A player in a campaign I´m GMing picked this wise for his dwarf. The thing is, I don’t understand from the text what does this skill cover and what it does not, so the last sessions we’ve been using it for all “stuff” (objects) posible, which, I think, is too broad for a wise.
G’Day,
As I see it, it is about trivia about things. Their manufacture and origin. Like a nerd who knows all the statistics about computer hardware. It allows the player to introiduce this trivia to the game.
“This Dwarf knows his stuff! He knows all about it. Where it’s from, who made it, what it’s made out of. Everything except what it actually does.”
claro?
Justin.
So, these things would be OK to apply the wise to?:
-to discover information or details about stuff
-to presume of your knowledge about a particular stuff (fork)
-to help in haggling conflicts (by forks)
The wise shouldn’t apply to:
-producing stuff
-repairing stuff
-using stuff
Am I right?
Suena bien a mi.
That works, but there’s a gray area. I think “stuff” is actually not any object, but, rather, anything that you’d bother to call “stuff.” Miscellany. So, I wouldn’t let it apply to, say, weapons or valuable artifacts or, well, anything that is specifically known (and you kind of have to be talking about something specific to fix, use, or produce it). But miscellaneous items in a backpack or found in a shanty or on a collector’s shelves, there you go. You could fork it in to help you steal something valuable from the back of a merchant’s cart, but not a specific family heirloom he robbed from your father’s grave.
Once you have knowledge about the stuff, I’d probably just give circumstantial advantage dice for dealing with it. This is where using, producing, and repairing are probably most relevant. If you used your wise to recognize that the traveler you met on the road has mountainfolk stuff, including climbing gear in his bag, then if you’re good enough to spot that by the bag’s shape, you probably know how that stuff is used. You might know if something was missing or damaged, so you’d use your wise to jury-rig a replacement or temporarily mend it; but to full-on repair or produce? Seems dicey (no pun intended) and abusive. You might also be able to recognize that he doesn’t handle it well, so he probably stole it, that kind of thing. Forking or advantage dice for most of these things seem reasonable and potentially interesting.
I think that’s a pretty good interpretation Khimus. He’s a master at dwarfsplaining.
Khimus, the colloquial meaning of “stuff” here is similar to “coso” if that helps. And the obstacle list includes a reference to this: