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How much do PCs know about monsters?
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<blockquote data-quote="Elder-Basilisk" data-source="post: 73005" data-attributes="member: 3146"><p>I'd say there are two answers to your question.</p><p></p><p>1. It's highly campaign and background specific. For instance, in Greyhawk a character who grew up in the The Theocracy of the Pale next to the troll fens would probably know what a troll looked like and what their vulnerabilities are. He probably wouldn't know much about fire giants, merfolk, sea lions, or Kraken though. On the other hand, a character from Geoff would probably know a lot about giants.</p><p></p><p>2. I believe that the CRs of certain monsters assume that you have certain basic knowledge. Unless you let the party know that Holy water burns demons and undead, imps (regenerate everything except acid/holy water and blessed weapon damage) are pretty much invulnerable to a low level party. </p><p></p><p>3. Similarly, some information is very easy to infer from the descriptions of monsters and that should be considered character knowledge as soon as they encounter them. For example, it should be obvious that a Remhoraz, Fire Elemental, or Thoqqua will injure anyone or any weapon that strikes them (they're creatures whose very bodies glisten with the heat of a furnace). If a DM were to insist that characters actually see someone get crisped by striking these creatures before realizing that they damaged anything that touched them, it would make the appearance of a Remhoraz an instant death for at least one character.</p><p></p><p>4. Tome and Blood (p. 20) suggests that Knowledge Arcana might reveal the following information:</p><p>DC 10: Silver weapons hurt lycanthropes "common knowledge"</p><p>DC 15: Fiendish creatures have cold resistance "specialized knowledge"</p><p>DC 25: What spells affect a particular kind of golem "esoteric knowledge"</p><p>I think this could serve as a guide to determine what characters know.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Elder-Basilisk, post: 73005, member: 3146"] I'd say there are two answers to your question. 1. It's highly campaign and background specific. For instance, in Greyhawk a character who grew up in the The Theocracy of the Pale next to the troll fens would probably know what a troll looked like and what their vulnerabilities are. He probably wouldn't know much about fire giants, merfolk, sea lions, or Kraken though. On the other hand, a character from Geoff would probably know a lot about giants. 2. I believe that the CRs of certain monsters assume that you have certain basic knowledge. Unless you let the party know that Holy water burns demons and undead, imps (regenerate everything except acid/holy water and blessed weapon damage) are pretty much invulnerable to a low level party. 3. Similarly, some information is very easy to infer from the descriptions of monsters and that should be considered character knowledge as soon as they encounter them. For example, it should be obvious that a Remhoraz, Fire Elemental, or Thoqqua will injure anyone or any weapon that strikes them (they're creatures whose very bodies glisten with the heat of a furnace). If a DM were to insist that characters actually see someone get crisped by striking these creatures before realizing that they damaged anything that touched them, it would make the appearance of a Remhoraz an instant death for at least one character. 4. Tome and Blood (p. 20) suggests that Knowledge Arcana might reveal the following information: DC 10: Silver weapons hurt lycanthropes "common knowledge" DC 15: Fiendish creatures have cold resistance "specialized knowledge" DC 25: What spells affect a particular kind of golem "esoteric knowledge" I think this could serve as a guide to determine what characters know. [/QUOTE]
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