OGC:Specific Info (3.5e Gather Information Skill Use)

This material is published under the OGL 1.0a.

Gather Information [Cha]

Gather Information can be used both for revealing specific information and in urban tracking.

Specific Info

At its core Gather Information represents the ability to guide a conversation — to get people to talk about the things you want to hear, without realizing that they are being led by the nose. In addition to its general use — picking up rumors and local gossip — Gather Information can also be used to trick an individual into revealing specific information.

Check: Make a skill check opposed by the target’s Sense Motive check. The target receives a +10 to her Sense Motive check if she is actively suspicious of you; at the GM’s discretion, she may receive an additional bonus based on racial hostilities, religious differences, or similar issues. Finally, she receives a bonus based on the importance of the information you are trying to obtain:

Import	Example	Bonus
Trivial	What's your name?	+0
Significant	When’s the guard’s shift-change?	+5
Secret	Where is the safe hidden?	+10
Top Secret	What’s the combination?	+20

If your Gather Information check is successful, your victim won’t even realize that she let the information slip; you keep the conversation moving seamlessly. If you miss a check by five or more points, your target realizes that you are digging for information and may become hostile or suspicious.

Retry: You can retry a failed roll, but you take a cumulative –5 penalty on each subsequent attempt, as the target begins to get suspicious; this penalty continues to accumulate even if you decide to search for a different piece of information. You cannot take 20 when you attempt to direct a conversation.

Special: This is not intended to take the place of roleplaying conversations with NPCs. In general, a GM will require you to roleplay at least part of the conversation. Depending on how you handle the situation, this may provide you with a bonus or penalty to your skill check. A particularly suave lead-in to your question might get you anywhere up to a +5 bonus, while a ham-handed or blunt query may give you a –5 penalty. Finally, characters with 5 or more ranks of Diplomacy receive a +2 synergy bonus to a Gather Information check to reveal specific information.

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Specific Info from Crime and Punishment, © 2003, Atlas Games; Author Keith Baker, based on original material by Keith Baker. It is covered by the Open Game License v1.0a, rather than the GNU Free Documentation License 1.3. To distinguish it, these items will have this notice. If you see any page that contains Open Game License v1.0a material and does not show this license statement, please contact an admin so that this license statement can be added. It is our intent to work within this license in good faith.