I've been reading the forums for a while now and have run Escape from Mos Shuuta once with the provided characters. My players loved it so much they want to go through it again with their own characters along with The Long Arm of the Hutt, to start a campaign that I hope will last long time.

My question revolves around PC memories. What skill would you use for them to remember a conversation that never happened in game but that happened with the character?

I was thinking it could be Perception, but that does not seem quite right.

Thanks for your responses in advance.

Discipline seems like the best fit.

How about just a flat Int roll? Is memory something you train?

Depends on the circumstances of the conversation.

Overheard: Vigilance

Wanted to remember at the time: Discipline

Regular conversation I had: Intelligence

If it seems right, take it.

Would say it depends heavily on the memory your trying to pull out. Take what feels best for you.

I.e. a detail inside a memory, a blue collar, a specific gun: Perception.

What really happened, what someone literally has said, where everyone was in a givin second: Disciplin.

A Detail about some information, i.e. the plans of a reactor, you can even take lore skills, to resemble that it is easier to remember them if you are familiar with the topic.

It is fully at your mercy, take what is nearest to the attribute you wanna test. Hear the player out if he wants to use something else, maybe with a good reasoning, consider it, than decide what feels right. You can´t be really wrong about this.

First and foremost, if a player wants his PC to remember having a conversation about something, a Destiny Point would be the best way to handle this. "Oh yeah, I remember having a discussion with a colleague about this very thing..."

But if it's skills you're looking for...

• If the player is trying to recall something under pressure, I would have him roll Cool . It's something that normally would be a piece of cake if you had a minute to think about it (a numeric pattern, a random piece of trivia), but "HOLY CRAP THE WALLS ARE CONVERGING AND EVERYONE SHUT UP I'M TRYING TO THINK!!!"
• Aside from the above situation, I think the Knowledge skills fit best, with Boost dice appropriate to the "memorability" of the conversation. The skill used in question would have to do with the content of the discussion. If he's trying to remember something about a story he heard, for example, Lore might be appropriate. If the conversation was academic in nature, Education fits in the bill. If the conversation was about something illegal, Knowledge (Underworld) will get you there.

The reason I'd suggest using Knowledge skills here is, the more a character values something (Ie. the more time and resources they've spent studying it), the more easily they can recall bits of information that relate to that preferred thing/field of study.

• Perception, as far as I'm concerned, would be more for recalling conversations you've overheard or noticed , not those that you were actively participating in. Jason Bourne has Perception cranked up to level 5, and can tell you in detail what the couple he passed in the restaurant were talking about, without even trying to listen in. But Perception, IMO, shouldn't be used to recall actual information that you already "know." That is what the "Knowledge" skills are for.

I know it gets kinda hairy, but that's how I'd run it.

Thank you all for your suggestions and insight. I think in this situation, I am going to use Int as it is a conversation one of the current PCs had with Oskara about a character named B'ura B'an on her home planet.

Sounds like Knowledge is appropriate, but it also sounds like you might consider whether this really needs a skill check at all.

You could just inform the player that Oskara remembers something about that character. You could either just tell them what they know, or give them the opportunity to flip a Destiny Point, as awayputyrwpn suggested.

Yeah, if you actually need them or want them to remember this information, and the check still feels as if it needs to be made, the check could simply be for the quality of the memory. A failure on the check would be a basic recalling of information, while higher degrees of success could result in a very lucid memory of the conversation, complete with atmospheric details or certain character traits.

Yeah, if you actually need them or want them to remember this information, and the check still feels as if it needs to be made, the check could simply be for the quality of the memory. A failure on the check would be a basic recalling of information, while higher degrees of success could result in a very lucid memory of the conversation, complete with atmospheric details or certain character traits.

This is exactly what I had in mind.

Yeah, if you actually need them or want them to remember this information, and the check still feels as if it needs to be made, the check could simply be for the quality of the memory. A failure on the check would be a basic recalling of information, while higher degrees of success could result in a very lucid memory of the conversation, complete with atmospheric details or certain character traits.

This is exactly what I had in mind.

If this is the case, Perception would probably work just as well as a Knowledge check.