Swarmkeeper
Hero
Ok, so I am genuinely curious as to how you guys run things.
1) Do you, as a rule, let the players know the hp of the monsters? I suppose it doesn't say they can't know anywhere in the books, but that's a weak argument; it also doesn't say the PCs can't do a LOT of things. Is there anyone who hates "gamist" type mechanics but who allows HP knowledge for purposes like the PW spell? How do you reconcile that?
2) Do you, as a rule, let the players know how high a monster's save is, or if it has magic resistance? Seems to me that, while not exactly the same as letting players know hp totals, it's definitely on the same spectrum, because it's to prevent a spell just "fizzling."
For myself, the answers are no and no, but maybe I've been doing it wrong?
1) I don't give out the HP numbers, but I do give the players a descriptive sense of when the monster is down to about half and maybe again when down to about 25% and then one more when down to 10 HP or fewer. E.g. "Looking beat up but still hanging tough" then "appears quite bloodied and banged up" then "this thing might be on its last legs".
2) I might allude to a resistance or immunity in my description of the monster, or I might allow an Arcana or Nature check, or I might allow a particular character to just know, or I might reveal nothing and let the PCs discover it during combat as part of the fun. "Fizzling" doesn't have to be a bad thing, it can be a cool part of combat - and they sure as heck will remember it for future reference! Regardless of the situation, I won't give an exact number for the monster's saving throw.