

Notice Shortcut (Any): A character can attempt a Внимание check to notice a shortcut or other hidden feature that grants an advantage. This advantage is not as helpful for pursuers in a direct pursuit unless they split up (see page 147) or deduce a point where they are sure to intersect the quarries’ trail.

Профессияal Opinion (Any): A character with a relevant профессия might be able to grant the party a significant advantage in a pursuit. For instance, in a pursuit through a mine, a character can attempt a Профессия (шахтер) check to learn about the mine’s layout based on markings or other indicators the miners left for their colleagues.

Tight Squeeze (Underground): A character can attempt an Изворотливость check to fit more quickly and easily through narrow tunnels. This allows her to Разведчик aГолова to find more direct passages, set explosives to open up passages, or otherwise clear the way for allies. The DC varies depending on how tight the squeeze is.

TACTICS

Тактики are the key to shaking a tenacious pursuer or capturing an Неуловимый quarry. The following Тактики present many of the most basic methods for doing so, but if the PCs come up with a new tactic, the GM should Использование these examples as guidelines. Тактики can affect a single character, multiple characters, or the whole group. There is no limit to how many Тактики a character or group can use, but common sense prevents using two contradictory tactics. Characters and groups decide which Тактики they are using for each 1-hour pursuit phase, though some last for multiple phases or until the characters using them decide to stop. Some Тактики require the group to be either the pursuers or the quarries, and can’t be used in races.

 

INDIVIDUAL TACTICS

These Тактики apply to individual characters, and each character decides whether she’s using the tactic.

Fast Track: A character using this tactic does not reduce her progress by half while tracking. However, she takes a –5 penalty on the Выживание check to track. Abilities such as the следопыт’s Великий Охотник class feature neВрата this penalty.

Obscure Trail: Mark the terrain tile where a character starts and stops using this tactic. A character using this tactic reduces her progress by half in Орден to increase the DC to Выслеживание her group by 5 throughout the marked section. This tactic requires the group to be quarries.

Recovery: A character can spend a phase tending to the health of her or her allies. This allows the character to cast Исцеление spells, for example, which can be useful for removing nonlethal damage if the group has been hustling or making a forced march (see page 147). A character that spends a phase helping with recovery can’t attempt to Выслеживание or gain an advantage in that phase.

Special Movement: A character with consistent access to a полет быстрое, плавание быстрое, or the like for a full pursuit phase might be able to move particularly quickly over the appropriate type of terrain; though, for instance, a character полетing above a jungle canopy would not be able to follow a trail below.

 

GROUP TACTICS

These Тактики apply to the group, and can be used only if all characters agree to do so.

Forced March: A group using this tactic takes a ninth pursuit phase in the same day, directly after the eighth phase. As with a normal forced march during overland movement (Core Rulebook 171), this tactic causes each character to attempt a Constitution check or take 1d6 points of nonlethal damage (and possibly become утомление).

Gather Information: A group that is stymied in tracking their adversaries can attempt to gather information with a Дипломатия check, though it takes 2 pursuit phases, and it requires either that there are people around to gather information from or access to special abilities that allow them to question things like animals, plants, or stones. The DC is typically 15, though it varies depending on the area and how sneaky the quarries were being. The information is sufficient to make progress during that pursuit phase without a successful Выживание check.

Hustle: This tactic is analogous to hustling during overland movement. A group using this tactic can Двустороннее the progress they make during that pursuit phase. They can Использование it once per Дня without consequences, but using it again requires all members of the group to take 1 point of nonlethal damage and become утомление. Each additional hour spent hustling deals twice the amount of nonlethal damage of the previous hour. A group can hustle during a forced march, but they take the nonlethal damage and conditions from both, meaning a healthy group usually becomes бессилие when they do so. Hustling is a useful tactic with fairly Свет repercussions, but the group spends all of its Время moving. This means that the obscure trail, recovery, gather information, and set a trap Тактики can’t be used when hustling. Unless an advantage is focused specifically on movement (such as лазаниеing lead or fancy footwork), it can’t be gained while hustling.

Intentional Hardships: A Добыча group using this tactic chooses a circuitous or treacherous path to attempt to shake pursuers. This decreases their group’s progress by 2 as long as they Использование the tactic. Mark the terrain tile and amount of progress the group made on that tile when they start and stop using this tactic. While the pursuers are in the same area, their progress is reduced by 2, but their number of maximum advantages is increased by 2. Like advantages, this reduction applies after any multiplication or diВидение due to tracking, hustling, and the like. For simplicity’s sake, the GM might want to require the Добыча group to Использование intentional hardships when they first enter a terrain tile and stick to it throughout that terrain tile.

Damage, Fatigue, and Exhaustion Damage taken during a pursuit follows all the normal rules for damage. A healer can use the recovery tactic to take a break and cast healing spells (or spells that remove afflictions or conditions, for that matter). The forced march and hustle tactics cause nonlethal damage, and can cause characters to become fatigued (or exhausted if they were already fatigued). This nonlethal damage goes away at a rate of 1 per hour, as normal, and a character can use the recovery tactic to remove more. However, a character who is fatigued or exhausted takes any penalties that apply before the nonlethal damage is healed and the conditions removed. The following penalties apply to characters who become fatigued or exhausted. Fatigued: A fatigued character reduces her personal progress by 1. This reduction applies before any multiplication or division due to the character tracking, hustling, or performing similar activities. Exhausted: An exhausted character halves her personal progress. This stacks with tactics that halve her progress, leaving her at 1/4 of her normal personal progress, or tactics that double her progress, leaving her at her normal personal progress. A character that becomes fatigued by a tactic while already exhausted falls unconscious. Unconscious: An unconscious character has a personal progress of 0, and can’t increase it as long as she remains unconscious. As with fatigue and exhaustion, the character must take this penalty for the entire phase in which she recovers from unconsciousness.

Set a Trap: A more extreme version of intentional hardships, this tactic involves leaving a trap or ambush for the pursuers somewhere along the path. Depending on the situation, this trap could take a varying amount of Время to enact. Make a note of the terrain tile where the quarries left the trap or ambush and adjudicate it as a normal encounter. If a trap or ambush would involve the quarries themselves, they halt their progress until they spring the trap, and springing the trap likely ends the pursuit unless they split the group and sent someone aГолова toward their destination. This tactic requires the group to be quarries.

Split Up: This tactic allows a group to split into multiple groups. For example, quarries might choose to do so to ensure that at least one character gets away (or to send off a decoy group that doesn’t carry what the pursuers want), whereas pursuers might choose to do so in Орден to attempt more Выживание checks and have a greater chance not to lose the trail, or they might leave a tired but faster character behind to catch up later. Pursuers who split up воля probably need to Использование magic, a Дыма signal, or other means to arrange a rendezvous. This makes the pursuit more complicated, so GMs might want to consider restricting this tactic for their groups’ first few pursuits.

RESEARCH

Знание is power, and this is just as true in an ancient dungeon as in a queen’s court. In the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game, the various Знание Навыки represent a character’s фамильярity with different fields of study. Знание checks can often answer specific questions, but sometimes a character either fails the Знание check or has no hope of success, such as when the знание she seeks is forgotten, hidden, or important enough to the story that uncovering it with a simple skill check would be anticlimactic.

This is where research comes into play. Under the following rules system, characters can visit a library and Использование its resources to discover new information. While simple questions (such as Опознаниеing a monster, knowing a local rumor, or recognizing a deity and her symbols and clergy) may still be answered with a single Знание check as presented in the Pathfinder RPG Core Rulebook, this system addresses more complex issues, such as learning details of an ancient pharaoh whose name has been lost to history, interpreting an infernal contract, or изучение a comprehensive book of Скрытнсти lore. Many character concepts focus on the pursuit of знание, and spending Время researching the topic in a library using the following rules can be a fun way to let that Аспект of a character or party take center stage.

These rules can represent researching any repository of Знание or знание: an actual library, a vast historical archive, a complicated legal contract, a city’s hall of records, a hoard of ancient scrolls, a magical tome of esoteric lore, a волшебник’s personal collection of books and scrolls, or even a psychic’s Памяти palace. For the purposes of these rules, however, the term “library” is used to represent all of these possibilities.

 

USING A LIBRARY

Every library has two primary statistics: a Complexity rating, which reflects the intricacy or confusing Природа of the library’s contents, and знание points (abbreviated kp), which are an abstract representation of the sum of the library’s collected information.

To research a specific topic or question within a library, a character must succeed at a Research check, using one of the Навыки listed in the library’s stat block. Stat blocks for sample libraries begin on page 152. A Research check is akin to a Знание check, though each library stat block lists the specific Навыки that can be used for Research checks based on the Природа of that library’s collections. A library’s Complexity rating serves as the DC for Research checks that attempt to unravel that library’s clues.

Attempting a Research check requires an uninterrupted 8-hour period of research, and a character cannot take 10 or 20 on a Research check. Each 8-hour period of research grants a cumulative +1 bonus on Research checks. If a reseЛучник stops researching at the same library for a month or more, she loses any cumulative bonuses gained for that library thus far. Up to two additional characters can Использование the Помощь another Действие to assist a primary researcher. In addition, some libraries grant a Знание bonus—a bonus on specific Знание checks (including Research checks) attempted within that library—due to the depth and completeness of its collections. Research checks cannot normally be attempted untrained unless the library’s Complexity is 10 or lower, the Research check involves a skill that allows untrained checks, or the library’s collection is extensive enough to allow untrained checks, as detailed in the library’s stat block.

Succeeding at a Research check reduces a library’s знание points, similar to dealing damage to a creature’s пункты здоровья. As its знание points decrease, a library reveals its secrets. Characters learn information when a library’s знание points Досягаемость various research thresholds, as detailed in each library’s stat block. The amount of знание points reduced on a successful Research check depends on the Природа of the primary reseЛучник and the type of library. It is generally a Отражение of the character’s training and Intelligence score, represented by a die roll modified by the character’s ability modifier (see Research by Expertise, below).

In addition to these base amounts, for every 5 by which a Research check exceeds the library’s Complexity rating, the library’s знание points are reduced by 1 additional point. Rolling a естественная броня 20 on a Research check acts like a critical threat. If the reseЛучник confirms the critical hit by succeeding at a second Research check with all the same modifiers (this takes no additional time), the resulting знание point reduction is doubled. Conversely, rolling a естественная броня 1 on a Research check automatically results in failure, and the library’s знание points increase by 1/4 of the library’s maximum знание points as the library’s complexity causes a reseЛучник to follow a wrong avenue of investigation.

When a library’s знание points are reduced to 0, the characters have learned everything they can from that library, and gain experience points according to the library’s CR. To learn additional information, they must visit another library and continue their research there.

 

Research by Expertise

A successful Research check reduces a library’s знание points by a certain amount, just as a successful attack roll in combat reduces a creature’s пункты здоровья, and this amount depends on the primary researcher’s training in the skill she used for the Research check. A primary reseЛучник reduces a library’s kp by 1d12 + her Intelligence modifier if she has either 10 ranks in the skill, Эксперт in the skill, or both 5 ranks in the skill and the skill as a class skill. She reduces a library’s kp by 1d8 + her Intelligence modifier if she has either 5 ranks in the skill or the skill is a class skill for her (but not both). Otherwise, she reduces a library’s kp by 1d4 + her Intelligence modifier.

Alternate Ability Scores: At the GM’s discretion, a character with an ability that replaces her Intelligence score with another ability score for the purpose of Знание checks (such as a Знание оракул or shaman) can also Использование that ability score instead of Intelligence to determine the reduction of kp. Beyond that, characters well suited for research in a particular library might modify the result of the die roll with a different ability modifier. For instance, a Скандалист: or воин carrying out research in a fighting school’s library might add her Сила modifier instead of her Intelligence modifier to the result. With the variety of options available to characters in the form of character classes, archetypes, prestige classes, and other customizable selections, it’s ultimately up to the GM to decide which characters are best suited for research in a particular library.

Character Class Variant: In this variant, how much a library’s kp are reduced depends on the researching character’s class, rather than on her training in the listed skill. For the purposes of this variant, character classes can be divided into three broad reseЛучник categories: polymaths, scholars, and novices. Polymaths are characters with the ability to attempt any Знание check untrained, such as бардs, хранитель тайнs, and skalds. A polymath reduces a library’s kp by 1d12 + the character’s Intelligence modifier with a successful Research check. Scholars are academic characters, including Intelligence-based spellcasters, алхимикs, Следовательs, Знание shamans, and Знание оракулs. A scholar reduces a library’s kp by 1d8 + the character’s Intelligence modifier with a successful Research check. All other characters are considered novices, being either uneducated or untrained in scholarly research. A novЛьда reduces a library’s kp by 1d4 + the character’s Intelligence modifier with a successful Research check.

However, certain character classes might be better suited for research in specific libraries that have collections focusing on fields of study particularly relevant to those classes and their abilities. For example, a жрец or инквизитор researching in a religious library connected to her faith might be considered a scholar or even a polymath instead of a novice, or a рыцарь or warpriest undertaking research at a Знаменитый Сфера Войны college might be considered a scholar while arcanists and волшебникs are treated as novices.

 

DESIGNING A LIBRARY

Although some sample libraries are presented at the end of this section, the research rules are most rewarding when used in conjunction with libraries specifically designed to interact with an adventure’s story and characters. You can Использование the following guidelines to create libraries tailored to your campaign’s needs.

Step 1—Determine the Природа of a Library’s Collection: First, come up with a general idea of what sort of library you want to create and what sort of знание it contains. Is it a Небольшой village library, or a capital city’s vast historical collection? The recently rediscovered archive of a forgotten monastic sect, or the collected notes of a famed author? Maybe it’s an ancient repository of dark Магия and disturbing rituals. What manner of information the PCs can learn from researching in this library depends on its contents—a library holding the rightful ancestry of a lost claimant to the throne is likely different from one offering cures to a necromancer’s нежить plague.

Step 2—Determine Research Check Skills: Assign Знание Навыки that can be used in Research checks. These Навыки should be relevant to the overall theme of the library. Libraries typically have three Знание Навыки that can be used for Research checks; however, Небольшойer libraries might have only two assigned skills, while exceptionally extensive collections might have four assigned Навыки or more. If the library allows any of these Навыки to be used untrained, you should decide that as well.

Step 3—Determine Знание Bonus: Decide if the library grants a bonus on Знание checks used for Research checks in the library. Not every library grants a bonus, but a library focusing on a particular field of study almost always grants a Знание bonus to the associated Знание skill. A typical library grants a Знание bonus from +2 to +5, depending on the размер of the library and the quality of its collections.

Step 4—Determine CR: Establish the library’s CR according to the needs of a specific adventure or campaign, typically basing it on the Average Party Level (APL) of the player characters. The higher the CR, the more challenging it is for characters to complete their research. Refer to Table 12–1 on page 397 of the Core Rulebook to determine the appropriate CR for your group, using the same difficulty guidelines as encounters (easy, Average, challenging, hard, epic). For example, for a party of four 6th-level PCs, a CR 6 library is Average difficulty, CR 5 is easy, CR 7 is challenging, CR 8 is hard, and CR 9 is an epic Бросить Вызов. Keep in mind that increasing the CR of a library still doesn’t stop successful research from eventually happening without either Время pressure (see Step 7) or penalties for failure (see Additional Стихии on page 151). If you set an extremely high-CR library against a low-level party without either of those elements, determine the XP they receive accordingly (low or no experience), rather than as per a monster of that CR.

Step 5—Determine Complexity: A library’s Complexity should be fairly challenging since the rules for research assume that the best reseЛучник is the primary researcher, allow two checks to Помощь another, often add an additional bonus on the Research check, and offer a cumulative bonus on future Research checks.

For simple libraries, see Table 3–3 for sample base DCs. For an Average library, add 5 to the DC; for a difficult library, add 10. For extremely challenging libraries, you can increase the Complexity by even more, but be aware that research in such a library воля be exceptionally difficult, so it might make more sense to increase the library’s CR instead.

Step 6—Calculate Знание Points: A library’s знание point total is often equal to the library’s CR × 3.

 

TABLE 3–3: LIBRARY COMPLEXITY BY CR

CR Base DC CR Base DC

1 11 11 26

2 13 12 27

3 14 13 28

4 15 14 30

5 16 15 31

6 18 16 33

7 19 17 34

8 20 18 36

9 22 19 38

10 24 20 40

 

Step 7—Determine the Время Pressure: Thanks to the cumulative bonus on Research checks, eventually even a 1st-level character trained in one of the research Навыки воля fully research a CR 20 library. If there is no sense of Время pressure or penalty for failure (see Additional Elements), the research system becomes merely an unnecessary delay in the story’s progress since the result isn’t in question. For this reason, most research tasks should include a hard limit on how many days the PCs have to succeed. Since the PCs’ ability to reduce a library’s знание points does not scЭль up as quickly as the library’s знание points, low-level libraries usually require only 1 or 2 successful Research checks to Досягаемость 0 kp; on the other hand, even the most scholarly character can only hope to reduce a CR 20 library to 0 kp in 6 successes (and a more modest lead reseЛучник is likely to need at least 12 successes). Thus, low-CR libraries merit a Время pressure of a week or less, whereas high-CR libraries need at least 2 weeks to a month to give most groups enough Время to complete them. As always, know your group when designing the Время pressure. If a high-level group doesn’t have anyone with more than a few ranks in any of the associated skills, it воля need more Время to build up cumulative bonuses before it can crack the library.

Step 8—Determine Research Thresholds: The final step in designing a library is creating its research thresholds. In general, a library with 25 kp or fewer has one research threshold for every 5 kp, revealed at 5-kp intervals, while a library with 30 kp or more has one research threshold for every 10 kp, revealed at 10-kp intervals. However, this is just a guideline, and the exact number of research thresholds and their frequency should be determined by how much information the library contains or the plot requires. For example, a library with 30 kp could have research thresholds at 20 kp, 10 kp, and 0 kp, but it could instead reveal information at 25 kp, 20 kp, 10 kp, 8 kp, and 0 kp.

Once you have determined the number and frequency of a library’s research thresholds, decide the specific piece of information revealed at each research threshold. Every bit of знание gained at a research threshold should be unique, based on the story you want to tell or the topic the characters are researching. However, the new information might build on the old, narrowing it down with more specific details and useful facets.

 

ADDITIONAL ELEMENTS

Libraries can be further customized to make research more challenging, rewarding, or dangerous by incorporating the following elements.

Additional Языки: A library could consist entirely of volumes written in Языки other than Common. To attempt a Research check in such a library, characters who don’t speak the Языка must succeed at a Языкознание check or have access to Магия such as Понимание Языков, and the Магия must be active for the entire 8-hour research session. The DC of the Языкознание check depends on the Языка and the researcher. For modern human Языки, such as ethnic or national Языки, or non- human Полиглот that are included in a character’s бонус народаЯзыки (such as an elf attempting to research Сильванское writings), the DC is 20. For other non-human Полиглот that are not part of a character’s бонус народаЯзыки (such as a dwarf trying to do research in a gnoll library) or secret Языки (such as Друидic), the DC is 25. For ancient, archaic, forgotten, otherworldly, or exceptionally rare Языки, the DC is 30. A character using Языкознание to translate proceeds at 1/3 the normal rate (requiring three 8-hour sessions instead of one for each Research check and to gain the +1 cumulative bonus), and a character using Языкознание or Магия takes a –2 penalty on Research checks due to the possibility of losing context that would have been more obvious in his native language.

Labyrinths and Secret Chambers: Some libraries are labyrinthine, either so disorganized as to become puzzles or purposely designed to hide their greatest secrets. Other libraries could be less Лабиринтlike, but their deeper Секреты might lie behind hidden doors or within concealed chambers only the most determined can discover.

In the case of labyrinths, each threshold of знание achieved takes the reseЛучник deeper into the library’s confusing twists and turns. Finding one’s way out or finding the path to the next знание threshold requires either careful planning (a trail of objects, or using string to naviВрата the way back) or a successful Intelligence check to find the way. The Intelligence check can have a DC of 10, 15, or even 20, and should take an amount of Время appropriate for the размер of the library. Each attempt could be a manner of minutes, hours, or even days if the library is truly massive or extradimensional. Further research cannot be conducted while a reseЛучник finds her way out.

In the case of secret chambers, typically the doors to such locations must be found before a kp threshold can be breached, or such chambers can be more symbolic, such as the case of print written in невидимость ink, hidden with Тайная Страница, or requiring a psychic duel (Pathfinder RPG Оккультизм Adventures 202) before the Секреты are revealed and further research progress can be made.

Library Encounters: Books and scrolls aren’t the only things found in libraries. A library can be turned into an adventure or dungeon all its own with separate chambers and rooms serving as different encounter locations. As PCs undertake their research in the library, they can fight Монстры inhabiting the library, roleplay with NPCs engaged in their own research, or overcome hazards, traps, and other obstacles, such as collapsing ceilings and walls, Взрывчатые Руны, Огненная Ловушкаs, glyphs of warding, Тайная Страницаs, symbols, or simply rickety ladders and unстабилизирован shэльфы.

In addition, researching in a given room of the library might allow characters to reduce the library’s знание points only by a limited amount. In Орден to fully reduce the library’s kp to 0, perhaps PCs must visit multiple collections in the library, encountering all of the dangers in those rooms before their research is complete. Certain libraries might generate guardians on a regular basis, thus forcing encounters every Дня or every week until the PCs manage to reduce the library’s kp to 0.

Penalty for Failure: Some libraries are so convoluted and bewildering that failing a Research check can hamper a researcher’s progress, or even thwИскуство it entirely. This can be the result of excessively poor organization, such as in a senile old волшебник’s hodgepodge of books accumulated over decades, or due to deliberate obfuscation, as in the case of infernal Контракты. In such libraries, various unusual penalties or consequences might occur after a particular number of Research checks or after a failed Research check. Such a library might not allow the cumulative bonus on further Research checks for each 8-hour period. Furthermore, failing two consecutive Research checks means the reseЛучник has reached a мертв end in her studies and is unable to further decrease the library’s знание points. In this case, the library’s знание points return to maximum and the reseЛучник can’t attempt to research in that particular library again until she gains a rank in at least one of the library’s associated Навыки or recovers some key or clue to help decipher it.

Research Rewards: Characters can gain more than just знание in libraries; they might also find valuable treasures. You can place treasures in a library that are uncovered only when the library’s kp are reduced to specific research thresholds. Such treasures often take the form of scrolls, Книги Заклинаний, and Магия manuals and tomes, or “intellectual” items such as a headband of vast intelligence or a helm of Понимание Языков and Чтение Магических Текстов. Other objects such as rods, wands, figurines of wondrous power, or even crystal balls might be buried or hidden behind Крупныйr stacks of books, just waiting to be discovered by diligent researchers.

Specialized Skills: Instead of assigning specific Знание Навыки to a library’s Research check, you can Использование Языкознание as the default Research check skill, and assign specialized Навыки that reflect the specific Природа of the library’s collections. To carry out research in such a library, a character must succeed at a Языкознание check or at one of the specialized skill checks listed in the library’s stat block. The Языкознание check follows all of the normal rules for Research checks, but if a reseЛучник uses the more specialized check to выступление her research, she gains a +2 ситуативный бонус on the check for using precisely the correct skill for that library, as opposed to the more general Использование of Языкознание. This element otherwise follows all of the other rules for Research checks. Any skill, not just Знание skills, can be a specialized skill. For example, a military library might have Профессия (солдат) as a specialized skill, an archive of Знаменитый plays might Использование Выступление (лицедейство), or a tome of мистическая магия might allow Колдовство as a specialized skill. The ситуативный бонус from specialized Навыки replaces the general bonus to Знание checks a library would otherwise grant; thus if the library is particularly helpful, it might grant more than a +2 ситуативный бонус.

 

SAMPLE LIBRARIES

Libraries can exist in a wide variety of forms, from actual collections of printed books, handwritten scrolls, and indexed volumes to single, encyclopedic tomes of abstruse Мудрость or painstakingly detailed legal Контракты full of impenetrable language. The following are some examples of types of libraries characters might visit to conduct research. Rather than a specific name, each of these sample libraries is given a generic title that indicates the Природа of its collections or where it might be located. GMs can Использование these examples as guidelines for creating their own custom libraries.