Gather Information

(Cha)

Agents in occupied countries would often visit the same pubs frequented by workers from local factories in order to “overhear” information about war materials production. The Gather Information skill defines the characters ability to mingle with the townsfolk and pick out the important information from the worthless gossip.

Check: By succeeding at a skill check (DC 10) and spending 1d4+1 hours passing out money and buying drinks, a character can get a feel for the major news items in a neighborhood. This result assumes that no obvious reasons exist why information would be withheld. The higher the check result, the better the information.

If the situation doesn’t require the expenditure of money, no Wealth check is necessary.

Information ranges from general to protected, and the cost and DC increases accordingly for the type of information the character seeks to gather, as given in the table below.

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 requires that the character 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 answer. There’s a chance that someone will take note of anyone asking about restricted or protected information.

The character can increase the amount of money used to gather information, gaining a circumstance bonus by effectively offering a bribe (though the process might entail buying more expensive drinks, not necessarily offering a character extra money). Increase the Wealth check DC by 2 for each +1 circumstance bonus the character wants to add to his or her skill check.

Try Again?: Yes, but it takes 1d4+1 hours for each check, and characters may draw attention to themselves if they repeatedly pursue a certain type of information.

Special: A character can take 10 when making a Gather Information check, but cannot take 20.

A character with the Trustworthy feat gets a +2 bonus on all Gather Information checks.

Time: A Gather Information check takes 1d4+1 hours.