What do you gather here?

The Skill of Gathering Information
by Shea C. Reinke

Originally posted on Wizards of the Coast website
http://community.wizards.com/go/thread/view/75882/19572342/What_do_you_Gather_here?post_id=332689722#332689722

Questions

The first question that pops out of a player's mouth, about the Gather Information skill, is "Why should I bother?" His thought, "If I know the right questions to ask then I don't need to make a skill roll" is a misunderstanding of the meta-play. The Gather Information skill is not an escape from asking the right questions, but a release from the monotony of the single player dialogue, and massive amounts of time, that are required to role play out the entire process of Gathering Information in the game.

There are two functions of a Gather Information check, and they can be taken to involve taking ten on numerous Diplomacy checks, conceptually. Throughout an evening, generally 1d4 + 1 hours (give or take a candle mark), you change a number of NPC attitudes to friendly enough to give you information. The epic, - 20 to avoid attention, penalty can be considered both the finer arts of eavesdropping, and changing attitudes to helpful enough to "forget" you. Avoiding attention and actually getting people to trust you are not a part of Gather Information. If you don't want anyone to find you, use Hide. Unwanted attention can be a consequence of even a successful Gather Information check.

The primary point of focus for the Gather Information skill not the same as the Diplomacy skill. There is a world between the basic premises. Diplomacy is a consensual skill function. You change an attitude by your state of being in relation to the targets. A Gather Information check is more like people skimming. If you already know who has the answers to your questions, say if you can think to yourself "I need to talk to the Viceroy of Southreach," use Diplomacy. Ask your question, and be done with it. Negotiate if necessary. Gather Information finds facts not from one source, but from two and three. Source A, B, and C. Half of what she said and three parts what you see.

Answers

"What were you saying?"

The simpler function of the Gather Information skill is one in which can you can usually hide, without concern for being seen by someone you will receive negative attention from, assuming your not wanted for something important or pressing locally. You are simply learning what anyone should learn from where you are standing. This check could reasonably be rolled for you whenever you spend more than an hour in a public place. Anytime you have a reasonable chance to learn something while time is passing you can roll, or have rolled for you, a Gather Information check. This is what the skill can do, put a information gather list next to the city encounter table in your campaigns. After spending days in a city you would be rather well informed of the general goings on, particularly at that Tanzian dance hall the stable hands are always talking about.

"I say, what's the goings on?"

Another side effect of keeping such a record is that you can have a pulse of the city, Gather Information is only useful in something that qualifies as a city. A group that spends months and years in a city should expect to be able to recall the talk of the town, and how it went up and down. "The festival every summer brings stories of the southern hills, as the riverfolk turn upstream" players might say in memory. This does involve producing the occasional random story. Many times a player will be satisfied with information gathered such as "Two old men are speaking of the river man who claims to have seen a dragon down south." Sometimes that simple statement will lead your group off to a side quest.

"Really? That's strange."

Most city talk revolves around the doings of the government figures, the local entertainment, and the goings on of those "not from here". If you are in an intimate setting, say a small clan house with some dozen NPCs, you may also learn a few intimate details about the NPCs' lives. What qualifies as entertainment in a place can often be the most conducive angle to analyze before describing your Gather Information process. If a rumor of contention is known amongst a group of NPCs, spend time around them and you may just overhear something useful to you. This is something you don't even really need to ask questions to do, and unless you're already marked you should be able to avoid attention.

"Do you know this man?"

In some cities, it could be you that everyone is talking about. Random rumors are one issue, but pointed questions are something different. You have to control your targets more. Bend the conversation a little bit, if you will. This is what draws attention to you. You are not talking about what your target wants to, and they notice you. "He wanted something from me" they say. They may tell you what you want to know, but they may also tell on you to someone else asking pointed questions about you. Idle gossip, and good rumor, is usually available for free save for time, but answers for questions comes close to negotiating. A bargain is struck, sometimes with your presence, but sometimes for some more concrete form of pay.

"Who do you think you are?"

DC 15 implies simple subjects. Rumor almost already in hand, but you have to know right now. As your difficulty moves up to 25 and higher you are asking for more, and likely spending more of something or another. Making friends implies that you will have a lingering attachment to some NPC, of some kind or another. You may have learned of the secret entrance to the black tower from a low level guard that will be on duty when you are attacking. What is a friend worth to your character's description? Good or evil, lawful or chaotic, a friendly should mean something to you. Of course you may make the best friends with those who have absolutely nothing to tell you.

"Ok, now where are we going?"

The interesting thing about the cost involved in Gather Information is that the real expenditures may have nothing to do with the eventual source of the information you seek to gather. You may spend hundreds of gold at a noble's favorite bar, and learn what you want to know from a street performer on the way back home. Maybe you promise a date with your cute friend to an old man who thinks he knows something, but you hear the truth from the mouth of a flower girl for a silver. Knowledge, in every world, can come in amazingly odd ways. The Gather Information check can include a plan but the result of spending hours chasing a town for rumors can result in very strange happenings.

Playing with Gather Information

Gather Information is a skill that should collapse long periods of time into a playable, and entertaining, sequence. Ideally the entire play group should be able to enjoy the descriptions involved in a Gather Information check. The act of checking Gather Information places the players in the hands of fate (the dm). Your roll is made and your DM takes the result to define the events of a vague span of time and a number of possible unusual circumstances. Random encounters can often be the most likely result of the actual actions that are component of making a Gather Information check (particularly a failure), but the intent is to minimize the amount of one-on-one play not start a single player combat sequence spontaneously.

The patter involved between player and dm should go something along this line:
"OK, I make a Gather Information check of (rolls) 18, im asking about the duke, you know."
"Right, so you are heading to the stables, then off to the docks, and you end up at the golden goose"
"Yeah, I go buy stuff and talk to street hawkers"
"Uhh, the stable boy said something about a ceremony, that you asked a fruit vendor in the open market about and he told you it was being performed by the duke and other noble houses for some cult whose name he would not speak, and some lady at the golden goose said that the duke always performs ceremonies at his country manor, and she said something else 'have a care sir, keep an eye for the tracks of goats'."
"When is the ceremony?"
"The fruit vendor said next week, and you heard some street preacher say that it was ... five days until the time, That's 10 gp you spent buying fruit, and drinks at the goose."

A Gather Information check should take no more than a minute or two of play time, but it covers hours of game time. The skill is like Craft (Information) in that way. Groups that have crafters will find that Craft checks and Gather Information checks are best made at the same time. Almost like a supplemental non-conflict turn of rounds, measured in hours of activity instead of seconds of action.

When the entire group is waiting on the results of information before taking real actions you can heighten the anticipation by waiting to roll an actual Gather Information check until after all the other players have had a chance to describe what their activities are while the researching characters are on an about. Remember, multiple party members can aid each other in Gather Information. The entire group can go out on the town, together or with a game plan, and perform a more complete canvas of a city. Gather Information can be used untrained, it gives any of your players an activity to do, and provides a space of civil exposition for the dm to use. A five or ten minute description of how the city and the activities of several hours go by that the players need only contribute lightly to.

The Half-Elf, Investigator, and Synergy

Half-Elves gain a racial bonus to Gather Information. Why? They are perpetually out of place. There is no natural place for them in pure breed social interaction, and therefore they have an advantageous position. A known position. Never having had an acceptable spot to stand in a social stratification they are familiar with the process of passing that first threshold, and only that first threshold matters for the design of Gather Information. Inversely, the synergy bonus from Knowledge (local) represents the palpable ability to behave when in a particular locale, to know where you stand. You can laugh at the jokes at all the right times, or all the right-wrong times if you are born out of place, like a half-elf.

A character with the investigator feat is also working from a practiced position, the feat implies that you have asked these kind of questions so many times before that you no longer exude the same kind of nervous energy that most do when investigating rumors. You may have developed tactics and tricks for asking questions in round about ways. You probably have good poker face, and you know how to provoke someone into talking about what they want to; in a way that is rewarding to both of you. You can be certain that one of a city's star reporters is a half-elf with the Investigator feat, and 5 or more ranks in Knowledge (His City).

Gather Information and Challenge Rating

Gather Information skill checks should usually reduce the amount of time that random action monopolizes in play, but by making the skill check more involved you can make the experience into something worth a challenge rating. When actual threat of retaliation is present, and when the majority of the party declares that they are Gathering Information together; the dm begins to provoke social skill DCs for certain key circumstances, with drastic consequences. The rouge needs to Bluff a few times, the cleric may make Diplomacy or Knowledge (Religion), and the Bard is told to Perform (Sing), Perform (Dance), and make a few Bluffs too. Perhaps a duel ensues, one opposed attack roll will do for first blood, or maybe you reflex save against damage as a bar fight breaks out.

Depending on the number of checks your players are required to make, and the severity of the consequences, you can determine the challenge rating. Success in the Gather Information check is similar to disarming the trap, a social trap. Damage is only one of the many possible dire consequences. Getting the info and not alerting the attention of the local nasty that you are attempting to avoid should be two criterion of success. You may not gain the XP for participating in the challenge until a threat you provoked is abated. This may involve combat or a hasty bit of traveling. Using Gather Information like this can be the source of spontaneous quest XP. Using Gather Information can give some structure to non-combat time, but should not be used as the only source of quest XP.

Doing More With Gather Information
The above is RAW. The below is R&D.

The other reason that the Gather Information skill is allot like a Craft (Information) skill is that you really can't use it in combat. There is simply no way to qualify a Gather Information check into a combat turn in any way. Unless you play with the rules such as these,

Gather Information could make something,
Make a Plan: When you successfully make a plan you can grant a + 1 morale, or insight see DCs, bonus to any one type of check per participant in the plan. Only allies can participate in plans together. The DC to make a plan is determined by the duration of the plan, and the number of details (see plan duration and detail table). The participants in the plan must enact, produce, or qualify for any details of the plan. If not, the plan ceases to grant a bonus for the designated check. A masterworked plan grants an additional + 2 insight bonus to a second designated check. The check designated by either the primary + 1 morale, or insight see DCs, bonus per participant or the secondary + 2 insight bonus can apply to any one skill check, attack roll, or save.

-----
_Plan duration DCs_
1 turn DC 5
10 turns DC 10
One Combat 15
One Hour DC 20
One Day DC 30
One Month DC 40
Insight Bonus DC +5
Master wok Component DC +10*1
_Epic Plan duration DCs_
One Season DC 50
One Year DC 70
Ten Years DC 90
A lifetime DC 110
Epic Master wok Component DC +30*1
---
*1 Creating a master work component requires you to double the amount of time spent making your plan, in combat 2 minutes (20 consecutive rounds).
---
_Details_
Details are any specific action.
Details must be organized in order.
Details are determined by the circumstance.

You reduce your DC by 1 for each detail involved in a plan.
-----

Action: Making a plan requires 1 minute (10 full combat rounds). You can take a day to make a plan and gain a + 5 bonus to your check. You can take more than one day to make a plan. Each day you spend planning grants an additional + 5 bonus to your Gather Information check.
Special: A plan starts when the first detail is fulfilled.
Untrained: An untrained Knowledge can only make a plan of a DC 15 or less.

Gather Information could work faster,
Analyze Character: You can observe the actions of a target and gain information about their character and equipment. This roll is opposed by a reactive Bluff check. A target that is aware of being analyzed and may choose to substitute Diplomacy, Disguise, Perform, or a Knowledge skill in place of Bluff to oppose your attempt to analyze their character.
Action: Analyzing a character usually requires several minutes of interaction but you can make a Gather Information check to analyze a character in combat with a - 10 penalty.
Special: An aware target may determine, to the the extent allowed by the opposing skill, the information gained when your Gather Information check to analyze a character fails.

Gather Information could help Knowledge and Appraise,
Research: When you have reason to believe that you have failed a Knowledge or Appraise check a successful Gather Information check to research the issue will allow you to retry the skill check. The DC is equal to the DC of the original skill check.

Action: Research requires a number of hours and an acceptable source of information or reference.
Special: You cannot research a question unless you have unless you have already attempted to and failed a trained Knowledge or Appraise check.

Information isn't cheap,
PROFESSION (WIS; TRAINED ONLY)
...
Special: In addition to using the Profession skill, you can use Gather Information to practice the information trade.

and Gather Information really could just be a part of Diplomacy.
To convert a 3.X character simply move all ranks of Gather Information into Diplomacy (adjust for class skills, if necessary). When Diplomacy reaches max ranks put the remainder into Sense Motive, Bluff, or Perform. Conceptually Gather Information is related to the Diplomacy skill, and, for mechanic purposes, there is no overwhelming need to have them be separate skills. They make a sensical link from immediate combat behavior, to collapsed contested discussion, and all the way up to an overland travel, profession, or crafting time rate.

These Feats are intended to be used with SRD compatible material, and the skill functions of Gather Information described above.

OUT OF PLACE [racial]
Shea - Based off the half-elf ability. Hence the negation of stacking.
Prerequisites: Special.
Benefit: Gain a + 2 morale bonus to Diplomacy and Gather Information. This bonus does not stack with the half-elf bonus to Diplomacy and Gather Information.
Special: You can only take this feat before your first class level, and you must be of mixed blood. Pure blood races such as dwarves, elves, gnomes, halflings, and humans cannot take this feat.

FRIEND OF FATE [general]
Shea - Reduced expenditures!
Benefit: You generally do not have to spend any money to make a Gather Information check. In situations where gp or barter are unavoidable you will always spend less than normal.

PROFESSIONAL [general]
Shea - No chance of suspicion when making profession check.
Prerequisites: Profession 5 ranks.
Benefit: You do not risk any chance of attracting suspicion when making Gather Information checks if you can make a Gather Information check at the same time as you are making a Profession check.

REPRESENTATIVE [general]
Shea - Any suspicion is directed at the party you represent, hehe.
Prerequisites: Diplomacy and Bluff 5 ranks, Gather Information 10 ranks.
Benefit: If you attract attention while making a Gather Information check you redirect that negative attention to another character. That character may or may not exist.

CONFIDANT [general]
Shea - Reduce DC 15 specific rumors to DC 10 general info.
Prerequisites: Charisma 13.
Benefit: You can seek out a specific rumor, or a specific item, or obtain a map, or do something else along those lines while getting a general idea of a city's major news items. You cannot use this ability if the DC to find the information is greater than 20.

DARK SECRET [general]
Shea - Gain bonus on diplomacy or intimidation because you know THE TRUTH!
Prerequisites: Gather Information 10 ranks.
Benefit: When you take this feat you gain the ability to use a Gather Information check DC 30 to learn a dark secret about a target. Knowing a dark secret about a target NPC grants you a + 4 morale bonus to Diplomacy and Intimidation checks targeting them.

LIFE OF THE PARTY [general]
Shea - NPCs become friendly, and stay that way.
Prerequisites: Perform 5 ranks.
Benefit: When you successfully make a Gather Information check you also gain a number of NPCs in the area that you may treat as friendly.
Special: Having this feat and using Gather Information in an area several times will most likely make you something of celebrity.

These feats are redundant if you use the similarly named skill functions for Gather Information that I have described above.

RESEARCHER [general]
Shea - UH.. never mind..
Benefit: +2 bonus to Gather Information and Knowledge checks.

ANALYZE OPPONENT [general]
Shea - not the same but a little of both.
Prerequisites: Gather Information 5 ranks, Dodge.
Benefit: This feat grants a +2 insight bonus to attack the opponent you have decided to dodge. If you Aid an ally in combat you may grant this bonus to that ally. You may grant a +4 (aid + insight) bonus to attack, or you may grant a +2 to both attack and AC. An aid bonus to AC, and an Insight bonus to attack. You do not gain the benefit of this feat if you are granting it to an ally.

IMPROVED ANALYZE OPPONENT [general]
Shea - Rounded tactical fighting.
Prerequisites: Gather Information 10 ranks, Analyze Opponent.
Benefit: In addition to the insight bonuses provided by the analyze opponent feat you gain a +2 morale bonus to AC against attacks from any ally of the opponent you have designated for your dodge.

GREATER ANALYZE OPPONENT [general]
Shea - And, crazy.
Prerequisites: Gather Information 15 Ranks, Improved Analyze Opponent, Improved Initiative.
Benefit: You gain grant all your allies in combat a + 2 bonus to Initiative. This bonus stacks with the bonus from improved initiative, and you do not gain a bonus to initiative from this feat.

SUPREME ANALYZE OPPONENT [general]
Shea - Why not?
Prerequisites: Gather Information 20 Ranks, Greater Analyze Opponent.
Benefit: You gain a +4 insight bonus to Bluff, Diplomacy, or Intimidate checks made against the opponent designated as your dodge.

EPIC ANALYZE OPPONENT [general]
Shea - All the way up.
Prerequisite: Gather Information 40 Ranks, Supreme Analyze Opponent, Epic Dodge, Superior Initiative.
Benefit: You may make a full round defensive combat action to aid all of your allies. Make a standard action Gather Information check DC 15. Success grants a + 4 insight bonus on all your allies attack rolls until your next action. If you are distracted you must make a Concentration check or you automatically fail the Gather Information check.

INFORMATION BROKER [general]
Shea - Gather Information as Profession (Reporter).
Prerequisites: Gather Information 1 rank, Profession 1 rank.
Benefit: You can use a Gather Information check as though it were a Profession by bartering information. The check works exactly like a Profession check except that you use your Gather Information ranks to determine your result.

TACTICIAN [general]
Shea - AND! You may not have asked for it, but here it is!
Prerequisites: Skill Focus (Gather Information).
Benefit: You can make a plan using the Gather Information skill.
This feat allows you to use the Make a Plan function of Gather Information described above. See plan duration and details table for DCs.

Some Stuff to Spend Some Gold and Silver Pieces.

-----
_Services Table Additions_

Assistant | 1 sp per rumor
Information Gatherer | 1 gp per rumor
Information Network | 10 go per rumor
Major Domo | 1 gp per day
-----

_Equipment and Services Description Additions_

Novelty: An item of interest that can serve as the tacit topic of conversation while investigating rumors. An appropriate novelty grants a +2 circumstance bonus to Gather Information checks. A novelty can be any item, but an item must be worth more than 100 gp to be used as a novelty in high society. In some noble aristocracies an item may need to be worth 1000 gp or more to be considered a novelty.
Rounds: A round of drinks for the house on you. A round may or may not be a beverage. Buying a few rounds grants you a +2 morale bonus to Gather Information checks. The cost of a round varies by the establishment.
Meals: Paying for a meal is a perfect tool to assist Gather Information. Purchasing a meal for an informant grants you a +2 competence bonus to Gather Information checks. The cost of a meal varies by the establishment.
Bribes: Paying for information directly gets more expensive depending on the rumors you are looking for. Involving bribery in you Gather Information check grants a +4 morale bonus to your check.

Information Gatherer: An NPC that can Gather Information for you.
Information Network: A network grants a +3 insight bonus to Gather Information in the area covered by the network.
Major Domo: A major domo grants a +4 aid bonus to Gather Information checks.
Assistant: Assistants grant a +2 aid bonus to Gather Information checks.

Lastly a Prestige Class.

Field Commander

prerequisites: Profession 5 ranks, Gather Information 10 ranks, Skill Focus (Gather Information), Skill Focus (Diplomacy), and the Fascinate special ability.

HD: d8
Will and Reflex Prime
BAB: 3/4 Class Level.
Skills: 8 + Int

Class Skills: Appraise (Int), Bluff (Cha), Concentration (Con), Craft (Int), Decipher Script (Int), Diplomacy (Cha), Disguise (Cha), Escape Artist (Dex), Forgery (Int), Gather Information (Cha), Hide (Dex), Intimidate (Cha), Knowledge (all skills, taken individually) (Int), Listen (Wis), Move Silently (Dex), Open Lock (Dex), Perform (Cha), Profession (Wis), Search (Int), Sense Motive (Wis), Sleight of Hand (Dex), Speak Language (n/a), Spellcraft (Int), Spot (Wis), Use Magic Device (Cha), and Use Rope (Dex).

1 Follower's Boon, Inspire Weakness
2
3 Inspire Organization
4
5 Obsession
6 Inspire Tactics
7
8 Bonus Meta-Magic Feat
9
10 Enemies' Thorn, Obsession, Mass.

Weapon and Armor Proficiency: The Field Commander is not proficient in any weapon or armor.
Practicing Spell Caster: Field Commander Prestige Class levels increase your effective caster level in one designated spell casting class, but Field Commander levels grant you no additional spells per day or spells known.
Improved Bardic Music: Field Commander levels add to the number of times you can use your bardic music ability in a day as though they were Bard levels.
Follower's Boon (Ex): Your allies gain a +2 morale bonus to Diplomacy and Gather Information checks when acting in your interests.
Inspire Organization (Su): This ability expends a bardic music usage, and has the same action and duration details. Inspire Organization applies a +4 insight bonus to a number of designated skill checks for your allies. The number of skills you can designat is equal to your Field Commander level.
Obsession (Su): This ability does not expend a bardic music usage. An already fascinated target must make a will save DC equal to 10 + Charisma modifier + your combined Bard and Field Commander level. This is a supernatural ability that otherwise works exactly like the psionic manifestations Attraction or Aversion, using your combined Bard and Field Commander levels for the manifester level. You must declare the obsession an Attraction or an Aversion when you use the ability.
Inspire Tactics (Su): This ability expends a bardic music usage, and has the same action and duration details. Inspire Tactics grants a +4 insight bonus to all saves to a number of your allies equal to your Field Commander levels.
Inspire Weakness (Su): This ability expends a bardic music usage, and has the same action and duration details. Inspire weakness applies a -2 morale penalty to the attack and damage rolls of any enemy that can perceive your Performance.
Enemies' Thorn (Ex): When Making Gather Information checks you never risk negative attention. Non-Epic Gathering Information checks made to find rumors about you always fail. When an Epic character attempts to Gather Information about you they suffer a -20 penalty to the check.
Obsession, Mass (Su): This ability works the same as obsession only you can effect any number of targets that you have already fascinated. You must declare the same type of obsession (Attraction or Aversion) for all targets.

Research and development in the vein of information gathering. I believe that using Diplomacy as Gather Information is probably the simplest and most realistic proposition herein. Like I said in the RAW description, the two skills share allot of conceptual space. Diplomacy lacks a structured function for learning about your targets (an important facet of real world diplomacy), and Gather Information is unusable in combat. You could collapse Profession and Gather Information, but you would be adding a daily function to Profession and not a combat function to Gather Information.

Knowledge is power, but the game mechanics do not reflect that. A dm can apply circumstantial benefits all over the place, but it is nice to have a table to refer to. The Field Commander? Well its an information based character concept. Proper application of knowns instead of the confidence boost of a powerful performance. The equipment is vague, but drinks, meals, and the appropriate amount of money spent up front should count when Gathering Information. The Services are calculated in light of using Gather Information linked with Profession, otherwise they are just hirelings.

Have you gathered any information here that you can use?