D&D 5E (2014) How do you handle monster knowledges in your game?

[Reynard]

One thing I want to clarify: players would know that false information was possible, even on a successful roll, just as a matter of explaining the table rules on "knowledge" checks.

 

[Blue]

I ask the player what information he or she wants to know. The higher the roll, the more different types of information they can obtain. Resistances, Immunities, special attacks, special defenses, weak saves are all on the table as information that a character could plausibly have heard about a creature or glean from observation.

So characters forget common information if they want something harder? Seem contrary to the narrative.

 

[Blue]

No. A successful check means you remember what you were told/read. If you were told bad info, you remember bad info.

"Yes, you hit the AC, but your mentor was a lousy shot so your arrow misses."

Um, no. That's not how the game part of this works. At all.

A DM gives me bad information for a missed skill check? Go for it. Even if you told me a false DC and it was actually much higher.

The DM gives me bad information for a skill check that is successful against the DC they set? Getting up and walking away from the table. And badmouthing that DM to every gamer I know.

 

[Blue]

REMOVED

 

[Pedantic]

Because a chart of a bunch of "common knowledge and lore" about a particular monster is more interesting if there is some rumor, inuuendo, and misinformation in it.

That's a reasonable thing to model, but it still seems better served by simply adjusting the DC. If it's rare to know the actual treatment for cockatrice petrification, then just set the DC to know it higher and assign a "missed by X" misinformation result.

Is the concern that the player will use the result of the die roll to try and glean more information? You can just not make the roll player facing.

 

[ECMO3]

How much info should PCs glean from a high monster knowledge check? If a Pc rolls a 25 or even a 30, do they learn just a few tidbits, every immunity and weakness the monster has....do you just give them the statbook?

Just how much can a PC gain about a monster from a monster knowledge check?

As an action during combat they can try to recall what they know DC depends on the monster. If it is a unique never before seen monster it is impossible. Common monster probably 12, something very rare that they probably never herd of 20 or 25.

Some things are common knowledge - trolls and fire, Vampires and sunlight etc, PCs can also ask based on their character - "Does my Dragonborn know anything about this kind of Dragon, what does my Tiefling who grew up on Avernus know about Chain Devils?

 

[GobHag]

So, do you think the GM should ever give the PCs unreliable information if a successful roll was made?

Never, yes

 

[Demetrios1453]

Never, yes

Agreed.

@Reynard I think you're leaving people flabbergasted that a successful check can basically fail, and, can in fact be detrimental. I can see how you might not want to give out monster knowledge willy-nilly, but the better way to do that would just announce that monster knowledge checks will have higher (even significantly higher) DCs rather than basically undermining one of the base assumptions of the game, that a successful check is... well... successful.

 

[Iosue]

I do monster knowledge checks like this:
Applicable skills: Arcana (for non-natural monsters), History, Nature, Religion (for undead), and Survival
If the PCs clear the following DCs, they know...
DC 5 - the name of the monster
DC 10 - how it typically attacks
DC 15 - some special resistances, if any, all possible attacks, and one or two ecology facts
DC 20 - all resistances/immunities, if any, special effects from attacks, and three or four ecology facts
DC 25 - essentially everything about the monster, including reach of attacks, and which attacks cause more damage, and the entire ecology entry

I never reference anything in game terms, so no HP or damage dice, but I'll make comparisons with other characters/monsters. E.g., "It looks sturdier than the Fighter," when the fighter has 100+ HP.

I'll also adjust the above DCs depending on how common or rare the monster is. Goblins/Orcs/Bugbears, etc. would be easier DCs, while some abomination from another plane might have more difficult DCs.

 

[Sulicius]

I don't give them the stat block. Instead I give them as much of the base monster lore as possible, plus setting and situation relevant information about the creature.