PC knowledge of Monsters?

[Friadoc]

Greetings,

I'm curious as to your opinions on the topic of 'Player knowledge about monsters?'

A 1st level PC is far and above a 1st level NPC, unless that NPC has a PC class and not an NPC one, but how should you handle their knowledge of other races and monsters?

They're, in my opinion, basically rookies and, unlike veterans, would only know, if they're lucky, a bit more then urban myth, legend, and folklore when it comes to entities beyond their regional scope.

Obviously the more common races, or monsters, would be more known then those beings of rariety, but where do you draw the line between mechanics and setting?

I'm coming at this from a desire to make sessions, for veteran players, more memorable - akin to the days of our earliest role-playing.

Not only memorable, but an added role-playing element to combat.

As an example, due to a talk with one of my friends, as well as one of my players, imagine an encounter with a Troll.

The party has heard that Trolls fear fire, but they've never fought one, nor talked much with those who have, nor do they have Kolos Zeth's Guide to Monsters and their Weaknesses.

So, as they fight the creature and win, they leave it's 'body' behind.

A day or so later they here that the villiage near the moors, where they killed the troll, is being harassed by another troll.

During the next serious of combats the PC Bard makes a check and remembers a story of a troll, in which he was finally vanquished by a burning pyre.

Not only are the PCs famous for helping the villiage, true heroes (huzzah), but they also now know a key element to defeating a troll.

Anyhow, that's just an example.

More common races and creatures, such as Orcs and Mountain Lions, would be more known, but rarer beings, or reclusive ones, would be as much myth as fact.

So, what do you think?

 

[d12]

Trolls - PC's know about Fire and Trolls. Its part of the tales that parents of all races tell their children.

PC's know Medusae turn people to stone and they know which color dragons breathe what.

They don't know what a Destachan is unless they have a reason to. They don't know about Yrthraks. They don't know the difference between a Vrock and Osyluth.

 

[Ranes]

Friadoc, good point - not that I'm an authority on subjects that have been addressed before but this issue always crosses my mind whenever I begin a new campaign. And that's what I've just done in the last couple of weeks.

Like you, I want even veteran players to experience something of that uncertainty they felt when they first played, assuming they're creating first level characters. I go along with the idea that the the more common monster races would be fairly well known to the greater populace but I don't want the players to be put in the position where they're having to roleplay ignorance of a less common creature their characters are encountering for the first time. I employ the following techniques whenever possible.

I try my utmost to avoid mentioning the creature by any other name than a colloquial one that might be employed by ignorant NPCs and even then only use that name when it is obviously applicable.

Taking is much care as possible not to over- (or under-) balance the creature, I often modify it in some small way from the default version in the MM or whatever the source is (assuming I haven't designed it from scratch, of course).

I consider carefully the lighting, visibility and acoustic aspects of the environment in which the creature is encountered and use whatever I can to affect my description of the encounter to the players.

I have found that keeping these factors in mind during encounters can have the most satisfactory effect, even when I'm placing in the players' path something with which they would otherwise be familiar, mechanically speaking.

The obfuscation cannot last for longer than a round or two at most but it gives me quite a buzz when I see the penny finally drop. My players have always seemed to appreciate my efforts too.

 

[-Warlord-]

You can let the players know how much their characters know in your description.

"a troll comes at you through the woods."
By naming it as a troll, it sets the assumption that the players know what it is, and would also know it's wellknown weaknesses.

Now for a party of rookies that has maybe heard stories about trolls, but never faced one, you could use the following:

"A large hunched over humanoid figure makes it's way towards you. It's green skin is covered by numerous warts. It's big claws casually scrape over a tree as it passes it, leaving great cuts in it's bark."

The party will not know instantly what kind of creature it is. They can guess, but so can their characters.

 

[caudor]

I like to use a Knowledge - Monsters skill check. I always try to provide opportunities in my adventures for players to make use of various skill checks. Seems to work well.

My two cents. Cheers!

 

[Sabaron]

I prefer the description + colloquial names approach. It took my veteran D&D players quite some time to figure out that the "forest demons" were actually ogres.

 

[ConcreteBuddha]

I make a habit to write down every creature the PCs have faced. (It's a hassle, but worth it.)

 

[gunter uxbridge]

How about this....HOUSE RULE!

Every character has a new class skill, "Knowledge, Monsters."

DC 5 to ID a fairly common monster.
DC-10 - to ID the abilities of a common monster.
DC-15 to ID a rare Monster
DC - 20 to ID the abilities of a rare monster.
DC 25 - to ID an a "mythological" or legendary Monster
etc etc etc

Adjust as needed, but you get the idea. It at least give the PCs a fighting chance to know that the big baddie they are facing is about to spew something bad or whatever.

 

[squirrel]

In the campaign I'm currently in, our DM ruled that we couldn't take Knowledge (monsters) as a single skill. We had to split it up into different types like Knowledge (Gaintkin), Knowledge (Undead), etc. It has worked out very well. He also makes a personal call for if a certain knowledge would be a class skill, for example, Knowledge (Undead) for clerics. The more exact the area your character is knowledgeable, the more likely it is the character will know more about it (like strengths, weaknesses, and just about anything else), for example, instead of Knowledge (Undead) we take Knowledge (Ghasts).

This way is not only used to identify the creature, but know about their ways and culture.

 

[thundershot]

I pulled one over on the players one time when I described their foe as an Ogre, but it had the abilities of an Ogre-Mage. They look totally different, but they gave me hell for misleading them. Too bad. I've been considering having an island or something where creatures look like other creatures... that would really tick someone off. Especially when that Gold Dragon turns out to be Red...


Chris