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Archives of Nethys

Archives of Nethys

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

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GM Core / Chapter 4: Subsystems / Research

Building a Research Challenge

Source GM Core pg. 190 2.0
A research challenge has two components: the library, which is an area containing the various research checks PCs need to attempt to learn about the topic (as well as obstacles that the PCs face while doing so); and a research stat block, which details the topic being researched and contains the information, rewards, and additional complications that happen when the PCs reach certain thresholds of RP.

Designing the Library

Source GM Core pg. 190 2.0
“Library” is the general term to designate the setting of the PCs' research. Despite the name, it doesn't necessarily consist of a quiet hall full of books. It could be an Astral memory palace, a gallery of iconographic artwork, or even a mansion where the party is questioning the guests. In many ways, designing a library is similar to designing any other dungeon, castle, or adventure locale, with various rooms or other areas, each with its own complications for the PCs to overcome. If your library is closer to a dungeon crawl on a tactical map, these are likely hazards or encounters with hostile creatures; if your library is meant to be meandered through more narratively, these might instead be skill-based or social encounters with NPCs.

Throughout the library, you'll place research checks. These describe the task that the party is doing to Research—perusing books, alchemically testing samples, or talking to a stubborn librarian—and a number of skills and DCs the party can use with the Research activity, in order from the lowest DC (the skill that works best) to the highest DC.

Research


Concentration Exploration
You comb through information to learn more about the topic at hand. Choose your research topic, section of the library, or other division depending on the form of research, and attempt a skill check. The skills to use and the DC for the check depend on the specific research task, and the Research activity gains any traits appropriate to the type of research (such as linguistic when perusing books).
Critical Success You gain 2 RP.
Success You gain 1 RP.
Critical Failure You make a false discovery and lose 1 RP.

If a skill isn't listed but a player provides a strong explanation for using it, you can add it at an appropriate DC (usually the highest listed DC). Academia Lore and Library Lore will often be listed in these entries, but also try to engage the whole party by varying the skills listed in each check; perhaps the books on aeromancy are all flying high overhead, requiring a round of Athletics checks to represent climbing up ladders to retrieve them. A variety of skills and decisions, along with vivid descriptions, are the key to an engaging and memorable research challenge, rather than just a string of die rolls by the investigator or wizard.

Each research check also has a maximum RP value. After reaching this value, the PCs can't gain any more RP from that research check (they don't gain more information by reading the same book over and over!) so they'll need to continue exploring to find more locations for further research. You can use this to guide your PCs through your library by placing research checks in various sections you know you want them to explore—an easy check near the entrance to introduce them to the topic is usually helpful as well! Be sure that your library provides enough RP for players to meet all the research thresholds in the stat block.

Designing the Stat Block

Source GM Core pg. 191 2.0
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.