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Message: <blockquote data-quote="CapnZapp" data-source="post: 7918143" data-attributes="member: 12731">Thank you for your well-reasoned reply. Remember to not take it for granted you have the info when you need it: you need to win Initiative, and you need to succeed on your RK check! And if your friends are slower than the monster, the info can still end up being useless (once you're in melee, it is very expensive to extract yourself, and often just best to slog it out) You can easily waste all three of your actions getting zero information, since the DC for any monster you really want info on, is per definition a dangerous higher-level one. (Obviously assuming at least Trained proficiency in the skill involved)Consider that spending an action on roughly 50% to gain all useful information often isn't worth it, much less roughly 30-40% (which is the case against higher-level foes where information makes a difference) for one piece of information. With veteran players, spending the action, not on an attack (since we're often discussing the third action of the turn) but on a reposition, shield-up, mark foe, sustain spell etc or similar proves always more desirable.It boils down to a combat either being really dangerous (where info makes a difference) or not very dangerous (where you win anyway). Problem is, players don't feel they can afford to "waste" actions on the slim chance they learn something truly game-changing when the combat is dangerous, and don't feel they need to do it when the combat isn't.And that doesn't even begin discussing what to do with the specialized feats and spells that involve Recall Knowledge.As I see it, the system assumes those "puzzle monsters" where you really need to know which attacks are effective and which aren't. But most monsters aren't that. But players don't know which monsters are puzzle monsters, at least not without successful RK checks!In the end, I decided it was simply not worth the effort, especially since we're already running a system that is much easier and much more straight forward: at the start of each encounter everyone get a free "monster knowledge check". (One of the few things we've adopted from 4E by the way!) Success means they learn what they need to fight the monster effectively - not just one thing. If everybody fails (which happens more often than you'd think), they have to choose between fighting the monster "blind" or spending actions to get a second check.I've clearly flagged that those spells and feats won't do all the things the rules tell the GM they do (without actually helping the GM to do it). They're fine with that now that they know it beforehand.</blockquote>

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