Home > Rules > Core Rulebook > Chapter 4: Skills > Lore

LORE (INT)

You have specialized information on a narrow topic. Lore features many subcategories. You might have Military Lore, Sailing Lore, Vampire Lore, or any similar subcategory of the skill. Each subcategory counts as its own skill, so applying a skill increase to Planar Lore wouldn’t increase your proficiency with Sailing Lore, for example.

You gain a specific subcategory of the Lore skill from your background. The GM determines what other subcategories they’ll allow as Lore skills, though these categories are always less broad than any of the other skills that allow you to Recall Knowledge, and they should never be able to fully or mainly take the place of another skill’s Recall Knowledge action. For instance, Magic Lore wouldn’t enable you to recall the same breadth of knowledge covered by Arcana, Adventuring Lore wouldn’t simply give you all the information an adventurer needs, and Planar Lore would not be sufficient to gain all the information spread across various skills and subcategories such as Heaven Lore.

If you have multiple subcategories of Lore that could apply to a check or that would overlap with another skill in the circumstances, you can use the skill with the better skill modifier or the one you would prefer to use. If there’s any doubt whether a Lore skill applies to a specific topic or action, the GM decides whether it can be used or not. Even if you’re untrained in Lore, you can use it to Recall Knowledge

Recall Knowledge

Concentrate Secret


You attempt a skill check to try to remember a bit of knowledge regarding a topic related to that skill. The GM determines the DCs for such checks and which skills apply.

The following skills can be used to Recall Knowledge, getting information about the listed topics. In some cases, you can get the GM's permission to use a different but related skill, usually against a higher DC than normal. Some topics might appear on multiple lists, but the skills could give different information. For example, Arcana might tell you about the magical defenses of a golem, whereas Crafting could tell you about its sturdy resistance to physical attacks.

  • Arcana: Arcane theories, magical traditions, creatures of arcane significance, and arcane planes.
  • Crafting: Alchemical reactions and creatures, item value, engineering, unusual materials, and constructs.
  • Lore: The subject of the Lore skill's subcategory.
  • Medicine: Diseases, poisons, wounds, and forensics.
  • Nature: The environment, flora, geography, weather, creatures of natural origin, and natural planes.
  • Occultism: Ancient mysteries, obscure philosophy, creatures of occult significance, and esoteric planes.
  • Religion: Divine agents, divine planes, theology, obscure myths, and creatures of religious significance.
  • Society: Local history, key personalities, legal institutions, societal structure, and humanoid culture.

The GM might allow checks to Recall Knowledge using other skills. For example, you might assess the skill of an acrobat using Acrobatics. If you're using a physical skill (like in this example), the GM will most likely have you use a mental ability score—typically Intelligence—instead of the skill's normal physical ability score.

Critical Success You recall the knowledge accurately and gain additional information or context.
Success You recall the knowledge accurately or gain a useful clue about your current situation.
Critical Failure You recall incorrect information or gain an erroneous or misleading clue.

Sample Recall Knowledge Tasks

These examples use Society or Religion.
Untrained name of a ruler, key noble, or major deity
Trained line of succession for a major noble family, core doctrines of a major deity
Expert genealogy of a minor noble, teachings of an ancient priest
Master hierarchy of a genie noble court, major extraplanar temples of a deity
Legendary existence of a long-lost noble heir, secret doctrines of a religion

Source Core Rulebook pg. 239

Earn Income

Downtime


You use one of your skills to make money during downtime. The GM assigns a task level representing the most lucrative job available. You can search for lower-level tasks, with the GM determining whether you find any. Sometimes you can attempt to find better work than the initial offerings, though this takes time and requires using the Diplomacy skill to Gather Information, doing some research, or socializing.

When you take on a job, the GM secretly sets the DC of your skill check. After your first day of work, you roll to determine your earnings. You gain an amount of income based on your result, the task’s level, and your proficiency rank (as listed on Table 4–2: Income Earned).

You can continue working at the task on subsequent days without needing to roll again. For each day you spend after the first, you earn the same amount as the first day, up until the task’s completion. The GM determines how long you can work at the task. Most tasks last a week or two, though some can take months or even years.

Task LevelDCFailedTrainedExpertMasterLegendary
0141 cp5 cp5 cp5 cp5 cp
1152 cp2 sp2 sp2 sp2 sp
2164 cp3 sp3 sp3 sp3 sp
3188 cp5 sp5 sp5 sp5 sp
4191 sp7 sp8 sp8 sp8 sp
5202 sp9 sp1 gp1 gp1 gp
6223 sp1 gp, 5 sp2 gp2 gp2 gp
7234 sp2 gp2 gp, 5 sp2 gp, 5 sp2 gp, 5 sp
8245 sp2 gp, 5 sp3 gp3 gp3 gp
9266 sp3 gp4 gp4 gp4 gp
10277 sp4 gp5 gp6 gp6 gp
11288 sp5 gp6 gp8 gp8 gp
12309 sp6 gp8 gp10 gp10 gp
13311 gp7 gp10 gp15 gp15 gp
14321 gp, 5 sp8 gp15 gp20 gp20 gp
15342 gp10 gp20 gp28 gp28 gp
16352 gp, 5 sp13 gp25 gp36 gp40 gp
17363 gp15 gp30 gp45 gp55 gp
18384 gp20 gp45 gp70 gp90 gp
19396 gp30 gp60 gp100 gp130 gp
20408 gp40 gp75 gp150 gp200 gp
20 (critical success)50 gp90 gp175 gp300 gp

Critical Success You do outstanding work. Gain the amount of currency listed for the task level + 1 and your proficiency rank.
Success You do competent work. Gain the amount of currency listed for the task level and your proficiency rank.
Failure You do shoddy work and get paid the bare minimum for your time. Gain the amount of currency listed in the failure column for the task level. The GM will likely reduce how long you can continue at the task.
Critical Failure You earn nothing for your work and are fired immediately. You can't continue at the task. Your reputation suffers, potentially making it difficult for you to find rewarding jobs in that community in the future.

Sample Earn Income Tasks

These examples use Alcohol Lore to work in a bar or Legal Lore to perform legal work.
Trained bartend, do legal research
Expert curate drink selection, present minor court cases
Master run a large brewery, present important court cases
Legendary run an international brewing franchise, present a case in Hell's courts

Source Core Rulebook pg. 236