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Message: <blockquote data-quote="steeldragons" data-source="post: 6362805" data-attributes="member: 92511">I think I'm falling mostly in with everyone else here. The description is the description I give the player. What it looks, sounds, smells like?...that's all done. It's right there...in front of you...ready to rip your head off. You don't need a check for that."Common knowledge" is freely given for critters that would be "common": orcs, ogres, goblins...maybe hobgoblins and kobolds depending on the area and characters...a dwarf or gnome is going to know immediately what a kobold is. The Cleric from the big city or halfling fresh out of his farming community...maybe not. A giant is "a giant?!"Player 1: "Was it a red giant or a blue giant?"Player 2: "OR grey or purple? What was it wearing?"Farmer who just crapped his pants when the giant took his cow: "It was BIG!"All players look annoyed.Farmer continues: "Kinda dirty. Mangy lookin' like. N' hooooWEE! I smelled it from across the field...was wearing, ya know, normal clothes. Patchy. Leathers...bit o' fur, I think."Players 1 & 2: "Hill giant."A troll is a troll. A basilisk? Maybe they'll mistake it for a drake/dragon of some kind until someone turns to stone...and maybe even after.Other stuff is really kinda dependent on the PC. I would give a modicum of information to a Cleric about an "Angel", i.e. You know from its coloring that it is what's described in the holy writings as being of the order of Planetar vs. a Deva...they are said to (2 or 3 things a planetar can do) or whatever. Mages are gonna know basic things and be able to recognize magical creatures like unicorns, cockatrices, pseudo-dragons and imps, etc... Demons are a bit more difficult since their appearances are all fairly mutable (in my world)...but I generally keep to the book descriptions or some permutation thereof so that a player is going to identify a Type I vs. a Type III, for example.If it comes to damage resistances, attack forms, special powers or any of that kinda "meta-game knowledge"...that's all going to be figured out from descriptions of the combat or, if the Player has some pre-established reason in the PC's background why they would know, I might have a roll about this particular type of demon...or demons vs. devils...or umber hulks or whatever. If its a cleric who belongs to a church/order of demon-hunters or a ranger who's made their PC around a concept of being a giant-slayer, I'd probably not require a roll. A thief with an interest in magical items/devices may be given free knowledge of magical guardian-type creatures or might be require a roll to see just what/how much she remembers, depends on the critter and how much/hcomplex they are. "I've read about these! It's an evil naga. Don't look it in the eyes!" Once the party has encountered something, though, I am inclined to just tell them...presuming their PCs have better memories/ pay more attention than the players...most times. <img src="http://www.enworld.org/forum/images/smilies/ponder.png"  class="smilie" loading="lazy" alt=":hmm:" title="Hmmm    :hmm:" data-shortname=":hmm:" /></blockquote>

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