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Message: <blockquote data-quote="AaronOfBarbaria" data-source="post: 6826031" data-attributes="member: 6701872">One part having told my players that there aren't going to be rolls to determine what they do or don't know about monsters, the determination will be made entirely by the characters knowing anything consider common folk lore by the setting (and establishing that short-list of info that consists of things like poison not working on anything not living, silver and magic being needed to harm the supernatural, and creatures from other planes of existence being resistant or immune to certain elements because the elements are only in balance on the material plane), anything that their specific character backgrounds suggest knowing (such as a librarian probably knowing a bunch of stuff in general, a sailor being familiar with aquatic and coastal creatures, a warlock having knowledge relevant to the variety of creature they made a pact with, and so on), and anything that they'd not have had any chance at all to have learned.And one part me describing creatures as well as I can, plus being more overt about a detail if a player has obviously missed a hint I thought I'd made clear.Because the DM has said "I'll be describing things so that you have the knowledge you need, it's not just me being flowery."Depends on the origin of said immunity. Some creatures it is as simple as "these creatures seem comfortable despite the sweltering heat here," because I use those creatures in their preferred habitat rather than somewhere that leaves them entirely out of context (i.e. flame snakes encounter in hot places, near/in fire/lava).Other creatures don't need any more telegraphing than to describe their appearance (look at a fire elemental or a magmin for example).Many creatures also have a coloration that resembles fire or evokes the idea of fire, so that helps a player think just like one would when playing a video game that has elemental affinity/weakness and seeing a creature colored in reds, oranges, and yellows.Then, there are the creatures that I don't need to telegraph the specific resistance to fire - just their fiendish nature, which implies the elemental resistance on its own.If you'd like a more specific answer, just pick me out a monster and I'll explain how I'd telegraph it's details to my players.Trolls are a thing which fall into common folk knowledge in my campaigns because they are common enough in the world and near enough to normal civilization, plus unique enough in their appearance as to be easily identified (no other green, rubbery, giants with nasty teeth and sharp claws to confuse them with), that everybody living near where trolls live knows to bring fire and/or acid to deal with them.Some recourse, certainly. Recourse in the form of a roll? I much prefer recourse in the form of not having to roll for most things because it is already known, entirely unknowable, or "I go do research on local monsters so that I'm not caught unaware of their capabilities when faced with them" making things known over the idea that even after background or action suggests knowledge has been gained a die roll is called for.</blockquote>

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