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Message: <blockquote data-quote="I'm A Banana" data-source="post: 882689" data-attributes="member: 2067">I do, for the most part.Then again, my  players know little enough at the outset...it's a unique set of problems for those new to the hobby -- you actually have to describe a kobold until they know what one is. <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f642.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":)" title="Smile    :)"  data-smilie="1"data-shortname=":)" />More exotic/rare monsters, I have them roll an Int check to ID by name and general description (DC 10 + CR), but for the most part even 'common' or 'infamous' monsters are easy to ID for your Standard Adventurer. It doesn't take many encounteres with eight-legged lizards before the adventuring community realizes most of them turn you to stone with a gaze. Most big floating orbs of eyes have a lot of magic gaze powers. Etc.Though it does bascially boil down to a 'how common are these monsters' idea that the campaign should identify. If your campaign is about farmers-that-become-heroes, then they don't know much (Orcs are a rare sight). If it's about a world in which many monsters are still only legend, then not knowing a Beholder is important to the flavor.On the opposite spectrum, if your campaign is in a planar metropolis, or, say Oathbound, you're going to know a lot more about a lot of wierd critters just because you interact with them on a daily basis. Or if your PC's are 'carreer adventurers,' then they've probably heard stories of most creatures from drunken bar tales.Of course, for me as a DM, surprising them is never a problem...with MM, MM2, ToH, FF.....I have more monsters than I really know what to do with (ToH ALONE could have me introduce one new monster a week for years), not to mention tacking on class levels or templates for kicks, or pulling from my extensive lore of computer games or myth to pop out a new beasty, or just browsing the web for a million and one monster ideas (The CC, WotC's site, etc.). My players know I have access to a million and one monsters, and I almost never repeat. <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f642.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":)" title="Smile    :)"  data-smilie="1"data-shortname=":)" /></blockquote>

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