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<blockquote data-quote="zyzzyr" data-source="post: 348299" data-attributes="member: 1867">So, we live in an information age, whereby I can search a worldwide database from the comfort of my own home.&nbsp; I can keep up with breaking news, by the minute if I wish.&nbsp; I have a hundred or so channels to entertain me, along with video games, books (and e-books!) from any library or bookstore, and advertisements screaming at me to buy the product of a company in Sweden.But, of course, this isn't the case in &quot;typical&quot; D&amp;D - by which I mean Greyhawk, FR, or similar campaign worlds.My question to you all is: What is considered &quot;common knowledge&quot; in a D&amp;D world?&nbsp; How does information flow in the D&amp;D world?Let me give a few examples of &quot;common knowledge&quot; in our world:- Electricity is a source of power- Gravity makes things fall to the earth- There are no such things as werewolves (and if there were, they could be killed with a silver bullet)- If I take 2 from 3, I'm left with 1What should characters in a D&amp;D world know?&nbsp; What would an &quot;educated&quot; character versus &quot;uneducated&quot; versus &quot;average&quot; know?Basic math?&nbsp; Calculus?&nbsp; Optics?&nbsp; Cell biology?&nbsp; Atomic physics?Also, how exactly would information get from one place to the other?&nbsp; Bards (or would they be a mix of infotainment)?&nbsp; Traveling scholars?&nbsp; How common would this be?This all stems from the fact today, I know that if I met a werewolf, I can only hurt it with silver.&nbsp; I know what a dragon looks like.&nbsp; I know that a griffon is typically a good and noble creature.&nbsp; I know that a doppelganger is a creature that changes form to duplicate other people.But what does a character know?&nbsp; I mean, some of this has got to be in &quot;children's stories&quot;, even in D&amp;D?&nbsp; Like werewolves being slain by silver, or vampires hating garlic.So what exactly does a character know, and in which ways could they learn more (other than traveling from library to library across the country?)zyzzyr</blockquote>

[QUOTE="zyzzyr, post: 348299, member: 1867"] So, we live in an information age, whereby I can search a worldwide database from the comfort of my own home. I can keep up with breaking news, by the minute if I wish. I have a hundred or so channels to entertain me, along with video games, books (and e-books!) from any library or bookstore, and advertisements screaming at me to buy the product of a company in Sweden. But, of course, this isn't the case in "typical" D&D - by which I mean Greyhawk, FR, or similar campaign worlds. My question to you all is: What is considered "common knowledge" in a D&D world? How does information flow in the D&D world? Let me give a few examples of "common knowledge" in our world: - Electricity is a source of power - Gravity makes things fall to the earth - There are no such things as werewolves (and if there were, they could be killed with a silver bullet) - If I take 2 from 3, I'm left with 1 What should characters in a D&D world know? What would an "educated" character versus "uneducated" versus "average" know? Basic math? Calculus? Optics? Cell biology? Atomic physics? Also, how exactly would information get from one place to the other? Bards (or would they be a mix of infotainment)? Traveling scholars? How common would this be? This all stems from the fact today, I know that if I met a werewolf, I can only hurt it with silver. I know what a dragon looks like. I know that a griffon is typically a good and noble creature. I know that a doppelganger is a creature that changes form to duplicate other people. But what does a character know? I mean, some of this has got to be in "children's stories", even in D&D? Like werewolves being slain by silver, or vampires hating garlic. So what exactly does a character know, and in which ways could they learn more (other than traveling from library to library across the country?) zyzzyr [/QUOTE]

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