Lab Arc Wiki

One reward you may receive as a result of adventuring or training, is becoming better at an aspect of an existing skill (for example, your recent experience in dissecting the corpses of elves might give you a +1 on Knowledge/Medical/Elves.) I'm still a bit wiggly about this idea, but I think I like it as a potential reward at least.

As Eio is a 'fantasy-modern' area… let's be honest and say it's not quite Shadowrun, as magic came first, tech came later. That said, the biggest form of gun control is the fact that I've only listed one pistol on the equipment list for now – the type of weapon you can get legally, easily, and without jumping through weird hoops. That said, for Pathfinder purposes, Eio is a Guns Everywhere society – they may power their bullets with mana rather than black powder, but the effects are the same: 1) The gunslinger loses the gunsmith class feature and instead gains the gun training class feature at 1st level (namely, a gunslinger can select one specific type of firearm (such as a shotgun, rifle, or pistol). She gains a bonus equal to her Dexterity modifier on damage rolls when firing that type of firearm. Furthermore, misfires are less dangerous. 2) Firearms qualify as simple weapons; beam weapons qualify as martial weapons; both are not something you want to be in front of, and both can be used with the Gunslinger class features.

Firearms are generally considered part of the Simple weapon proficiency group; beam weapons and general tech weapons that do not require extensive additional knowledge are generally considered part of the Martial proficiency group. Some particularly complicated weapons may require a Use Magical Device check to ready them for service, and require special proficiency to operate (say, a heavy machine cannon.)

Firearms and Beam Weapons each count as separate weapon groups for purpose of a fighter's weapon training feats.

Weapons that you are not proficient in using have an effective -4 to hit. However, the lowest attack roll you can roll is d20+0, regardless of penalties; the nonproficiency malus will probably eat your attack bonuses, but there is always the chance you will get lucky.

Firearms and beam weapons have a chance of malfunctioning in some way on a natural roll of 1. Weapons that are already damaged or in obvious poor repair may have a higher chance of failure.

Because of the developments of time and technology, practically any skill can be used untrained (the assumption being that even if you don't know how to use a plasma cutter, you probably have some idea from your vidcaster shows or games that use similar-looking tools.) This means that Disable Device, all Knowledge skills, Spellcraft, and Use Magic Device can be used untrained (though there may be limits on what you can attempt if untrained, and successes may still have consequences that a professional would otherwise avoid. “Congratulations! You manage to break open the lock. It'll be obvious to everyone that it's been broken open, but at least you didn't set off the alarm…”)

Classes which normally receive the ability to use skills untrained as part of their class, racial, or other features instead receive a +2 to use those skills, if they are covered by this rule.

Use Magic Device is the skill used for any manatech device that the user is not specifically trained in, and is based off of Intelligence instead of Charisma in most circumstances. (It is very difficult for even the most persuasive person to talk their cell phone into loading faster.) Normal magic items that are not technological in origin still use Charisma as their ability of choice.

For those 'what is that thing?!' moments, because rules as written get iffy sometimes.

To identify creatures and their abilities, a Knowledge check result determines what information, if any, you obtain. The DCs listed are for creatures qualified as common. For more mysterious or unknown creatures, adjust the DC. At the DM's discretion, they may tell you any information that you would receive on rolling a 10 without requiring a roll (a 'passive check'). “Yep… yep, Steve, that's a cow. You don't need to paint 'Cow' on it, I'm sure we'll remember.” On the other hand, if you are otherwise distracted (running for your life from an angry mob, seriously inebriated, in a blind rage), you may have trouble recognizing even the most common objects. “I'm telling you, I stabbed the cow because I thought it was a monster and I was trying to get past it so I could escape!”

The tiers of Knowledge checks, and the information they provide are:

• DC 5 Basic: Name/Type of creature.
• DC 10 Advanced: How big a threat is it? (A general idea of CR range.)
• DC 15 Expert: A Strength and a weakness. (A special attack, and one of it's vulnerabilities)
• DC 20 Master: A complete understanding of the beast.

Creatures can be catalogued as:

• I) Common: Use base DCs.
• II) Uncommon: Adjust base DCs by +5.
• III) Rare: Adjust base DCs by +10.
• IV) Extremely Rare: Adjust base DCs by +15.
• V) Nearly Unique: Adjust base DCs by +20.

Common - seen frequently, most local animals or creatures that are very prevalent in area (goblins in a area known to be controlled by goblins, cats or cows in an average farming village)

Uncommon - one of the local top predators in an area, travelers frequently warned about them. Most commoners would consider ogres, ghouls, giant spiders, stirges and the like in this category.

Rare - Impressive beasts locally famous in an area you don't have familiarity with, monsters native to foreign areas, creatures not commonly seen in your area. (Pixies for someone from a desert environment, or camels for someone from a woodland environment, or the distinction between specific types of dragon, demon, devil, etc, beyond 'It's dangerous and we shouldn't get its attention'.

Very Rare - Monsters that are very rarely seen in the area the character comes from, if anywhere at all. (Figuring out the difference between a beholder and a spectator, for example; a variant dragon that doesn't match up to the normal chromatic / metallic models; the subject of obscure folklore and stories.)

Nearly Unique - A monster that the party would have no way of knowing about, whether newly created through the wonders of alchemical science, wild magic, or acts of God; rare to the point of being unheard of or entirely outside of character experience; or otherwise unique and alien to one's experiences and knowledge. (Sure, you know what a platinum dragon is, but how does the average adventurer tell the difference between that and a silver dragon with a bit of an off shade, particularly if it's not what you the player think it is either?)

Truly unique monsters may be better known than otherwise indicated – if Magrath the Destroyer is a giant dragon tortoise that occasionally shows up to blast towns with his energy rays, it might have come up as part of folklore, and those who actually live in the towns he blasts every year would certainly consider him a Common or Uncommon hazard!

These are new fields of knowledge that a character might pick up with their skill ranks, or spend time training to learn in their downtime. Note that in most cases, general knowledge within your field of study has a DC of 10 (for relatively easy questions), 15 (for questions that require some skill and thought), or 20 or more for the real headscratchers. However, appropriate reference materials may effectively lower DCs significantly.

• Arcanics: The scientific study and application of magic; while Arcana deals with direct knowledge of magic and magical beasts, Arcanics covers the principles behind technomagical items and the ebb and flow of magic, and essentially, magical 'physics'.
• Etherics: The scientific study and application of psionics, including its distinctions from magic and the various sub-fields that psionics utilize, as well as mechanical ways of producing their underlying function.
• Alchemics: The scientific study and application of alchemy - essentially, magical 'chemistry' and 'genetics' rolled up into one, as it allows you to create and transform life, cure diseases, and melt the lock off a door.
• Medical: Complex medical understanding of physiology, anatomy, biology, and function of various body parts, often used with autopsy to determine more information about an unknown creature, with surgery to treat complex injuries that first aid finds difficult to cover, and so forth.

Some other things that may be worth knowing:

• Knowledge: Engineering provides understanding of technological items in general (“I don't care how it works, I want to know how to stop it from shooting me!”)
• Knowledge: Arcana provides understanding of magical symbols, beasts, and similar elements.
• Spellcraft makes it easier to identify the intended effects of a spell being triggered.
• Use Magic Device can be used to figure out how a technomagic item without instructions works.