One of my players decided to go Scholar, placing his points to be a walking encyclopedia.

Then another player proved in game that the Scholar, and by extention, Knowledge Skills, aren't very useful in a high technology age. He just started using his computers skill to look up things on whatever the equivalent of google is.

I ruled with Common Sense and allowed him to do this for the session.

He was able to find the cantina without a streetwise check because he just looked it up on the directory.

He was able to make a lore check by simply finding a famous TV show about the subject.

Even in real life, search engines have slightly changed our society. We now value having potent knowledge in a few areas rather than having knowledge in many different areas because we're just a smartphone or computer away from knowing how to cook something. It makes having 1 rank in a knowledge branch pretty useless unless you were somehow unable to access a computer, and 2 ranks barely passable.

What do you guys think? Would you allow search engines in your campaign?

Should I say no, to keep knowledge checks important?

Should I say yes, to adhere to common sense?

Should I say yes but the Great Network Wall of the Empire makes it so that players are free to search any terms as long as they adhere to Imperial Law? (Basically no contraband, jedi, rebels, or anti-imperial sentiments, which actually is still very lenient)

I'm not sure exactly what I'd do in this situation, but I think that technology as represented in the Star Wars films is very different than tech as it exists in our world.

There's even a theory that most people in Star Wars are actually illiterate:

http://www.tor.com/blogs/2012/10/most-citizens-of-the-star-wars-galaxy-are-probably-totally-illiterate

I'm not sure I'd even think that there was such a thing as the internet on Tatooine, or a Galaxy-wide network that was easy for just anyone to look things up on.

It's an interesting question, though, I'm curious how others would adjudicate this.

I think this is just a matter of the scope of the skills.

Being able to look up a cantina's address in a directory, once you know its name, is one thing.

Knowing which cantina is a front for Black Sun? That's a whole different thing. That knowledge is not going to just be on some computer directory. That takes a Streetwise check.

(Related: once the successful Streetwise check gets the PCs the name of the underworld cantina they need to know, don't then also make them roll a Computers check to look up the address. That's a waste of dice rolling and isn't something that needs to be adjudicated by a check.)

The only galaxy spanning network I know of is the Holonet and that is heavily regulated by the Empire. I'd require any slicer trying to access the network to pass a formidable check to try and access it. From what I've seen, TVs don't exist as they do here therefore a TV show would not either. Imagine the Star Wars universe as having dumped all its tech into droids, space ships and hyperspace travel. They didn't waste precious brain power on Facebook or the Kardashians. In some ways, they are highly advanced, in others very dated. There's a reason the movies begin with "A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away...". Its a take on "A long time ago in a kingdom far, far away..." Its a fantasy story set in a technologically advanced civilization. They just didn't advance the direction we are.

TL;DR - I would seriously restrict their access, make it very difficult to do so and limit what kind of information they can gather based on the SW universe.

The only galaxy spanning network I know of is the Holonet and that is heavily regulated by the Empire. I'd require any slicer trying to access the network to pass a formidable check to try and access it. From what I've seen, TVs don't exist as they do here therefore a TV show would not either. Imagine the Star Wars universe as having dumped all its tech into droids, space ships and hyperspace travel. They didn't waste precious brain power on Facebook or the Kardashians. In some ways, they are highly advanced, in others very dated. There's a reason the movies begin with "A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away...". Its a take on "A long time ago in a kingdom far, far away..." Its a fantasy story set in a technologically advanced civilization. They just didn't advance the direction we are.

TL;DR - I would seriously restrict their access, make it very difficult to do so and limit what kind of information they can gather based on the SW universe.

So basically Aunt Beru's a farmer but she just lets her moisture vaporators do all the work, so all she does is sit inside playing Derjarik Table and listening to the same Max Rebo holovid again and again...

I bet Watto fared a little better. He was a local game master and ran a few table top campaigns with his chance cube.....His two...colored...chance cube...

Wait. Attack of the Clones had some sports TV in the bar, remember? Did anyone actually watch Pod Races at home, or did everyone HAVE to go to see them?

In previous games of Star Wars I've run this has come up.

Googling information, IMO, depends on several things:

1) Where are you? Hi Tech worlds will probably have a Internet analogy (I called it the cortex, because I'm a Firefly fan)

Low Tech worlds won't have one.

2) What are you looking for? Nearest Cantina, Laws on carrying weapons, Rodian to Basic translation of a short text would be fine.

Address of a local crime lord, whether Black Sun own that night club, google map showing the secret Imperial research facility would not be available.

In my old campaign (and I'll use it in EotE)I pinched the idea of Dataterms from the old Cyberpunk game. Public access terminals that gave tourist information on the high tech world you were on. The slicer character used to enjoy slicing them to see what else he could find and they were an easy way of giving players simple information. Nar Shaddaa had them, Tatooine didn't.

As for the idea of no TV, the prequels did have sports shows playing in the bar on Coruscant. WEG adventures had Holvid stars, reporters and the newsnets. It's up to you whether any of this is in your game but I think they can be a useful tool for the DM.

Just imagine all the worthless info you'd have to sift through to find what you want. On Earth we have over 7 billion people and probably a third of that number use the internet. Wookieepedia lists the Star Wars universe as over 100 quadrillion beings. If they had an internet like ours just imagine how much stuff would be on there.

Think of all the misinformation (and porn). You would need someone with knowledge in those various fields to make sure the information you are looking at is worthwhile. Even TV shows get a lot of information wrong.

I wouldn't tell the players no but I would make them realize that not all that information is correct. I'd also give them misinformation. Just make sure not to make things not fun for the person who wants to use the knowledge skills.

I let my players use internetesque things, but for specific info gathering stuff. Googling, like we do it for addresses, gossip and wikipedia, I won't allow, not that they try either. For them (and me) the holonet/internet/cortex/grid is more single purpose and with a more limited GUI, perhaps more akin to a proto-ARPANET and ftp clients/servers. Unless you have a proper large mainframe and a stable and imperial verified holonet connection, then you're getting closer to our internet.

This means that accessing a local node, a city or planet or base, is one thing, but to access the galaxy wide holonet something very different, it would be very hard, dangerous and slow; that's an insane amount of information to access and sift through over your wifi and you proto-surface, I mean your sw datapad is just an ipad or a microsoft surface, or probably more like an Android product since its actually usable and customisable, but still not a proper computer. Of course, if you have access codes (and slicer gear), know what you're looking for and where to look for it, you can narrow parameters and search for files/information over the open net (because there's gotta be a BBS-type system out there), but its hardly going to be quicker or more reliable than an educated knowledge check

Beaten by Bronski.

Was going to comment on misinformation and bias.

The Internet on Imperial worlds is likely to be censored and thanks to droids, closely monitored. Allowing fun ways to throw trouble at shady characters googling restricted words.

The ability to find information should not replace the knowledge skills. The skills will cover information not available on the net and represent personal experience.

Slicer: Says the Laughing Bantha is the nearest cantina.

Smuggler: Don't want to go there, it's cheap because they water down the beer. Besides it full of the Hutt's informants. We'll go to the Blue Moon, they sell my favourite Corellian Ale.

Just because you can google "New York Stock Exchange", doesn't mean you understand (or have knowledge) on how the markets work. And a little bit more on point... you can watch a 10 minute movie from a guy called Dave on youtube as to how to invest in the market, and you'd be an idiot to follow his advice. And just one more example: I needed the help of my mum who is a great cook (she has "Knowledge: French & Swedish cuisine" you could say) to help me search the interwebs (using my "Computer" skill) for a traditional Swedish Cucumber Salad. There were dozens of recipes, most were Americanised versions and not quite right, but with my google kung fu I eventually found recipes written in Swedish (used google translate on portions of the ingredient list) so that she could confirm what was the recipe she remembers making back in the 60s and 70s in Sweden. I would have found a recipe... but I wouldn't have known which was the actual traditional Swedish recipe as made by Swedes in Sweden, that required my mum's "knowledge".

It's important to understand the difference between information (Apple stock went up), and knowledge (they just bought a VR company). It isn't that the latter isn't on the net, its just that everything is on the net and knowing what is important requires knowledge.

I'd be very careful to allow any skill to do the work of another. The computer literate slicer should never overshadow the knowledge skills of the scholar. If you have both players in your game, get them to work together. The slicer hacks in (make a check), finds what she thinks is the right info, but the scholar reading over her shoulder directs her to the meat of the data and has to confirm the veracity of said information (make a check). They work well as a team. If the slicer is alone with the computer, then maybe she copies a whole lot of stuff onto her data pad before meeting back up with the scholar. "I didn't know what would be important, so I brought it all back for you to look through."

As knowledge skills can be generally weak in most rpgs (as a result of GMs not using them in interesting ways), I like them to be as expansive as possible and am usually quite lenient as to when a player wants to make a check. Knowledge checks shouldn't be required to provide the information to move the plot forward (what if they fail), but they should be used to provide tangible benefits that help the players in ways that otherwise just wouldn't exist if not for that character's knowledge skill choices.

What torquemadaza said.

And another thing; being good at slicing and constructing software doesn't enable you to know or understand things things any better, and it doesn't make you a good researcher. I'd say that if a person is researching, even using a computer, they should use their knowledge checks. The computer check is for accessing, slicing and navigating computer systems and networks. The actual information gathering and research is a knowledge check.

At the very least if the GM allows an attempt to substitute a Knowledge check with a Computer check, the check should be both increased and/or upgraded at least once (or twice) - Despairs should be possible, and give opposite and really misguided information (that could be fatal), since the forum you used as a source was actually a Klatooinian-recipe and religious rites site, but that thread was discussing how the power structure on Coruscant has changed over the last century, with emphasis on the importance of Hutts and one certain and historically important Klatooinian mythical person, who is now considered a symbol of the heretics on Klatooine and therefore is not a good idea to mention at the audience with the High Chieftain of the local clan - but since its was the computer wizard that found this info, he thinks this will show knowledge and give them an edge when negotiating the price for their services... of course the result will be no money and perhaps even violence, at best just a chase out of the village and a promise of death on return... or something along those lines.

The only galaxy spanning network I know of is the Holonet and that is heavily regulated by the Empire.

The WEG stuff suggested that the holonet (an FTL data network that had tied the republic together) was now restricted for use solely by the Imperial military.

I have occasionally pondered if what everyone was really pissed off about was that the Empire turned off the internet! I mean! Can you imagine!

First thing to remember is that Star Wars predates the Internet! Shocking isn't it.

Even in our computer literate society we still have scholars and institutions devoted to training them. What after all is a university, a library, a graduate school?

I expect that the holonet is mostly the equivalent of cable TV, with some gaming and limited information apps. Yelp!, the Encyclopedia Galactica, the phone and adress book, that sort of thing. It is entirely possible that it is not designed to be two-way interactive the way our Internet is. Imagine the net if private individuals and most businesses were not able to upload their own web pages, no Wikipedia, email, but maybe not even Facebook. A very different approach to the whole thing. Especially on fringe worlds.

Think of all the misinformation (and porn). You would need someone with knowledge in those various fields to make sure the information you are looking at is worthwhile. Even TV shows get a lot of information wrong.

If they start abusing it, tell them their datapad has become nearly useless due to all of the viruses and Ewok porn spam they are being sent due to browsing the Holonet. Nothing will make them shut down their datapad quicker then a Ewok-Wookie scene popping up on the screen while standing in a crowded cantina.

I expect that the holonet is mostly the equivalent of cable TV, with some gaming and limited information apps.

I like to think that people went from being able to have a real time two way conversation with anyone in the galaxy with the full holonet (this being seen as a 'great work' of the Republic), to nothing but highly restricted local networks when the Empire took control of the system and closed off access.

More serious response.

Yes the EU has the Holonet. But, you don't have to use it verbatim. You don't have to use it in your Star Wars campaign at all in fact.

Lots of solutions to rampant "Google" use.

First, as suggested above, make the Holonet completely controlled by the Empire. Only Imperial officials can log-in. Only properly vetted news and entertainment agencies (those controlled by the Empire) are allowed to send stories/shows through the Holonet. You can make the Holonet, the galaxy-wide internet, completely off limits to players unless they wish to slice in and thus suffer any consequences. That at least gives slicers something to do.

Local networks. Not all planets will have them. Dagobah will of course not have a network to contact. I suppose you could still access the database back on your ship. Tatooine may have a network, but possibly it is reserved for government officials and traffic control? Not all planets will have networks and those that do may have limited information available.

Finally, it could cost. Logging into the local network could cost you a daily log-in fee. Or possibly, some credits each use. Perhaps it's very expensive. There is no reason to think the citizens of Star Wars enjoy the free or cheap internet access we enjoy. When players are forced to choose between using credits to Google versus using a player's Knowledge or Streetwise skill, they will use the later.

First thing to remember is that Star Wars predates the Internet! Shocking isn't it.

Well, its contemporary with the ARPANET, more or less, which is the proto-internet, as I mentioned above (and BBS which appears end of the 70s, early 80s). This early iteration of the 'net was more about using computer interfaces as clients to connect to larger computers elsewhere to gain access to computing power, which in the 60s and 70s (and 80s), where at a premium in the sciences (to boil it down: it was made to let people connect to computers, not other people as we use it here and now, today). That it grew into what we have today was surprising apparently - and the lead developer of the ARPANET has stated that if he knew what it would grow into, he would have done it completely differently. which I find amusing.

I would allow it, with a caveat. The player would have to acquire a holonet transciever. You could try stealing one from a star destroyer. Or imperial installation.

Barring that overarching campaign goal. Id say no. You look at the original trilogy, and even in a backwater cantina they have live entertainment. Jabba, a powerful hutt, also has live entertainment. I tend to keep my music/shows live when I run a game.

Also, if you don't like the googling, simply say it hasn't been invented yet.

Finally, it could cost. Logging into the local network could cost you a daily log-in fee. Or possibly, some credits each use. Perhaps it's very expensive. There is no reason to think the citizens of Star Wars enjoy the free or cheap internet access we enjoy. When players are forced to choose between using credits to Google versus using a player's Knowledge or Streetwise skill, they will use the later.

Generally I agree with your post, but I'd point out here that: 1) Googling for information also requires knowledge about the subject, not "merely" keyboard, hacking and software programming skills, therefore I'd still use a knowledge check for online/holonet searches. 2) Using Streetwise could easily, I'd say should, cost money also. Perhaps a bit less, but bribes and "gifts" go a long way towards cooperation and gaining information. Normal knowledge checks perhaps not, but libraries and data archives would probably take a fee for letting someone do research also.

EDIT: unless its a social democratic welfare society that still insists on offering free services to the population, for some odd anti-capitalist reason.

Think of what using google is like in China compared to the US/canada/most of the rest of the world... then put 20 more filters on top of it, that is what is publically accessible on the holonet. Not to mention that the holonet works quite differently than our internet.

from wookieepedia

When Emperor Palpatine assumed power, large portions of the HoloNet were shut down to prevent news of the Empire's atrocities from spreading quickly. During the time of the Empire, the HoloNet was strictly controlled, used mostly for Imperial Military communications. This greatly inhibited the ability of groups like the Alliance to Restore the Republic to communicate, and arguably also had an isolating effect on the many planets over which the Empire held power.

For many of the beings of the galaxy, the day the holonet went dark was the day they finally realised how firmly under the jackboot of the Emperors New Order they now were.

Even in the prequel, as the article about illiteracy mentions, Padme has to go before the Senate and they don't even believe her that her entire planet of Naboo is being blockaded or invaded by the Trade Federation.

Can you imagine that happening if there was anything like the internet we currently enjoy?

I never understood how it was possible that an entire planet could be blockaded and invaded and people on Coruscant wouldn't know about it!

But I think it's meant to represent that information technology in Star Wars is very different from the way we know it.

I also agree with Jegergryte that even searching computer networks for information is more of a Knowledge check than a Computers check. It's sifting and evaluating the information to find the right results.

I also agree with Jegergryte that even searching computer networks for information is more of a Knowledge check than a Computers check. It's sifting and evaluating the information to find the right results.

I'd say both, because accessing anything that isn't Imperial propaganda would take some skill.

I also agree with Jegergryte that even searching computer networks for information is more of a Knowledge check than a Computers check. It's sifting and evaluating the information to find the right results.

I'd say both, because accessing anything that isn't Imperial propaganda would take some skill.

Well my take on that would be to require a slice check, to gain access to this counter-propaganda and then a knowledge check to sift through, interpret and figure out if its more reliable and valid.

Of course, circumstances dictate whether it would make sense to use a knowledge skill - sometimes you're in a rush, there's a slicer trying to prevent you from finding files. At that point its more about knowing file structures and stuff like that, and download that. This would be difficult enough in itself really. So there is no rigid rule here, in my opinion. It's just that I like people to have knowledge skills, and would have them use it, rather than the computer check. I mean, to create forgeries, whether on a computer or physical, I'd still require a Deception check for that I think, perhaps based off Intellect if on flimsi/screen.

Another thing to keep in mind is not all information is stored on the holonet. Datacrons and holocrons are not linked to the net and a huge source of information. I think it was episode 2 when Obi Wan is going through the holocrons in the library at Coruscant. Knowing where to look and which subject is more knowledge than computers, not to mention computers aren't availabe if your in the jungle of Dagoba and need to know what plants are poisonous and which aren't.