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SKILLS
Gather Information
(Cha; Interaction)
You know how to make contacts, collect gossip and rumors, question informants, and otherwise gather information from people.
Check: By succeeding at a skill check (Difficulty 10) you can get a feel for the major news and rumors in an area. This assumes no obvious reasons exist why information would be withheld. The higher the check result, the more complete the information. Information ranges from general to protected, and the Difficulty increases accordingly for the type of information you want to gather, as given in the table below.
| Type of Information | Difficulty |
|---|---|
| General | 10 |
| Specific | 15 |
| Restricted | 20 |
| Protected | 25 |
General information concerns local happenings, rumors, gossip, and the like. Specific information usually relates to a particular question. Restricted information includes facts that aren't generally known and require you to locate someone who has access to such information. Protected information is even harder to come by and might involve some danger, either for the one asking the questions or the one providing the answers. If the information sought is about a particular individual, that individual's Reputation is added as a bonus to the Gather Information check.
There's a chance someone takes note of anyone asking about restricted or protected information. The Narrator decides when this is the case. In some situations, opposed Gather Information checks are appropriate to see if someone else notices your inquiries (and you notice theirs).
Send Message: You can send a message to a particular individual through a Gather Information check. The Difficulty of the check is determined by the size of the community minus the target's Reputation.
| Community Size | Difficulty |
|---|---|
| Village or smaller | 5 |
| Small town | 10 |
| Large town | 15 |
| Small city | 20 |
| Large city | 25 |
If you succeed, you can use one of your interaction skills with regards to the target. Choose Bluff, Diplomacy or Intimidate and make the check as normal.
Challenges: You can take the following challenges with Gather Information:
Discretion: While seeking out news and information, you keep a low profile. You increase your Gather Information check Difficulty by +5, but you avoid leaving any clues about the information you seek. If your check fails, you may be detected as normal, but you still avoid spreading clues about what you seek.
Try Again: Yes, but it takes additional time for each check, and you may draw attention to yourself if you repeatedly pursue a certain type of information.
Action: A Gather Information check takes at least an hour, possibly several, at the Narrator's discretion. Normally Gather Information checks take place between scenes.