The Pearls and Pitfalls of Lore Checks

In which Dyo weaves a quick story that seeks to explain when to use a Lore check...and when it may not be as wise

The map has been unfurled. Cheetos are already spilled across the table. Notebooks are at the ready. The GM's eyes dart expectantly across the gathered party members. A deep breath, and the GM begins to describe that most majestic and intriguing of finds: a temple of the Old Gods!

With rapturous joy to learn about new faiths, the cleric marches forward. The bard has already darted up the steps, eager to weave a tale of renown. Somehow your rogue has already entered the building and is peeling emeralds out of the eye sockets of an owl statue. The long-range fighter, still many paces away from the temple's entrance, is rolling her eyes and getting her weapon ready, fully aware that the more heedless members of the party may need rescuing shortly...

I myself, at this time, get practically giddy and begin shooting off requests to roll Lore checks to gather historical and legendary information about every single thing in each room, heedless of the screaming skeletons ricocheting off of the walls and crawling from every corner. Well, first I join in in dispatching those minions of Hell to whence they came. Then I roll a Lore check and ask if anything in the room is enchanted.

Just kidding! Instead, I would need to invoke the power Identify, and I would need to name an object or series of objects rather than a generalized area or space; I might say "I'd like to Identify whether this pile of jewelry contains any arcane rings" rather than "I'm rolling a Lore check to see if there's anything arcane in this room." Then, since I am assuming that the origin of the object I am investigating is "Arcane," I would use Lore as the selected check. (It is helpful to remember that Enchanted doesn't necessarily indicate that it has an Arcane origin: Lore and Enchantment are related but not inseparable. Moreover, as any good adventurer knows, Identifying is a form of research.)

Amazed at my own technical prowess as player and character, I succeed in discovering a beautiful, arcane, enchanted ring that allows me to reroll a failed saving throw. No doubt that will come in handy when we confront whatever is banging fearsomely on the barred wooden door at the end of this corridor.

It is my luckiest day! I find a scroll. It seems to be a spell. Hey hey hey!-- I can use a Lore check to see what the spell does... and that is very useful indeed. I can also use Lore when I find a strange golden object that opens up to reveal a sapphire circle. What does this do? Engineering might tell me how it was put together, or how to take it apart. But Lore can tell me its history, what it was intended to do. I slip it in my pocket before the rogue can see it.

Speaking of the rogue, I walk over to the now-eyeless owl god. I do a Lore check to determine which people might have worshiped him. A Faith check would have been a stronger choice if the god is related to my character's own religious practice, or Ancient History, perhaps, if this temple has been long-abandoned, but Lore is perfectly reasonable. I receive my answer. Suddenly my eyes fix upon a tapestry of a whale, clearly in an exalted position within the temple. It is the traditional representation of the whale-god Belbiscidon, I know, but I'd like to know what the scene means. Education might work, but Lore is an equally valid choice. I discover that this tapestry depicts Belbiscidon's summoning of many fishes to lift up the boat of the legendary sailor Rhuman Leq, who later became a monk and promoted the whale god's power throughout the land. (Fair disclosure: I would have needed a high Lore check for such an exacting piece of information, and a decent one if I'm using a competency check such as Ancient History.)

I lift up the tapestry and find strange etchings-- words-- on the wall. A secret message in a language I don't recognize! I roll a Lore check. Nope-- dare I say, no dice? That's going to need a Linguistics check. you zealous but imprecise bard, you! I go find the monk, who deciphers the words, a message reading "Sail northernmost to the Port of Huenemo." Can I roll a Lore check to see if the Port of Huenemo is a literary reference? Should I roll a navigation or geography check? I would say, use what you've got. But as a word of caution, this party isn't all about you (me) and your (my) quest for Lore, so be sure to take a breath now and again so that the rest of your compatriots can do their own investigations.

By now, I have found a chest, and in the chest is a strange green potion that glows purple. What could its use be? Could I use Lore to find out? More likely I should use Alchemy. But wait-- the beast that has been beating on that barred door on the other side of the hall has finally succeeded in bursting through, and he's running at my companions and me. Some brandish a weapon, some utter a prayer. I throw down my d20. Am I rolling initiative before the GM even announces it? Nope, that's a d10 anyway! I'm rolling a Lore check because clearly it's a mythical beast of some sort-- a chimera, let's say-- and I'd like to know as much as I can about it. One of my companions has Animal Handling-- that would have been useful too. But I beat him to the punch, and I am able to learn just a bit about the animal's strengths and weaknesses to have an idea of how to defeat it. Unfortunately, Lore has its limitations, and my high Lore rolls are no match for the creature's prowess and I am eaten. My pathetic ending then becomes part of the lore of the temple, which is of little comfort to me.

Maybe I could have defeated the chimera if I had had a winged horse. Since I need to make a new character before our next game, I will be sure to invest more points in an Animal Companion. Belerophon Fights the Chimera, by Bernard Picart (1731)

This depressing end illustrates that context is important: to succeed, Lore must be deployed correctly in the technical sense of being applied to a specific target of investigation, and it must be used at the right time, usually not in the heat of battle or with such regularity as to slow every adventure to a crawl. It is good to have your Lore at the ready: it is not good to rely on Lore alone, or to assume that Lore can get you out of every situation. Moreover, when it comes to the arcane, not all knowledge is equally good, or worthy, or helpful-- to (poorly) paraphrase Gandalf the Grey, some things are meant to remain secret so that your character can remain safe.