ways to abuse Knowledge skills

[True believer]

Hello !!

I am currently playing a wizard and i would like to focus on knowledge for background/RP reasons. I took the Knowledge devotion feat and i am looking for other mechanics that use such skills. Any suggestions ????

Ty

[NevinPL]

By default you can use knowledge checks "to identify monsters and their special powers or vulnerabilities.", so you can at least annoy your DM.

[Falcon X]

Things to look at:

Archivist class: like Wizard, only with divine spells and uses knowledge more frequently.

Collector of Stories skill trick

Divine insight, lore of the gods, and guidance of the avatar spells for an immediate boost to your Knowledge Devotion check.

Multiclass into Duskblade or Factotum if you want to be more fighty or roguish with knowledge devotion.

Planar Touchstone feat combined with Catalogues of Enlightenment

Binder class has a vestage that is knowledge boosting.

[Extra Anchovies]

Knowledge Devotion (Complete Champion) lets you turn Knowledge checks into bonuses to attack and damage. Good for builds with lots of attacks and lots of skill points.

[sleepyphoenixx]

Urban Savant (CS) gets a few abilities that use knowledge checks.

[Roog]

If you are playing PF there is Sacred Geometry

[Biffoniacus_Furiou]

Get a note card, write on it each creature type (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/typesSubtypes.htm), which knowledge skill (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/skills/knowledge.htm) is used to identify it, which base saves are good/poor for racial HD of that type, what immunities all creatures of that type automatically get (mind-affecting, critical hits/stunning, Fort saves that don't affect objects, etc.), any special vulnerabilities creatures may have (dismissal), and anything else you think would be important.

Put at least one rank in every one of those Knowledge skills, so you're automatically entitled to a knowledge check to recognize every creature you encounter. Remember that most D&D Wizards are exponentially smarter than any actual person who's ever existed, and would have definitely studied up on various types of living things and what their strengths and vulnerabilities are. Something that you would need to look at on this card is something that your character would easily be able to recall from memory.

Have spells that target each different save (Wall of Smoke, Grease, Color Spray at 1st, Cloud of Bewilderment, Web, Glitterdust at 2nd, etc.) and use the one that most opponents will have a weak base save against. Note that nearly every one of those example spells is a Conjuration.

For opponents with class levels, it's usually easy to tell what their poor saves will be. A spell component pouch means good will, a holy symbol or divine focus means good fort and will. Heavy and medium armor and/or martial weapons means good fort. Light or no armor (and no spell components) means good reflex. There are exceptions of course, but this is a good starting point.

[jiriku]

Knowledge skills are useful out of combat too.

* Knowledge (local) will tell you what is legal and what is not, and may give you information about the backgrounds, personalities, and actions of important NPCs.
* Knowledge (nobility and royalty) can give you information about the personalities of noble and royal NPCs.
* Knowledge (history) can uncover background information about most anything.
* Knowledge (architecture and engineering) can be used to design high technology, determine the operation of strange machines, and establish whether a particular wall or support could hide secret passageways or must necessarily be solid in order to support the structure.

Be aware that studying at a library when trying to find the answer to a question should give you a bonus of no less than +2 on the check. Carrying around a set of masterwork reference books (perfect tool for the job) can give you a +2 on your checks all the time.

Now, most of these items above just give you information. Information by itself isn't very useful, but you can use it when planning and when thinking critically about the problems in front of you in order to come up with a solution. D&D heavily rewards an active play-style where you set goals, develop plans, then act on them. You can punch way above your weight class when playing that way, as opposed to just passively wandering through a dungeon, opening the next door and fighting the next monster. Use the information provided by your knowledge skills to become the party strategist, and you'll do quite well.

[Story]

Knowledge (History) is basically an excuse for the DM to give you his worldbuilding notes. So it depends on how forthcoming the DM is. If you're adventuring in generic dungeon #117, it won't help at all.

Also, I'm curious. Are there actual rules for circumstance bonuses from libraries anywhere? I could have sworn I'd seen them.

[jiriku]

Also, I'm curious. Are there actual rules for circumstance bonuses from libraries anywhere? I could have sworn I'd seen them.

They're more inferred than expressed. Some of the organizations in Complete Champion have special bonuses for performing library research, and the Eberron Campaign Setting includes the Research feat, which grants special benefits for performing research. However, a criticism of the Research feat (which I completely agree with it) is that all of the things that it allows you to do are already functions of Knowledge skills. The Research feat thus functions as a guideline for how library research can work, rather than providing new functions.

My argument for a minimum +2 bonus is also an argument from inference. A tome containing the information you seek is the perfect tool for the job when you are trying to obtain information (+2 bonus for a masterwork tool). Any moderately large library most likely contains a useful tome if you are researching a topic that the library encompasses. Thus, spending a few hours to locate the most relevant tome and peruse it ought to grant you a bonus, anywhere from +2 all the way up to automatic success, depending on what you're looking for and the comprehensiveness of the library in question.

I'll concede, though, that these aren't hard-and-fast rules. When I DM, I like to give PCs a reason to pore through musty old tomes and seek out rumors of lost libraries, so these interpretations of the rules provide some mechanical crunch to motivate the players.

[thethird]

They're more inferred than expressed. Some of the organizations in Complete Champion have special bonuses for performing library research, and the Eberron Campaign Setting includes the Research feat, which grants special benefits for performing research. However, a criticism of the Research feat (which I completely agree with it) is that all of the things that it allows you to do are already functions of Knowledge skills. The Research feat thus functions as a guideline for how library research can work, rather than providing new functions.

My argument for a minimum +2 bonus is also an argument from inference. A tome containing the information you seek is the perfect tool for the job when you are trying to obtain information (+2 bonus for a masterwork tool). Any moderately large library most likely contains a useful tome if you are researching a topic that the library encompasses. Thus, spending a few hours to locate the most relevant tome and peruse it ought to grant you a bonus, anywhere from +2 all the way up to automatic success, depending on what you're looking for and the comprehensiveness of the library in question.

I'll concede, though, that these aren't hard-and-fast rules. When I DM, I like to give PCs a reason to pore through musty old tomes and seek out rumors of lost libraries, so these interpretations of the rules provide some mechanical crunch to motivate the players.

If memory serves stronghold builders handbook has rules for having access to library. I could adventure that it's +1 to each and every knowledge skill for a small library (1,5 k) but don't quote me on that. I just remember playing a character with a library in his enveloping pit.

[torrasque666]

Library stuff
Actually, the Stronghold Builder's guide actually has some rules for this, at least when using its own resources. A library that has the specific topic that you're looking for provides a +2 circumstance bonus, while just the general array of books (IE, like a normal library as opposed to a research library) only provides a +1.

[jiriku]

Ah, my weakness! My 3.5 collection is prodigious, but Stronghold Builder's Guide is one of the few books I don't have. :smallsmile: Great find, thethird and torrasque!