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D20 System Rules & Content Copyright 2000 Wizards of theCoast, Inc.; Authors Jonathan Tweet, Monte Cook, SkipWilliams, based on original material by Dave Arneson and E.Gary Gygax.

“The Talent of Inquiry” and “ The Techniques of Investigation,”excerpts from Crime and Punishment, Copyright 2003, Trident,Inc. d/b/a Atlas Games; Author Keith Baker.

Crime & Punishment Now available!

The anticipated next book in our Campaign Styles seriesis here! This is a look at the law and how it can be used byand against your character in any d20 System campaign!

By Keith Baker!

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Stock Number: AG3223 : ISBN: 1-58978-039-6160 pages : Hardcover

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1THE TALENTOF INQUIRYThe best investigators and inquisitors draw on a varietyof special talents that help them gather informationand uncover the truth. Some of these are given below,as feats.

CAREFUL LISTENER [GENERAL]

You have a talent for studying expressions and readingthe true thoughts of a speaker.

Benefit: You get a +2 bonus on all Sense Motivechecks and Gather Information checks.

HARD TO FOOL [GENERAL]

You are familiar with the tricks of con men and thieves;it’s hard to put anything past you.

Prerequisite: 3 or more ranks in one of the following:Bluff, Disguise, or Sleight of Hand.

Benefit: You receive a +4 bonus whenever you useSpot or Sense Motive to oppose an enemy’s Bluff,Disguise, or Sleight of Hand check.

INDOMITABLE [GENERAL]

Your mental discipline and astonishing strength ofpersonality help you to resist both mental and physi-cal compulsion.

Benefit: You receive a +3 bonus to saving throwsagainst Compulsion effects, Mind-altering effects, andany form of torture.

SLIPPERY TONGUE [GENERAL]

You have a knack for bending the truth. By convincingyourself that your words are true, you can even evademystical means of divination.

Prerequisite: 3 or more ranks in Bluff

Benefit: You receive a +2 bonus to Bluff and a +2bonus when saving against any sort of magic thatdetects lies (discern lies, painful truth, zone of truth,etc.).

THE TECHNIQUESOF INVESTIGATIONThere’s more to solving mysteries than having a levelor two in the investigator class. Many types of charac-ters may have the skills it takes to get to the bottom ofan enigma. Rogues can be just as useful at inquiry, pro-vided that they have proper motivation to use theirskills to acquire knowledge instead of wealth. And cler-ics, bards, and wizards share magical techniques withthe inquisitor, although the inquisitor has a few uniquetools.

This section provides information on a wide varietyof tricks that can be used to solve a mystery: newspells, new magical and alchemical items, and newapplications for pre-existing skills. Now your clericcan use her knowledge of healing to gain informa-tion from examining a corpse, as well as using hermagic to speak to it!

PART ONE: NEW

TRICKS FOR OLD SKILLS

Many of the existing skills have broad-reachingapplications. Gather Information represents a gen-eral talent for picking up knowledge from groups ofpeople — but what happens when you focus thatf lair for conversation on a single individual? Andwhat about the potential uses of medical andalchemical knowledge? This section takes a newlook at a variety of existing skills and the ways thatthey could help during an investigation.

1 GATHER INFORMATION (CHA)

Gather Information can be used both for revealing spe-cific information and in urban tracking.

SPECIFIC INFO

At its core Gather Information represents the ability toguide a conversation — to get people to talk about thethings you want to hear, without realizing that they arebeing led by the nose. In addition to its general use —picking up rumors and local gossip — GatherInformation can also be used to trick an individual intorevealing specific information.

Check: Make a skill check opposed by the target’sSense Motive check. The target receives a +10 to herSense Motive check if she is actively suspicious of you;at the GM’s discretion, she may receive an additionalbonus based on racial hostilities, religious differences,

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or similar issues. Finally, she receives a bonus basedon the importance of the information you are tryingto obtain:

Import Example BonusTrivial What’s your name? +0Significant When’s the guard’s shift-change? +5Secret Where is the safe hidden? +10Top Secret What’s the combination? +20

If your Gather Information check is successful, yourvictim won’t even realize that she let the informationslip; you keep the conversation moving seamlessly. Ifyou miss a check by five or more points, your targetrealizes that you are digging for information and maybecome hostile or suspicious.

Retry: You can retry a failed roll, but you take a cumu-lative –5 penalty on each subsequent attempt, as the tar-get begins to get suspicious; this penalty continues to accu-mulate even if you decide to search for a different piece ofinformation. You cannot take 20 when you attempt todirect a conversation.

Special: This is not intended to take the place ofroleplaying conversations with NPCs. In general, aGM will require you to roleplay at least part of theconversation. Depending on how you handle thesituation, this may provide you with a bonus orpenalty to your skill check. A particularly suavelead-in to your question might get you anywhereup to a +5 bonus, while a ham-handed or bluntquery may give you a –5 penalty. Finally, charac-ters with 5 or more ranks of Diplomacy receive a+2 synergy bonus to a Gather Information check toreveal specif ic information.

URBAN TRACKING

Urban tracking is another way in which you can useGather Information. If you’re trying to track a target’smovement within a city, knowledge of the area is farmore important than Survival. In this case, you arenot tracking a physical trail as much as you are talk-ing to your contacts within the city.

Check: The base DC of the check is determined bythe amount of time that has passed since your targetwas in the area:

Time DC5 minutes 51 hour 106 hours 1524 hours 201 week 30

Other conditions can also affect the base DifficultyClass:

Condition DCEvery three creatures in the tracked group –1Target is distinctive (unusual race, dress) –2Excellent description available (portrait) –2Target involved in minor incident

(street brawl, public argument) –2Minor bribe or Intimidation (DC 10) –2/+2Disliked in the area +3/–3Major bribe or Intimidation (DC 20) –4/+4Well-liked in the area –5/+5Target involved in major incident

(inciting crowds to riot) –5Vague description available +5No description available +10

Some of these modifiers can apply either to you or toyour target; the first value is for you, the second foryour target. If you have a good reputation in the areayou are canvassing, the DC is modified in your favor(–5); if your target is well-liked, the DC is modified inher favor (+5). If you are disliked (+3) and she is well-liked (+5), you’re going to have a difficult time find-ing her. Bribes are based on the general wealth of thearea; in a slum, a gold piece might be enough to buyyou a lot of friends, while in the merchant district itmay be negligible. Intimidation can be used to bullypeople into helping you or to frighten them into cov-ering your tracks — but if you use Intimidation on aregular basis, you will quickly become disliked in thearea.

Pass without trace does not protect against thissort of tracking, but Disguise and Hide are bothuseful; if people didn’t see your quarry, they can’thelp you. The GM should make a Spot checkopposed by the target’s Hide or Disguise skill,using the average skill bonus of the inhabitants ofthe area; if it fails, the target cannot be trackedusing Gather Information.

Retry: The check takes a certain amount of timebased on the population of the area you are search-ing, as shown on the following table. If you fail thecheck, you can try again, but as time passes the trailwill become harder to find.

Population Time RequiredThorp (20–80 people) 20 minutesHamlet (81–400 people) 40 minutesVillage (401–900 people) 60 minutesSmall Town (901–2000 people) 90 minutesLarge Town (2001–5000 people) 2 hoursSmall City (5001–12,000 people) 3 hoursLarge City (12,001–25,000 people) 4 hoursMetropolis (25,001+ people) 6 hours

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