Knowledge (local)

[High Lord Dee]

A failed Knowledge (local) skill roll can kill you if you fail to know something is against the law and punishable by death in the area you are in, and then you get punished for it. A Ride roll often won't kill you, as with many of the other skills you cite. It really comes down to the GM's emphasis in games - e.g., I never see anyone but spellcasters buying Concentrate. If the GM doesn't make it important, the PCs won't buy it. Sure, a few skills stand out, e.g., Listen, Spot, etc., because those will always be useful, regardless of GM emphasis, but there are not too many of those skills.

I get it. Still, compare the amount of times a character will roll spot, listen, ride, etc. with the off chance that someone is going to select Knowledge(local). Again, it boils down to how the skill is played. Most of the time it will come down to the thief to figure out the lay of the land because he/she will have more skill points to divy. Unfortunately, you can make as many arguments as you like but experience will show that most characters do not get enough skill points to place on craft, knowledge, profession, etc. I think they can be valuable additions to the game and will help mold the characters by rewarding them for the actual adventuring experiences.

The way I see it, there are really three choices:

1.) Play it by the book = very few skill points in the Knowledge(region) skills. (Let me know how it works if you are going to increase the skill checks in this area. I have my own opinions but would be curious to see your results).

2.) Modify it to your preference as a DM. There have been several good suggestions but to summarize I will use some actual examples:

Knowledge(local) = covers all local areas. I find this to be so unrealistic that I probably wouldn't even use it. Shadizar veterans would be fairly helpless with the ways of the Vanir in their villages. Did you ever see the Sopranos episode where they end up lost in the woods? My personal favorite.

Knowledge(Shadizar) = I tend to migrate to this using my system only. I would never expect my players to burn skills to pick up knowledge on each individual city but have no problem awarding them based on actual in-country time.

Knowledge(Zamora) = Good happy medium but I will probably use both and blend the city skills with the regional/country skills.

By the way, if a sorceror does not place an emphasis on concentrate in my campaign they will be pushing up daisies. Most good players will select concentrate for spell casters because as soon as they are spotted they will be in the cross hairs of anyone who may be able to disrupt the spell before it goes off. Kind of like the life expectancy of the M60 gunner in Viet Nam. Seconds.....

 

[Bregales]

Yeah, bad writing on my part, you DO specify it by terrain type (mountainous, desert, etc.); that's what I meant.

Nope, Survival works in all terrain and you only have to take it once.

It is only the Favored Terrain ability that is terrain-specific.

Later.

Doh! :shock: I'lll just keep my fingers off this whole topic then. I can't seem to get anything right. Oh well, we haven't even played since September I think. Hopefully in January.

 

[slaughterj]

I get it. Still, compare the amount of times a character will roll spot, listen, ride, etc. with the off chance that someone is going to select Knowledge(local). Again, it boils down to how the skill is played.

Again, it's all about GM emphasis. In running Conan, I haven't seen Ride rolls come up much - people are in cities, dungeons, caves, jumped while camping, simply don't have horses, etc. etc. Maybe the games you are in, everybody is riding around all the time. But we agree that there are some general skills, spot, listen, etc. that are always useful.

Most of the time it will come down to the thief to figure out the lay of the land because he/she will have more skill points to divy. Unfortunately, you can make as many arguments as you like but experience will show that most characters do not get enough skill points to place on craft, knowledge, profession, etc. I think they can be valuable additions to the game and will help mold the characters by rewarding them for the actual adventuring experiences.

That was one of my other points above - Knowledge is just one skill of several to which your "modification" might be applicable. But here's the problem, it is a level-based system, and as such, things go up at those levels. This is supposed to represent the accumulated knowledge, skill, etc. the character has acquired in all areas. Sure, you can choose to circumvent this in a couple of areas, e.g., give extra toward Knowledge between adventures based on the character's experiences, but if you are going to do that, then why not also give them combat bonuses then as well if they did a lot of fighting?

By the way, if a sorceror does not place an emphasis on concentrate in my campaign they will be pushing up daisies. Most good players will select concentrate for spell casters because as soon as they are spotted they will be in the cross hairs of anyone who may be able to disrupt the spell before it goes off. Kind of like the life expectancy of the M60 gunner in Viet Nam. Seconds.....

As I said above, I only see spellcasters taking it, so I don't see your point here. My point was that only spellcasters take it, not other characters, because of a lack of GM emphasis on this skill for other characters. This *could* be another "get killed if you don't have it skill" like spot, if the GM choose to run the game that way, e.g., GM says "oh, you failed your concentrate roll while on guard duty, well, you didn't notice the bandit come up and slit your throat!" But it doesn't tend to get run this way.

Summary:
1. GM emphasis in a campaign is what dictates which skills a character takes. A few skills such as Spot tend to be generally useful in any campaign though.
2. Level-based systems provide awards in skill advancements, etc. at levels, and are intended to reflected increased combat proficiency as well as knowledge gained. If you choose to modify a level-based system to give additional knowledge points along the way, then you also should be awarding combat bonuses when the PCs fight a lot as well. Instead of doing all of that, you can just let the level advancements take care of it all, as is intended.

 

[Bregales]

I think these are very good arguments slaughterj, and I think I may have had such an idea pop in my head for an instant here or there, once or twice, but seeing it written on board really gets my head thinking (not easy, as I got up very early today to see if the city transportation union was striking...)!

You're right I think, in the end it does come down to GM emphasis. Concentration being used for something other than spellcasters getting hit is a point most of us overlook. Part of it is because of a certain over-lapping of skills which can be used in certain situations, but the example of Sorcerers using Concentration when attacked/injured is the most obvious one. Alternate uses are interesting to illustrate, as in a way it shows the possibility of alternate uses for many skills too.

Anyway, I'm running out of steam, I need more coffee, so lemme sign off for now. I'm glad you guys responded with these posts, and again I apologize for goofing up on my earlier posts of skills in this thread.

 

[slaughterj]

I think these are very good arguments slaughterj, and I think I may have had such an idea pop in my head for an instant here or there, once or twice, but seeing it written on board really gets my head thinking (not easy, as I got up very early today to see if the city transportation union was striking...)!

You're right I think, in the end it does come down to GM emphasis. Concentration being used for something other than spellcasters getting hit is a point most of us overlook. Part of it is because of a certain over-lapping of skills which can be used in certain situations, but the example of Sorcerers using Concentration when attacked/injured is the most obvious one. Alternate uses are interesting to illustrate, as in a way it shows the possibility of alternate uses for many skills too.

Anyway, I'm running out of steam, I need more coffee, so lemme sign off for now. I'm glad you guys responded with these posts, and again I apologize for goofing up on my earlier posts of skills in this thread.

As a side note, I don't think Concentration should even be a skill, but rather relegated to penalties to various skills or a Will save. E.g., for a guard's spot roll, give him a penalty based on being on the job for a long time - his low spot roll is both a lack of perception and a lack of concentration on the task. Similarly, for spellcasters, have them just make some sort of Will save to take into consideration getting hit when casting. Seems better to me.

 

[Wyrmsbane]

I am a bit torn between two concepts, For some time when I ran and played dnd games I would make the knowledge (local) be specified, but I have seen it done the other way as well and worked fine. Personally I find the senond method a very fine line between Knowledge and Gather Information. With Kno (local) being who is the ruler, what faiths are there, local customs, ect. and Gather Information for example who really rules the area, whats happening in the temple, how many of the laws are actually enforced, and who accepts bribes, ect... Then again I like folks using kno (local) and then havin gthe knowledge be outdated, ie what do you mean Baron Semide is i charge my friend barom whoever was in charge before. What do you mean the temple outlawed alcohol last week, ect.

 

[Bregales]

Slaughterj, I think one less skill would make many things easier. However, the Concentration skill...hmmm. I think I like your idea of WILL saves. I was gonna reply, but I guess I have to think about that.

Wyrmsbane, I didn't really spell out this point, I think you did a better job showing how Knowledge:Local and Gather Information can both be used with the differences between them, good job illustrating this point.

 

[High Lord Dee]

Again, it's all about GM emphasis. In running Conan, I haven't seen Ride rolls come up much - people are in cities, dungeons, caves, jumped while camping, simply don't have horses, etc. etc. Maybe the games you are in, everybody is riding around all the time. But we agree that there are some general skills, spot, listen, etc. that are always useful.

One word: Kozaks! There should be plenty of opportunity to include riding in everyone's campaign. The Steppes will absolutely require it. Travel in Hyboria without horses would be a bit impractical as well. Players in my campagin who do not take ride, balance, and handle animal will soon find out the hard way why they should. Most mercenary companies use horses exclusively as well.

That was one of my other points above - Knowledge is just one skill of several to which your "modification" might be applicable. But here's the problem, it is a level-based system, and as such, things go up at those levels. This is supposed to represent the accumulated knowledge, skill, etc. the character has acquired in all areas. Sure, you can choose to circumvent this in a couple of areas, e.g., give extra toward Knowledge between adventures based on the character's experiences, but if you are going to do that, then why not also give them combat bonuses then as well if they did a lot of fighting?

Never said I had a problem with characters NOT taking fighting skills. There are many good skills that add to good role playing. Unfortunately, most seasoned players cannot afford to take points in these areas. Combatants that are particularly good MAY get few extra XP's as bonuses but that is about it. Levels do work for that kind of thing.

As I said above, I only see spellcasters taking it, so I don't see your point here. My point was that only spellcasters take it, not other characters, because of a lack of GM emphasis on this skill for other characters. This *could* be another "get killed if you don't have it skill" like spot, if the GM choose to run the game that way, e.g., GM says "oh, you failed your concentrate roll while on guard duty, well, you didn't notice the bandit come up and slit your throat!" But it doesn't tend to get run this way.

Agreed

Summary:
2. Level-based systems provide awards in skill advancements, etc. at levels, and are intended to reflected increased combat proficiency as well as knowledge gained. If you choose to modify a level-based system to give additional knowledge points along the way, then you also should be awarding combat bonuses when the PCs fight a lot as well. Instead of doing all of that, you can just let the level advancements take care of it all, as is intended

.

You are completely missing the point here. Based on all the great responses and my own experiences, 3.x left quite a bit of interpretation on some of the skills. That is OK. It is up to us to interpret them and modify them to fit into each campaign. As long as there is some consistancy and logic behind the modification, it can lead to a better game.

The Knowledge(local) is one of those skills. It just doesn't work played as is. No one can convince me that a Vanir barbarian with 3 ranks of Knowledge(local) will have just as much success when travelling for the first time in the Black Kingdoms. Doesn't make much sense. We have used the system I described above and it works great. Can always be improved upon. It solves the mystery of Knowledge(local) without creating a game imbalance. In fact, I would argue that it has only added positives to the game. Play it any way you like.

 

[René]

Since we are for sure not the first guys discussing the Knowledge (local) problem, there could be some "official" advice somewhere. I looked on the WOtC boards, but had no luck. Do you have some suggestions where to look?

 

[urdinaran]

I guess the biggest problem with the way skills are handled in D20 is the fact that certain skills SHOULD improve with time without lots of effort.

If a charater spends enough time in a particular city, he should become mor familiarized with it. By the rules, he should spend skill points in Knowledge (local). But when said character is a fighter/soldier (whatever) that only receives 2+Int mod per level, it's kinda hard to justify spending even 1 skill point on that Knowledge.

Knowledge (local) should be a skill that improves passively, as opposed to other knowledges that have to be actively pursued (i.e. History, Architecture, Religion, etc.).

 

[geordiekimbo]

I don't think creating a passively increasing skill would work for the local knowledge skill, when all other skills work a different way.

A character should be allowed to allocate points as he sees fit into the skill he wants. Making a skill increase as a character stays in a certain location seems ill-advised. After all, the ammount of time a character spends immersing himself in a local culture has more to do with personal choice than a fixed decision. I think the skill works as it is.

To replicate the effect of a player moving locations and his local knowledge changing as a result seems a simple enough matter to solve. When a character moves region his old Local Knowledge is renamed after the region he left and he starts a new local knowledge skill from scratch (assuming the new location he finds himself in isn't already covered by one of his area knowledge skills).

For example a character who has already got the Area knowledge (Khorshemish) 8 is in Eruk and has a rank of 7 in Knowledge (Local). He moves to Asgalun and his Knowledge (Local) drops to 0, but he retains his Knowledge (Eruk) at level 7 and Knowledge (Khorshemish) 8. However if he moved to Khorshemish his Knowledge (Local) would be 8 (ie. his rank in Knowledge (Khorshemish)).

*edited for punctuation

 

[Bregales]

I don't think creating a passively increasing skill would work for the local knowledge skill, when all other skills work a different way.

A character should be allowed to allocate points as he sees fit into the skill he wants. Making a skill increase as a character stays in a certain location seems ill-advised. After all, the ammount of time a character spends immersing himself in a local culture has more to do with personal choice than a fixed decision. I think the skill works as it is.

To replicate the effect of a player moving locations and his local knowledge changing as a result seems a simple enough matter to solve. When a character moves region his old Local Knowledge is renamed after the region he left and he starts a new local knowledge skill from scratch (assuming the new location he finds himself in isn't already covered by one of his area knowledge skills).

For example a character who has already got the Area knowledge (Khorshemish) 8 is in Eruk and has a rank of 7 in Knowledge (Local). He moves to Asgalun and his Knowledge (Local) drops to 0, but he retains his Knowledge (Eruk) at level 7 and Knowledge (Khorshemish) 8. However if he moved to Khorshemish his Knowledge (Local) would be 8 (ie. his rank in Knowledge (Khorshemish)).

*edited for punctuation

I think I like an idea I inferred from your post here, though not as you intended (exactly). Your example of Knowledge:Local is kind of being used the same way as Gather Information. If you forget calling a skill Knowledge:Local, and instead just use Area Knowledge (e.g., Khorshemish). So Area Knowledge could be used for specifically KNOWING some point about the region (as loosely defined in the SRD and Conan RPG book for Knowledge:Local), while Gather Information is the interpersonal skill of getting others to tell you things (about an area, person, etc.)

It's only a matter of somantics, but I'm always up for some antics! :lol:

 

[geordiekimbo]

I would think the easiest way to deal with the skill would be to have Local Knowledge simply omitted and any Knowledge (Area) specified when created thus allowing for local knowledge if you have the relevant knowledge (area) skill.

I also think while Bregales has mentioned it that Gather Information should be renamed something more apt like "Interview". I have lost count of the amount of players who've thought Gather Information was some sort of Reconnaisance skill in D20.

It's only a matter of somantics, but I'm always up for some antics!

I've heard the rumour

*Edited to add quip*

 

[High Lord Dee]

I would think the easiest way to deal with the skill would be to have Local Knowledge simply omitted and any Knowledge (Area) specified when created thus allowing for local knowledge if you have the relevant knowledge (area) skill.

This is exactly what we do. The only question that I have for you is area a region (Zamorra) or a smaller area (Shadizar)? Your choice depending on how you want to GM the campaign. The issue is how many characters are going to be able to allocate skill points in these areas? Not many probably.

HLD

 

[geordiekimbo]

The only question that I have for you is area a region (Zamorra) or a smaller area (Shadizar)?

Good question High Lord Dee. I think this has been mentioned previously. For purposes of showing a character doesn't know everything about a region most of the time, I'd personally say smaller province sized areas, or the area of a city and its outskirts would be more appropriate.

For example

Aquilonia specify:
1. Westermarck

2. Mount Golamira

3. Gunderland

4. Bossonian Marches

5. The Tauran

6. Thunder River

7. Shirki River

8. Road of Kings

9. Tarantia

10. Poitainian Mountains

11. Khorotas River

12. Tybor River

13. Poitain

14. Alimane River

or

Zamora specify:
1. Yezud

2. Arenjun

3. Shadizar

4. Kezankian Mountains

Really small places such as The Isles of Pearl could be just picked. I'd say an area roughly 200 square miles is a large enough area to be covered by one skill.

The issue is how many characters are going to be able to allocate skill points in these areas? Not many probably.

A good point. But this is player and gamesmaster choice. It depends whether you want to think of those allocations of points as a waste or not.

A lot depends on the campaign style I guess. If you play deep and meaningful adventures based on character perceptions and intrigue that kind of thing may work, or it may not be subtle enough, conversely a campaign based round the players simply hacking, slashing wenching and burning their way through Hyboria are probably going to be allowed to know lots about the campaign world anyway and this degree of skill is going to be superfluous- Skills if any are going to concentrate on Ride and Move Silently.

Personally I would think a middle of the road approach would work best, not too anal and not too "pah who cares!"

 

[High Lord Dee]

Thank you geordiekimbo. You have just illustrated my point for me. In your example, to have a well travelled adventurer in Hyboria, you would need to allocate around 20 skill points just to have a Knowledge(local) in the areas listed. Anyone excited about making a roll with one rank + bonus in any skill? Anyone excited at placing your skill points in Knowledge(Tauran)? Probably not.

Don't see any other way to play this unless the skills are "earned" by actual gaming time versus selected by the players. Even if a player does choose to allocate their points in this fashion, he will not have nearly enough to create a character that will survive in Hyboria unless he relies on his comrades for all other skills. In Hyboria, that is really not an option. The strong will survive.

If you elect not to use the system I described, I would recommend just using the Knowledge(local) for all the regions. That way a player has a chance to place skill points in that area and beef it up appropriately. Again, my issue is that it just seems totally unrealistic that a character would have knowledge of all regions just because he knows one. Especially, in Hyboria where the cultures are so diverse and unique.

 

[Bregales]

Fine point about 'earned skill points' except, as has already been commented, you cannot JUST give skills to this particular type of knowledge, and not give them a +1 BAB for 'earned' combat effectiveness, or raise the AC by +1 Misc Mod, or increase Intimidate skill....

In lieu of these things, I'm probably going to use Knowledge:Local as I had originally posted: a flat value skill, when initially bought it favors the locale you are concentrating in when you acquired the skill (so if you're adventuring in Shadizar and you put a point into Knowledge: Local there, it's considered Shadizar, which you could put in parens after the skill name). Now if you travel to Messantia, you don't buy Knowledge:Local again, but the DC is much higher AND as GM I could impose an additional -2 circumstance penalty, until you familiarize yourself with the new locale.

One skill, one value, DCs and Circumstance mods vary as they do in all other aspects of the game. How do you decide when they've immersed themselves enough? Use the same rules for Reputation as a guide. It's really much less fussy, very simple very easy.

Even if I'm the only one, I am assuming at least that that is what the original D20 system designer's had intended. I'm not re-writing the whole game around one silly skill. The fix is just using the way the general mechanics work as a guide to how this skill works!

 

[geordiekimbo]

In your example, to have a well travelled adventurer in Hyboria, you would need to allocate around 20 skill points just to have a Knowledge(local) in the areas listed. Anyone excited about making a roll with one rank + bonus in any skill? Anyone excited at placing your skill points in Knowledge(Tauran)? Probably not.

I would.. You probably would get a skill synergy of +2 for 5 ranks in a region adjacent to the one you've picked.

However, your working of it works.

 

[slaughterj]

Summary:
2. Level-based systems provide awards in skill advancements, etc. at levels, and are intended to reflected increased combat proficiency as well as knowledge gained. If you choose to modify a level-based system to give additional knowledge points along the way, then you also should be awarding combat bonuses when the PCs fight a lot as well. Instead of doing all of that, you can just let the level advancements take care of it all, as is intended

.

You are completely missing the point here. Based on all the great responses and my own experiences, 3.x left quite a bit of interpretation on some of the skills. That is OK. It is up to us to interpret them and modify them to fit into each campaign. As long as there is some consistancy and logic behind the modification, it can lead to a better game.

The Knowledge(local) is one of those skills. It just doesn't work played as is. No one can convince me that a Vanir barbarian with 3 ranks of Knowledge(local) will have just as much success when travelling for the first time in the Black Kingdoms. Doesn't make much sense. We have used the system I described above and it works great. Can always be improved upon. It solves the mystery of Knowledge(local) without creating a game imbalance. In fact, I would argue that it has only added positives to the game. Play it any way you like.

Apparently you missed my statement above. When people go to somewhere new, assign them a penalty (e.g., -5) until they have spent sufficient time there.

I'm looking for Knowledge (local) to work with the following in mind:
1. In a form that it is a skill that people would consider buying. This means more than just a single area, else people just won't buy it or buy it up much, because it would only rarely be useful in a band of traveling adventurers.
2. In a form that fits within the game's current design. The game says skills go up with levels, as in you get more skill points then, so that's what I'm looking to use.
3. Simplicity / ease of use. Saying a single skill covers knowledge everywhere is simple, in addition to being something someone might buy.

I'm sure you know stuff about places you have never been, and Knowledge (local) could be a summary of how well you have picked up knowledge about places all around in general, MODIFIED by whether you have actually been there or not. Then Knowledge (local) can work as follows:
1. Regular roll for places the PC has been (include reasonable places based on character's background).
2. When in a new place within reasonable distances from PCs' past, assign -5 to the roll until they become acclimated. This represents ability to accumulate knowledge in the past of other areas and recalling something useful, as well as currently acquired knowledge. People in one often have heard of neighboring lands' legends and strange laws (e.g., remember the strict gum law of Singapore!).
3. Assign Knowledge (local) = 0 (or very high penalty) when the PCs stray to someplace really far (e.g., the PCs are from Turan area, but travel through Stygia and steal a vessel and head north to the Pictish wilderness - the GM may consider this too far for even word of legends to have traveled).

This enables Knowledge (local) to be:
1. What it is named: I.e., it is local knowledge, just understood more abstractly
2. Desirable: It is a broad enough skill that PCs will buy it, as opposed to Knowledge (Tarantia), Knowledge (Shadizar), etc. that PCs won't buy
3. Works for the current system: The skill can go up in levels fine, there is no need to award side points (or otherwise modify the system) for the new area because the skill works everywhere appropriate, and represents PCs that learn more of other lands than others
4. Works sensibly: It takes into account realms the PC has not been to or are far away
5. Works simply: I don't want to have to look up a bunch of crap when I'm running a game, I want to focus on the story, and this works well for that.

 

[geordiekimbo]

Ok. After having a chat with another player familiar with D20 Conan and the D20 system in general I think I can offer another solution.

Drop the rank system of Knowledge (local) and convert into a method. similar to the way languages are gained in the game.

Thus each character could quite easily hve a local knowledge area added to it, probably near the list of languages. At the start of the game gets a character gets a number of Local Knowledge ticks equal to 5 plus his Intelligence modifier which he then uses to select appropriate Local Knowledge boxes. Each character gets an additional new pick in Local knowledge at level 2 and every 2 levels thereafter (4th, 6th, 8th, 10th etc). Like learning languages the Gamesmaster usually selects this bonus language for all the characters. In most cases it will be the area in which the scenario has taken place.

It is also possible for a character to learn area knowledge of a new area through roleplay and effort, in the same way a character can choose to learn a new language. However unlike languages which take a couple of months to learn if one is not immersed in the culture, learning area knowledge of an area take longer. It takes 6 months and requires learning that knowledge from books about the area or being taught about the area from someone with the relevent area knowledge you wish to learn about.

In game use the Gamesmaster can assign a difficulty level to knowing about particular locations within the area with which the character is knowledgable.
Difficulty 10: The location of the nearest well, oasis or spring from given point within the area. The location of a large market or easily identifiable public building such as a temple or library
Difficulty 15: The location of an identifiable but rather specialist building, such as a weaponsmith, blacksmith, college, brothel, tavern.
Difficulty 20: The location of a specialist building or area such as a ratcatchers or a brewery.
Add +5 to the difficulty to locate a specific building or service within the character's area knowledge, such as: The Green Harlot brothel, Captain Péote's Shipwrights etc.
Add +10 to the difficulty to locate a remote specific area, building or service. Possibly somewhere not normally travelled to or of the beaten track. For example: a hermit's cottage, a remote shrine or a trappers dwelling deep in the woods.
Other uses of the skill would require a variant roll depending on the degree of complexity involved as the Gamesmaster sees fit.

A possible idea for the scope of area knowledge could be the same as what I wrote earlier.

For example

Aquilonia
1. Westermarck

2. Mount Golamira

3. Gunderland

4. Bossonian Marches

5. The Tauran

6. Thunder River

7. Shirki River

8. Road of Kings

9. Tarantia

10. Poitainian Mountains

11. Khorotas River

12. Tybor River

13. Poitain

14. Alimane River

Argos
1. Oak Forests of Argos

2. Messantia

Asgard
1. River of Death Ice

2. Blue Mountains

Barachan Isles
1. Tortage

Black Kingdoms
1. Xuthal

2. City of the Winged One

3. Zarkheba River

4. Xuchotl

5. Black Coast

6. Fires of the South Mountains.

Brythunia
1. Yellow River

Cimmeria
1. Ben Morgh Crom's Mountain.

2. Field of the Chiefs

3. Venarium Ruined.

Corinthia
1. Karpash Mountains

Darfar Hyperborea
1. Haloga

2. Pohiola

3. Sigtona

4. Graskaal Mountains

5. Skull Gate of Hyperborea

Hyrkania
1. Lake Ho

2. Mountains of Night

3. Wuhuan Desert

Iranistan
1. Yanaidar Ruined.

2. Drujistan

3. Anshan

4. Mountains of Gold

Kambuja
1. Angkhor

Keshan
1. Alkmeenon

2. Keshia

Khitai
1. Swamps of the Dead

2. Great Wall of Khitai

Kosala
1. Yota-Pong

Koth
1. Khorshemish

2. Kothian Hills

3. Mountains of Fire

Kush
1. Meroe

Meru
1. Sumero Tso

2. Western Himelians

3. Western Talakmas

4. Eastern Talakmas

5. Himelian Mountains

Nemedia
1. Hanumar

2. Nemedian Mountains

3. Red River

4. Numalia

5. Belverus

Ophir
1. Ianthe

Pathenia
1. Loulan Plateau

Pictish Wilderness
1. Black River

Punt
1. Kassali

Shem
1. Asgalun River

2. Shushan

3. Shan-e-Sorkh The "Red Waste".

4. Kuthchemes Ruined.

5. Zamboula

6. Asgalun

7. Taian Mountains

8. Sabatea

Stygia
1. River Styx

2. Khemi

3. Harakht

4. Nebthu

5. Taia

6. Bakhr River

7. Luxur

8. Purple Lotus Swamp of Stygia

9. Sukhmet

10. Pteion

Turan
1. Shahpur

2. Mountains of the Gray Apes

3. Maypur

4. Nezvaya River

5. Sultanapur

6. Isle of the Iron Statues

7. Aghrapur

8. Ilbars River

9. Misty Mountains

10. Xapur the Fortified

11. Yuetshi

12. Zaporaska River

13. Khawarism

14. Fort Ghori

15. Colchian Mountains

16. Ilbars Mountains

Vanaheim
1. Eighotian Mountains

Vendhya
1. Jhumda River

2. Mount Yimsha

3. Peshkauri

4. Ghulistan

5. Amir Jehun Pass

6. Zhaibar Mountains

7. Bakhaurs Region

8. Zhaibar Pass

Zamora
1. Yezud

2. Arenjun

3. Shadizar

4. Kezankian Mountains

Zembabwei
1. New Zembabwei

2. Old Zembabwei

Zingara
1. Kordava

2. Ghoul Forests of Zingara

3. Rabirian Mountains

Does this work better? Seems to incorporate a less skill related ideal, dependent on whether a character knows a certain area or not. It also keeps in mind that certain large regions would require a character to devote more than one slot to knowing the area well.

*Edited to hopefully clarify one section*