I was wondering are the PCs expected to create custom skills for Knowledge: Mid-Rim, Knowledge: Wild Space, Knowledge: Unkonwn Regions, etc. Or do the two existing Knowledge skills actually include wider areas? For example, does Knowledge: Core Worlds cover Core, Deep Core, Colonies, and Inner Rim areas, while Knowledge: Outer Rim might cover Expansion Region, Mid Rim, Outer Rim, Unknown Regions, and Wild Space.

I can see the benefits of both approaches, each being it's own encourages different characters to have different specialties), the broader more inclusive approach means they can have deeper knowledge more cheaply and spend on other abilities.

Has anyone made a decision on this either way? Thoughts?

Just to temper the number of knowledge skills, I'm just inclined to use the second option, although I might move Wild Space/Unknown Regions to Education simply because there is very little knowledge about those places in general.

Knowledge Education covers all.....

I was wondering are the PCs expected to create custom skills for Knowledge: Mid-Rim, Knowledge: Wild Space, Knowledge: Unkonwn Regions, etc. Or do the two existing Knowledge skills actually include wider areas? For example, does Knowledge: Core Worlds cover Core, Deep Core, Colonies, and Inner Rim areas, while Knowledge: Outer Rim might cover Expansion Region, Mid Rim, Outer Rim, Unknown Regions, and Wild Space.

I can see the benefits of both approaches, each being it's own encourages different characters to have different specialties), the broader more inclusive approach means they can have deeper knowledge more cheaply and spend on other abilities.

Has anyone made a decision on this either way? Thoughts?

I usually roll pretty much exactly as you have outlined in your third sentence, just boiling it down to Core vs Not. In edge cases like the Inner Rim and the Expansion Region I could see it going either way with the rule of thumb maybe being More Developed = Core Worlds, Less Developed = Outer Rim.

I think a little bit of flexibility is fine here depending on PC background / player logic. For example, I would let someone roll a more difficult Core Worlds check than I would generally require of Outer Rim for information about Eriadu because Eriadu is often described as "a Core World in the Outer Rim" due to its industrial capacity and the influence of the Tarkin family.

Blackbird888 has a good suggestion about Wild Space and the Unknown Regions. Depending on the region or world in question Lore might even be the most appropriate, say for those forgotten regions formerly part of the various Sith empires.

As a rule of thumb I treat Knowledge (Core Worlds) as the Deep Core, Core, Colonies and Inner RIm. Knowledge (Outer Rim) covers the Expansion Region, Mid Rim, Outer Rim and Wild Space.

The Unknown Regions can be covered by Knowledge (Outer Rim), but in most cases I wouldn't allow rolls for things to do with the UR. They're unknown, after all.

With the exception of the Outer Rim, the settled parts of the galaxy have been settled for a looooong time. The Outer Rim has only been settled for a few thousand years, rather than dozens of thousands of years. Therefore, the Knowledge (Outer Rim) skill covers the Outer Rim and Knowledge (Core Worlds) covers everything else.

Wild Space has been partially explored but is mostly unsettled, therefore an Education roll would cover that.

The Unknown Regions would be covered under Lore, since what's fact and what's legend about those parts of the galaxy are difficult to discern.

Thanks everyone, that's very helpful.

I think I'll take your suggestions and treat Core as older worlds/areas/routes (generally toward the center of the galaxy, but including places like Eriadu- Thanks Zertz!), Outer Rim as newer worlds/areas/routes (generally toward the outer edges), Education for Wild Space, and Lore for Unknown Regions and to some extent Knowledge (Underworld) will cover worlds with heavy crime influence (Hutt Space). That has the nice effect of giving a wide array of characters something to contribute without taxing their skill points too much.

Thanks again!

I think I'll take your suggestions and treat Core as older worlds/areas/routes (generally toward the center of the galaxy, but including places like Eriadu- Thanks Zertz!), Outer Rim as newer worlds/areas/routes (generally toward the outer edges), Education for Wild Space, and Lore for Unknown Regions and to some extent Knowledge (Underworld) will cover worlds with heavy crime influence (Hutt Space). That has the nice effect of giving a wide array of characters something to contribute without taxing their skill points too much.

Yoink!

That has the nice effect of giving a wide array of characters something to contribute without taxing their skill points too much.

This is an important idea that I can't +1 enough. Hard delineations between knowledge skills are both a detriment to the game and aren't "realistic" in either a narrative or real-world sense. Knowledge disciplines bleed into each other all the time, especially in heroic fiction where characters are expected to be well-rounded.

Heck, even some active skills can cross, such as using either Skulduggery or Computers to bypass a computer locked door.

I will note that, despite any distinctions, it tends to turn into 'the smart guy knows them all' because 4-5 green dice is still better than 2-3 dice even if they are all yellow. So until someone becomes supremely good at a knowledge skill, base int will still trump skill as far as chance of success. And by then the smart guy got a dedication or two and has 6 green dice anyhow. It is also far cheaper for said smart guy to toss a rank or two into a lot of knowledge skills than for the average guy to put 4-5 ranks into just one, so its not like they wont ever have yellow dice at all.

Because of this, chopping down knowledge skills into smaller pieces rarely actually helps characters that may have topical knowledge of an area thematically actually become better at knowing it than the smart guy. Players will build topical knowdledge skills for flavor in general, even with a smart guy around (hopefully), but making them more specific just makes them less likely to be useful when the smart guy isnt around and they really need it.

TLDR: Dont break down knowledge skills, there are plenty for what you should need already.

That is why when I have my players roll a knowledge check, I have certain tidbits of information that can only be earned by Triumphs. Sure, the character with Intellect 7 will know all the basic stuff, and some uncommon stuff due to loads of advantage, but they will never know what someone who actually studied the topic would know with a Triumph.

As a rule of thumb I treat Knowledge (Core Worlds) as the Deep Core, Core, Colonies and Inner RIm. Knowledge (Outer Rim) covers the Expansion Region, Mid Rim, Outer Rim and Wild Space.

The Unknown Regions can be covered by Knowledge (Outer Rim), but in most cases I wouldn't allow rolls for things to do with the UR. They're unknown, after all.

I do something similar, but for Know:CW, a give a setback for Deep Core, Colonies, and inner Rim. Likewise for Know: OR.

Oh, I like that idea a lot! Setback die could be assigned for the farther afield someone goes allowing even more overlap, but with reasonable consequences.

That is why when I have my players roll a knowledge check, I have certain tidbits of information that can only be earned by Triumphs. Sure, the character with Intellect 7 will know all the basic stuff, and some uncommon stuff due to loads of advantage, but they will never know what someone who actually studied the topic would know with a Triumph.

Triumph FTW!!!

Oh, and ... yoink!

That is why when I have my players roll a knowledge check, I have certain tidbits of information that can only be earned by Triumphs. Sure, the character with Intellect 7 will know all the basic stuff, and some uncommon stuff due to loads of advantage, but they will never know what someone who actually studied the topic would know with a Triumph.

Triumph FTW!!!

Oh, and ... yoink!

I'm glad you liked it, and I hope it works for you as well as it does for me. It was the most effective way I could think of to actively reward players for ranking up Knowledge skills, without punishing those who didn't.