pming
Legend
Hiya!
I pretty much run how [MENTION=9501]Prism[/MENTION] runs it... via player questions/experience and his characters background. If the player can give me a good reason why his Dwarven Champion would have any idea what-so-ever about the sensory capabilities of a Willo-the-Whisp, then I'll allow an INT roll. Otherwise I typically reply with something that any commoner who is "interested in monsters and such" might have come across in books, stories, etc.
Often I always describe the monster unless it's one that everyone at the table would know...and sometimes this works against them. :evilgrin: So I will say "You see a hulking creature emerge from the shadows. It's a full two heads taller than a man, has skin the colour of rotting flesh, and dark, black eyes. It's gangly arms end in elongated fingers tipped with claws as dark as night. It's long, snout-like maw is dripping with blood from it's last meal, of which you see on the ground behind it...a poor, unfortunate orc". It's up to the players to decide if this is a Troll or not. They can just make the assumption, or they can ask for a confirmation roll, so to speak. I'll ask them for their INT adjustment and make the roll for them. Then I describe their resluts "From the looks of it, it fits the description of a troll, other than you've never heard of them being this pasty-green colour...although albino trolls are fairly frequent, this one does have a distinctly green tinge to it" (if he failed by a few points)...or "Yup, sure looks like it. Everything fits what you know of trolls" (if he failed by a lot) ...or "Yes, but it's far worse. You've heard of these...and you're pretty sure it's an undead troll...a horrid mix between a Ghoul and a Troll...this is a Thoul!" (if he succeeded).
I would NEVER let players roll themselves and see their results. Their characters would have no idea at all if they have correctly guessed, remembered, or even heard about something about a creature. If the player sees the results, and sees his 24 total...and I say "Yup, sure looks like a troll...and undead one...a thoul!" the player KNOWS he is correct...as opposed to, well, not.
Then again, I pretty much make all "knowledge" and "uncertain outcome" rolls on behalf of a player then hand out info as appropriate. Like with stealth checks, picking locks, looking for traps, reading languages, etc. Anything where success/failure isn't obvious or binary (e.g., making a to hit roll, save, climbing a wall, etc.). I mean, if everyone searches a room, and nobody rolls higher than a 6, you can bet coppers to platinum that the players will say "We search again" and find some way to justify that search. Luckily for me though, my players just let the dice fall where they may and rarely try and pull those kind of shenanigans.
^_^
Paul L. Ming
I pretty much run how [MENTION=9501]Prism[/MENTION] runs it... via player questions/experience and his characters background. If the player can give me a good reason why his Dwarven Champion would have any idea what-so-ever about the sensory capabilities of a Willo-the-Whisp, then I'll allow an INT roll. Otherwise I typically reply with something that any commoner who is "interested in monsters and such" might have come across in books, stories, etc.
Often I always describe the monster unless it's one that everyone at the table would know...and sometimes this works against them. :evilgrin: So I will say "You see a hulking creature emerge from the shadows. It's a full two heads taller than a man, has skin the colour of rotting flesh, and dark, black eyes. It's gangly arms end in elongated fingers tipped with claws as dark as night. It's long, snout-like maw is dripping with blood from it's last meal, of which you see on the ground behind it...a poor, unfortunate orc". It's up to the players to decide if this is a Troll or not. They can just make the assumption, or they can ask for a confirmation roll, so to speak. I'll ask them for their INT adjustment and make the roll for them. Then I describe their resluts "From the looks of it, it fits the description of a troll, other than you've never heard of them being this pasty-green colour...although albino trolls are fairly frequent, this one does have a distinctly green tinge to it" (if he failed by a few points)...or "Yup, sure looks like it. Everything fits what you know of trolls" (if he failed by a lot) ...or "Yes, but it's far worse. You've heard of these...and you're pretty sure it's an undead troll...a horrid mix between a Ghoul and a Troll...this is a Thoul!" (if he succeeded).
I would NEVER let players roll themselves and see their results. Their characters would have no idea at all if they have correctly guessed, remembered, or even heard about something about a creature. If the player sees the results, and sees his 24 total...and I say "Yup, sure looks like a troll...and undead one...a thoul!" the player KNOWS he is correct...as opposed to, well, not.
Then again, I pretty much make all "knowledge" and "uncertain outcome" rolls on behalf of a player then hand out info as appropriate. Like with stealth checks, picking locks, looking for traps, reading languages, etc. Anything where success/failure isn't obvious or binary (e.g., making a to hit roll, save, climbing a wall, etc.). I mean, if everyone searches a room, and nobody rolls higher than a 6, you can bet coppers to platinum that the players will say "We search again" and find some way to justify that search. Luckily for me though, my players just let the dice fall where they may and rarely try and pull those kind of shenanigans.
^_^
Paul L. Ming
