Knowledge can affect Skill Rolls. Knowledges with the same name as a Skill give a bonus equal to the Knowledge Score divided by 10 to the Bonus Pool.
Knowledge Rolls
Knowledge Rolls use d100. Ones do not reduce the die roll for Knowledge Rolls.
Knowledge scores range from 0 (no knowledge) to anything. There is no upper limit on knowledge scores. The knowledge score is useful in determining what a character knows in that field. If a player wants to know if the character knows something in a field, give that possibility a modifier, depending on how likely it is that the character knows it. This modifier is a multiplier. A character with Chemistry, for example, will have a multiplier of about 20 for knowing the symbol for an element, making this knowledge nearly automatic. Knowing the formula for an obscure substance found on the planet Regorius ½ might have a multiplier of 1/4, depending on the circumstances.
A Knowledge Score of 15-20 indicates competence in a field. A brilliant chemist with a Ph.D. might have a chemical knowledge of 50, while someone with only high school chemistry will have a 1 to 5. A score of 5 indicates good general knowledge.
How Good is the Roll?
If you need to compare two different Knowledge Rolls, compare the difference between the target number and the roll. If a character with American History (75) rolls 50, that’s 25. If another character with History (90, but halved for American History, to 45) rolls 40, that’s 5. The character with the 25 knows much more about the subject at hand than the character with the 5.
Knowledge: Skills
Skills can modify Knowledge Rolls. Usually, a Skill with the same name as a Knowledge will give the character a bonus to that Knowledge equal to the Skill Level. A character with Sailing 7 (Skill) and Sailing 52 (Knowledge) will have a bonus of 7 to Sailing Knowledge Rolls. This is even the case when the character has no knowledge score at all in the area. So, a person with a Skill of 7 in Magic Tricks Skill and no Knowledge Score of Magic Tricks will have, effectively, a Score of 7 in Magic Tricks Knowledge.
