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[Paul]

... previous adventurers have written down their findings about "how to avoid getting trampled by a bison" and whatnot.

Party: "Aaah! A herd of angry bison are charging us! What do we do?!"

Wizard, standing a ways away: "Hold on, I have just the book for that."

*party gets trampled while wizard reads*

[Naryar]

Exchange spells ? How can this work ? We both have quite different spell lists.

[Cthulhu]

On books:  By the time your brain pulls up its karate files and tells your muscles how to karate block a mugger's knife, he's already stabbed you twice.

Exchanging spells would only work with wizards, and they could just do it for free by sharing spellbooks.

EDIT:

6: Cthulhu - Kobold Summoner, with a crossbow and some adorable little kobold boots!
Kobold Kobold Kobold Kobold Kobold.

Does this mean I'm a cutebold?  As for elves, I'm not a racist but I don't think elves should be allowed to marry human women.  And also they should go back to the forest and stay there.

[Cthulhu]

No, they're Draconic.  Little tiny dragon people.

[Neonivek]

It is sort of the issue with Dungeons and dragons and heck all pen and paper RPGs.

Characters have less knowledge and MUCH less general knowledge then you do. This is because you could never put enough points into everything to represent a "well rounded person" (and no, this includes games set in modern times or the future).

Even if your character had a library on every monster in existance with pictures, something YOU have and that exists in dungeons and dragons, do not expect them to be able to identify squat.

Dungeons and dragons suffers from a lack of what I'll call "Common knowledge".

To the extent that when I run games, which is rarely but I do want to do that sometime in the not so distant future, I try hard to make sure that the ONLY time anyone needs to roll to identify something... that it is something esoteric, foriegn, or unique.

For example in one game I had "Scythe trees" but they were a split species that didn't look similar to scythe trees at all (for example they were fully leafed and were brimming with life).

Also no Kobolds are not Goblinoids, you are thinking of Bugbears.

[Girlinhat]

Exchanging spells would let you drop one spell for one same-level spell, but you'd have to pay for it.  The spontaneous casting classes suffer because useful spells aren't always useful, you have to prepare for late-game at all times, which can limit your abilities at your current level.

[Leatra]

It seems most of us dislike elves. My character won't have trouble with adapting!

I would be okay with books granting a circumstance bonus of some sorts. It can work like this if it seems too unrealistic to have bonus for carrying a book. I'm glad Pathfinder dropped the rule about all Barbarians automatically being illiterate. For RP reasons my character has to be literate too, considering the bits of knowledge he picked from the (painful and boring) education he received from his father.

[Darvi]

Really the illiteracy would be easy to house-rule away anyway.

[Neonivek]

It was mostly because the Barbarian illiteracy was there for roleplay but not for balance.

As well it didn't make sense even within the dungeons and dragons setting because no one else had to pay for reading ability (such as commoners). As well there were notable Barbarians where litteracy was widely known.

AS WELL the game always goes back and forth as to what exactly classes are. Whether they are intangible and represent a set of skills though certain types of training (Being a Librarian who takes levels in Wizard to represent your studious nature and magical talent) or if they are outright a class (Monks are often outright given a source).

Thus the difference between a Barbarian and a Fighter is simply that a Fighter focuses almost purely on martial prowress and a Barbarian focuses on physical prowress and perfects the body along with the sword.

So even roleplay wise its enforcement didn't make sense.

[Girlinhat]

I would be okay with books granting a circumstance bonus of some sorts. It can work like this if it seems too unrealistic to have bonus for carrying a book.

That's essentially what I was planning.  Like, you could read it and gain a +1 for 24 hours, and if you had it open you gained an additional +1.  I figure this to be like, if you're disarming a trap, the book would contain schematics of lockpicks, levers, and 'cheat sheet' information on material strength and how pulleys work.  So you could remember a bit by reading it, but also having the diagrams in front of you helps.

[Neonivek]

How I'd do it is if it was a book on the exact model of lock you were trying to pick. I would allow you to take 10 even when under stress.

Either that or a roll minimum.

[Naryar]

Eh... with +3 Wis bonus and stonecutting I may end up as the party's trap detector. In stone passages, at least.

Now for the most noble job of trap bait tester, we should use a half-elf well I'm pretty sure I got the strongest Will save, but otherwise... nope.

[Neonivek]

I'm probably gonna end up as the party's assassin XD

In my experience!.... No...

No one ever gets to be the assassin.

[Girlinhat]

Actually that'd be a rogue's job, as rogue's get a sneak attack ability that deals extra damage to enemies that can't utilize their dex - asleep, unaware, or pinned down by a grappler.

[Neonivek]

Actually that'd be a rogue's job, as rogue's get a sneak attack ability that deals extra damage to enemies that can't utilize their dex - asleep, unaware, or pinned down by a grappler.

Yeah it is one of the major differences between real life and Dungeons and dragons.

Stealth is severely weakened as "secret attacks" are pathetic and worth exactly one attack.

Then again there are MANY differences between real life and Dungeons and dragons. My favorite one to point out is how much weaker disease is then in real life.

For example if you were to open up your arm and dip it in sewer water... In real life that would probably kill you.

In Dungeons and Dragons... It is impossible for a healthy individual to die from it.

Also no Kobolds are not Goblinoids, you are thinking of Bugbears.

It's just that with my guy's past, he'd have a grudge against goblinoids.

Then why even distinguish? Hate them both!

They are similar enough for hatred. Who cares if a scientist would say with his nerdy glasses "Uhh actually Kobolds are not related to goblins. They are members of the dragon family"?