Intelligence bonuses in Craft and Lore skills - what are..?

[Hoihe]

So!

I'm wondering - what do int bonuses in Craft & Lore skills mean? Are they "Using logic to deduce things based on what you already know", or a "consequence of being well read"?

With 10 int bonus, you know all the basics of the field (DC 10), have a high chance to answer the basics (DC15), and have varying degrees of chance to answer very difficult questions, with the chance of answering the hardest non-epic question, too!

http://www.d20srd.org/srd/skills/knowledge.htm

Same thing applies for Craft!


So what's the deal?

Is it being a renaissance man with lots of tangential knowledge, or simply being so good at logic that you can figure stuff out in fields you have no formal training in?

[Tsidkenu]

You require 1 base point in any given Lore skill to pass any Lore check with a DC greater than 10. Mere intelligence modifier is not enough.

Untrained
An untrained Knowledge check is simply an Intelligence check. Without actual training, you know only common knowledge (DC 10 or lower).

[Hoihe]

So what about powerbuilding lore?

Let's say someone invested 1 point in each, and then has 10 int modifier. What then?

[Stonebar]

A person could have an IQ of 90 and work their buts off to become an expert in a field, while someone with a 160 IQ might breeze through learning the same thing quicker, and retaining more of it. Skill points are the measure of work it took to get to a level of expertise. At least this is perception I have of it.

[Tsidkenu]

So what about powerbuilding lore?

That's an oxymoron if I ever saw one

Intelligence is a marker of intellectual aptitude and everything that it entails: critical thinking, induction/deduction ability, memory & recollection, innovation & sheer genius. I'd like to think that each character can (and should) RP the flavour by which their intelligence impacts their general knowledge.

In Aeili's case, by way of example, I like to RP a fair bit of her background into her knowledge. She is an absolute expert in Arcana (46) from her 40+ RP years as a Mystran priestess; extremely well studied in Religion (38) & The Planes (28) from the same; and she has a developed understanding of Elvish History (17) and Nature (15) from her 149 Elven years of upbringing; 6 years of living on the Sword Coast gives her a passing understanding of Local History & Events (14). Despite being a lifelong astrologer (Sense Motive 20), Aeili has an incomplete cosmology of Realmspace Geography/Astronomy proper (13), as well as being acquainted with only token theories about Architecture (13), Dungeoneering and its dangers (13), and High Elven Royalty/Heraldries (13).

Rolling any one of those abilities is pretty much akin to recalling a snippet Aeili heard, read, saw or deduced somewhere (up to the DM's discretion) in her 149 years.