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Archives of Nethys

Archives of Nethys

Pathfinder RPG (1st Edition) Pathfinder RPG (2nd Edition) Starfinder RPG

Rules Index | GM Screen | Player's Guide
Chapter 4: Subsystems / Research / Building a Research Challenge

Designing the Stat Block

Source GM Core pg. 191
Once you've decided what your library looks like and how the areas and research options are structured, it's time to build the stat block and set research thresholds for each topic. Thresholds are your opportunity to reward your PCs with intriguing new information (like the history of the town they're in), tactical intel (such as a legendary monster's only weakness), uncommon or rare options (like a lost spell in the library's depths), or anything else. A mix of rewards is best! Backstory can be interesting, but isn't much of a reward on its own. Research that uncovers only backstory should appear only at the lowest thresholds.

Reaching thresholds can also change the state of the library, in the PCs' favor or otherwise. In a dusty room, the first threshold might simply be cleaning and organizing the library to lower subsequent checks, but in a haunted library, ghosts might start appearing as their resting place is increasingly disturbed. Reaching a research threshold can do just about anything, but it should always do something.

Think about the constraints preventing the PCs from researching freely, and use those constraints to determine how many Research Points they must earn to reach each threshold. You don't need to evenly space thresholds—you could require very few Research Points for crucial clues you want to ensure the PCs receive and a much larger number to reach the final threshold that grants a special reward.

In a published adventure, you'll find stat blocks presented in the format below. In some cases, this information appears in a single stat block instead, but the rules function the same.

Research Topic's Name Research (Level)

Traits
Research Checks The checks PCs can attempt to conduct research listed alongside their locations, tagged with area codes or page references when appropriate.
Research Thresholds Each threshold lists the number of RP required to reach it, followed by the effects for meeting that threshold. Thresholds are listed in order from first (requiring the fewest RP) to last (the highest threshold).

Beneath the stat block, you can list any events that occur based on timing rather than the PCs' RP total (such as a threatening message arriving on the third day), as well as any other important details.

Sample Research Checks and Stat Block

Here, the PCs are trying to learn about a hag coven known only to the fey of a strange forest glade. It's a 7th-level challenge. Here are the research checks that would appear throughout the library, as well as the research stat block.

Sprite Swarm: Thousands of iridescent sprites flit about the entrance, eager to offer tidbits of information; Maximum RP 5; Research Checks DC 23 Diplomacy or Society to politely ask the sprites for information, DC 28 Athletics to catch one in the hand.

Field of Tomeflowers: By the crossing the babbling brook, 5-foot stems open up into colorful petaled tomes; Maximum RP 10; Research Checks DC 18 Academia Lore or Library Lore to read the tomes, DC 23 Occultism to understand strange marginalia.

Loremother Tree: In the center of the forest, an ancient oak slumbers, willing to share its wisdom with any who can commune with it; Maximum RP 15; Research Checks DC 21 Performance to awaken the oak through music, DC 23 Nature to interpret primal magic dreams.

The Hags' Secret Research 7

Unique Fey Primal
Research Checks sprite swarm (entrance), field of tomeflowers (babbling brook), Loremother Tree (center)
5 Research Points The PCs learn of apocryphal fey legends that say the coven members were once cruel fey queens now twisted by inner corruption. They learn basic details about hags and the hag mother's Call.
10 Research Points The PCs learn that the coven gathers on a nearby mountaintop every full moon. Attaining this knowledge comes at a cost: hag malice solidifies into two will-o'-wisps, which attack the PCs.
15 Research Points The PCs learn that a specific magical incantation is needed to reach the hag's mountaintop. Though they don't quite discover the incantation, they discover among magical writings a page containing the uncommon spell read omens.
20 Research Points The Loremother Tree awakens long enough to tell the PCs the incantation, but warns them that the hags possess powerful magic that has struck down many heroes. The tree then returns to slumber. Replace the Loremother Tree's Performance Research check with a DC 28 Diplomacy check to convince the tree to share further knowledge.
30 Research Points A dryad emerges from the trunk of the Loremother Tree and tells the PCs about the hags' spell—a unique polymorph ability that turns people into toads. She also gives each PC a small flower charm for protection that grants each PC a +3 status bonus to their saving throws against the hags' Toad Form ability. Unfortunately, this draws the hags' attention, who send two living wildfires to burn the glade down. If the PCs don't defeat the fire elementals, the creatures destroy any remaining information in the glade.