Monster knowledge handouts

[Blackbrrd]

Just wondering....

Do you guys really give your players all that information on a knowlege roll?
I never do, am I being too stingy?

I think per the PHB you get:
Name, Type and Keywords at 15
Powers at 20
Resistances and vulnerabilities at 25.

For example on the Moutain Psudodragon I would give out:
15: Moutain Psudodragon, Beast (Reptile) and the Lore.
20: 15 Info + "You know they have a bite and a Poison Tail Sting. Plus they are highly manuverable in the air, can turn invisible and have been known release poision clouds when they die."
25: 20 Info + No special resistances or vulnerabilities.

That's all the players get. No numbers, no defenses just the basics so they know generally what to expect.

I'm I being too stingy with my info?
Just wondering how everyone else plays this...

I don't give out much information at all to my players. My current campaign that have gotten to level 9 I haven't had a single knowledge roll because I have discouraged it. Slowing down combat with a lot of knowledge rolls feels very unnatural and weird.

On the other hand, I explain abilities after they are used so it's clear what is happening in game mechanical terms. In addition, if I get a plain question: "are they undead", I usually answer it if there isn't a specific reason to withhold the information.

I often give the players hints about what defenses are high/low so the archer doesn't waste his arrows on the soldiers walking in formation. It's something I believe any character would be able to see, so I give the information to the players.

Regarding giving information about powers - why should the players have all the information for free. I like to have them work for it. It makes it more exciting meeting new monsters and it really feels more natural.

 

[scrubkai]

I don't give out much information at all to my players. My current campaign that have gotten to level 9 I haven't had a single knowledge roll because I have discouraged it. Slowing down combat with a lot of knowledge rolls feels very unnatural and weird.

Hmmm... Interesting, but I don't think that would work in my game.
One of my players is playing a Sage and really that's all that he does... He provides the rest of the party with the odd info about anything they meet and allows the other players to use it to craft interesting plans. In combat, he normally just spends his first turn checking out the enemies and relaying to the rest of the party any major things to look out for.

We've always just assumed that he is drawing on past knowledge and relaying it to a party... Much like I do with my kids when hiking through the woods, I point out the animials and tell them what they need to know. (e.g. Stop. That's a badger, it's mean and will defend it's home, just back away slowly...)

 

[Jhaelen]

I never reveal any actual numbers, just general tendencies. I also only reveal only one power or special ability for every 5 skill points above and beyond the required DC.

 

[Truename]

We've always just assumed that he is drawing on past knowledge and relaying it to a party... Much like I do with my kids when hiking through the woods, I point out the animials and tell them what they need to know. (e.g. Stop. That's a badger, it's mean and will defend it's home, just back away slowly...)

That's how our game works, too. The character with the knowledge roll gets the handout, which represents in-world knowledge using player terminology, and then the player shares that with the others using his own words.

I created these handouts because people weren't making knowledge rolls and I wanted them to have a reason to use their skills.

The original incarnation just used prose, but the players found it too difficult to reference during combat, so I switched to the statblock format. My reasoning was that, rather than contort myself coming up with descriptions ("a nasty bite" vs. "a really nasty bite" vs "a devastating bite"), why not just let the players use their knowledge of the game rules to gain the same intuitive understanding the character has?

I used to be very stingy with information, but now I save the mystery for things that really matter. And I don't put every ability on the handout... just the ones characters would reasonably know about.

That said, I'm going to see how it works out for Scouring of Gate Pass and then possibly provide less information based on my players' comments.