Use this skill to learn information from books, the Grid, or other standard sources. Research allows you to navigate a library, an office filing system, a newspaper morgue, or the information resources of the interstellar Grid. It doesn't include talking to people and asking questions; that's handled by Gather Information or role-playing encounters.

Readily available information, whether clearly referenced in a book or easily found on a public Grid node, requires no Research check.

Check: Researching a topic takes time, skill, and some luck. The GM determines how obscure a particular topic is (the more obscure, the higher the DC) and what kind of information might be available depending on where you are conducting your research.

Information ranges from general to protected.

Given enough time (usually 1d4 hours) and a successful skill check, you get a general idea about a given topic, such as the latest news in an area, the public history of an old building, or a few facts about a well-known individual. This assumes that no obvious reasons exist why such information would be unavailable, and that you have a way to acquire restricted or protected information.

The higher the check result, the better and more complete the information. If you want to discover a specific fact, date, map, or similar bit of information, add +5 to +15 to the DC.

Try Again?: Yes.

Special: You can take 10 or take 20 on a Research check.

A character with the Studious feat gets a +2 bonus on all Research checks.

Computer Use can provide a +2 synergy bonus on a Research check when searching computer records or the Grid for data.

Time: A Research check takes 1d4 hours.

• Type of Information DC
• General 10
• Major corporations with offices on a particular planet. Address of an individual.
• Specific 15
• The meaning of an obscure alien symbol. Court testimony from a trial.
• Restricted* 20
• The Maximum range of a new class of Concord dreadnaught. Results from a confidential experiment.
• Protected* 25
• Autopsy data from secretly captured Kicks. The identity of a spy.

* Usually requires access to a restricted infor-mation source, such as a secure Grid site or a private archive, before a check can be made