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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Elder-Basilisk" data-source="post: 1888276" data-attributes="member: 3146">The cleric probably would--if there are enough demons around that adventurers might run into them at least. After all, if there are three things that are true of nearly every demon and devil in the Monster Manual and expansion books, they are these:1. They have SR2. They are resistant to most energy types (lightning works on a more than most and sonic works on nearly all of them though).3. They have DR and a [good] weapon usually beats it.So, assuming there are enough demons to be encountered or to generate a market for oil of Align Weapon (no oil of bless weapon without 6th level paladins or glory domain clerics)--something that even the third level cleric could make--that's the kind of knowledge people would have.Heck, even if the PC had never met an evil outsider in his life and he was going by the bard's tales, he would probably note that, in the tales, the hero who defeated the demon almost always had a holy sword. Why? For several reasons.First, even assuming a concept of fiction (a concept that allows modern writers to take more self-conscious liberties with their texts than ancient writers) most stories need to be kept within the realms of remote believability. Beowulf may swim across the sea wearing his armor and carrying a sword, but he's still a man, he doesn't walk on water. (And, you'll note that he needs a special sword to kill Grendel's mother too). The exploits of Grettir the Strong may have considerable legendary elements, but he's still just very strong and skilled; he doesn't shoot lightning bolts from his eyes or fireballs from his a$3@. Similarly, the exaggerated camp fire tale of Barin the Boastful is likely to be something more like "so, I held off fifty werewolves with a silver dagger" than "I held off fifty werewolves with my bare hands."Second, the kind of things that reporters and other storytellers are most likely to get wrong are the details that vary from story to story. Patrick the Paladin used a holy cold iron sword to slay the marilith. Boris the Bard slew the Nalfshanee with arrows from his holy bow. Filbert the Fighter brought the devil low with a blow of his holysilver sword. Robert the Ranger killed the Daemon with the blows of his holy handaxes. If you're ignorant of D&D planar mechanics, the first thing you're likely to do is contract demons and devils. Demon, daemon, devil, what's the difference. They sound similar. They're all spiritual beings from the lower planes who are bad. Some of the stories say cold iron, some say silver, but all of them say holy. Holy is the most consistent and special item on the list. So, it's likely to be the one remembered, even when it's not strictly accurate. Furthermore, it's similar to holy water which also works on demons. So, if anything at all is known about demons, it's probably going to be that you want a holy weapon when you fight one.Unless the world is set up deliberately to say "there is no knowledge of demons" that's what one would expect to be known.As to the fighter's village dealing with trolls by sacrificing virgins to them, it's possible then that he wouldn't know that fire and acid hurt them but that is hardly a common means for dealing with trolls in D&Dland. Rather, it seems more like an excuse to say "your character don't know nothin."</blockquote>

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