You have an Int default only for Area Knowledge of a place where you live
or once lived. Geography only gives a default for Area Knowledge of the specialty region.
This skill represents familiarity with the people, places, and politics of a given region. You usually have Area Knowledge only for the area you consider your “home base,” whether that’s a single farm or a solar system. If information about other areas is available, there is a possibility to learn additional Area Knowledge skills.
Area Knowledge rolls are not required for ordinary situations; e.g., to find the blacksmith, tavern, or your own home. But it could require a roll to locate a smith to shoe
your horse at 3 a.m., or to find the best ambush spot along a stretch of road.
“Secret” or obscure information might give a penalty, require a Hidden Lore
skill, or simply be unavailable. For instance, Area Knowledge of New-Veil would give you the location of the Siemite Embassy, but not the Spinners' secret society hangout.
The information covered by Area Knowledge often overlaps such skills as Current Affairs, Geography, Naturalist, and Streetwise. The difference is that Area Knowledge works for
a single area: you know the habits of this tiger or gang boss, but have no special insight into tigers or gangs in general.
You can learn Area Knowledge for any sort of area. The larger the territory, the less “personal” and more general your knowledge becomes.
Almost everyone will have Area Knowledge of some type. The “canonical” area classes are:
Specializations
Neighborhood
For an urban area: the residents and buildings of a few city blocks.
For a rural area: the inhabitants, trails, streams, hiding places, ambush sites, flora, and fauna of a few hundred acres.
Village or Town
All important citizens and businesses, and most unimportant ones; all public buildings and most houses.
City
All important businesses, streets, citizens, leaders, etc.
Barony, County, Duchy, or Small Nation
General nature of its settlements and towns, political allegiances, leaders, and most higher standing citizens.
Large Nation
Location of its major cities and important sites; awareness of its major customs, ethnic groups, and languages (but not necessarily expertise names of folk of Important status; and a general understanding of the economic and political situation.
Planet
As for a large nation, but more general; knowledge of people of Greater Status only.
Interplanetary State
Location of major planets; familiarity with all known races (but not necessarily expertise knowledge of people of Greater Status; general understanding of the economic and political situation.
Galaxy
Location of the capitals of interplanetary states and the homeworlds of major races; general awareness of all major races; knowledge of individuals of Incredible Status; general understanding of relations between interplanetary states.
Area Knowledge for anything larger than a galaxy would be meaninglessly vague.
Your [6+Int] default applies to any of these classes, as long as you have lived in the area.
Defaults are limited by “common knowledge” at your tech familiarity.
A Revinian hunter would have a default for every level up to “Village or Town,” while a Maravian college student would have defaults up to “Planet” level.
You must live in an interplanetary or interstellar state to have defaults for levels
above “Planet.”
In some cases, Area Knowledge specialties may exist for parallel realities and other dimensions – Area Knowledge (Astral Sea), Area Knowledge (Dreamland), etc.