Since everybody seems to be very clever and to know a lot about the planes and the city there, I don't have any clue what Information would require a DC 20 Gather Information check. 
Gather Information in Sigil
Thu, 2006-08-10 12:48
#1
Gather Information in Sigil
Fri, 2006-08-11 04:27
#3
Gather Information in Sigil
According to http://www.d20srd.org/srd/skills/gatherInformation.htm the Gather Information skill has the following description:
An evening’s time, a few gold pieces for buying drinks and making friends, and a DC 10 Gather Information check get you a general idea of a city’s major news items, assuming there are no obvious reasons why the information would be withheld. The higher your check result, the better the information.
If you want to find out about a specific rumor, or a specific item, or obtain a map, or do something else along those lines, the DC for the check is 15 to 25, or even higher.
It's very much dependent on what the character is after for information and then the GM decides on a DC. So asking what you can get for DC20 is in my view a funny way to approach it.
My advise for a GM faced with the player asking: "what do I get now that I've rolled 20 on a Gather Information check?" - is to use it plant plot hooks that you are interested in the players investigating.
The type of information that you might get for that DC would include: rumours and gossip circulating amongst junior members in various guilds and power-groups, a lesser secret of one of the NPCs such as that they have a drink problem, the location of a portal that is not guarded and leads to an interesting location bypassing the usual longer route that others commonly travel along, rumours of a plot to poison a city official, etc.
The above are just some examples of ideas to use. Gather Information is quite an open-ended skill in my view unlike say open lock where you either succeed in opening the lock or not.
Also note that here: http://www.d20srd.org/srd/epic/skills.htm#gatherInformation it states that for the epic usage of the Gather Information skill - you can take a -20 modifier to avoid arousing any suspiscion. So whilst passing a DC20 on a skill check is great, the target about whom the information is gathered may catch wind of it.
In a campaign that I am in at the moment we went to Torch (gate-town to Gehenna) to find a information broker ad bring him to Sigil. My character got a decent score on a Gather Information check, byt the NPC skipped town when he found out that we were looking for him.
We got him in the end though 
Fri, 2006-08-11 06:20
#4
Gather Information in Sigil
OK
The thing is, that I like to create a table with several DCs for different Information. In that fashion I use the Gather Information skill to let the PCs find out what's going on in a city. Depending on the result and their roleplay I can give them more or less specific information about possible dangers and pitfalls they can avoid, like for example some kind of behaviour that is normal to the PCs but offensive in the new place.
Maybe I am replacing the Knowledge (local) skill this way, but from the FR I am used to tie it to specific regions.
If my players ask for specific information, I create a DC spontaneously, of course. 
Fri, 2006-08-11 09:14
#5
Gather Information in Sigil
Cool beans.
I think that the easiest way to do it is to read Chapter 7 from the PCSC downloads section:
/downloads/products/released.php
/downloads/products/files/chapter7.pdf
and extract relevant bits of information. Then put a DC next to each item, you can then add to the list your own bits and pieces and have a fair amount of local knowledge to call upon to supply in the game.
If you want to spice it up a bit you could include some items that sounds plausible but are in fact red herrings (i.e. inaccurate) if the PCs fail their Gather Information check by a significant margin.
For example, mistranslations of cant terms such as 'Knight of the Post' referring to a reliable messenger that can be trusted when in fact it means con man.
Fri, 2006-08-11 09:34
#6
Gather Information in Sigil
Hmm, I see that I have recommend to you this chapter already in this thread: [url]http://planewalker.com/forum] :oops:
Well, I hope that this means that you have read it and can answer questions on it? 
Perhaps you'd consider writing some additions of your own. Don't worry about not knowing enough or what other people might think when they read it. Wrtie for the joy of writing and the setting - this is how the fan-created content grows
Sun, 2006-08-13 19:24
#7
Gather Information in Sigil
I'm moving thread to RPG Discussion.
Continue as you were - I'm curious to see where you're going with it.
Fri, 2006-09-01 09:54
#8
Gather Information in Sigil
You should definitely keep an ear out for outlandish theories and incorrect information being bandied about by the PCs. Its always a laugh when something said in error or jest gets taken up by chantmongers - it might even turn out to be true!
Some other ideas for Gather Information results of the top of my head... (obviously any numbers will vary greatly depending on your location and the crowd):
5 or less - Get bothered by an eager namer from a faction, who tries to recruit you for hours.
10 or more - Get directions to the nearest seller of SIGIS or a faction flyer.
15 or more - Find a berk who'll let you use his mimir for a question or two.
20 or more - Borrow a copy of SIGIS without paying for it, persuade a tout to give you a snippet of free information.
A part of it depends on faction. The Indeps know a lot of things the Bleakers don't care about, and the Athar can surely tell you what all the "priests" in town are up to.
Pants of the North!