D&D General Should a low level character know to burn a troll?

[Wiseblood]

This isn’t a problem of knowing or not knowing. The problem is availability and efficacy. In earlier editions trolls had this problem and slower regeneration. Players had extremely limited resources to get fire. IE no cantrips and fewer spells per day. Last but not least the spells that do fire damage are very very good. The problem is that trolls are losing an arms race.

 

[Mort]

I used to worry about the whole character knowledge/player knowledge divide a lot.

Then I realized It's not my role, as DM,to worry about what a player is having his character think - that way lies frustration and madness.

If I throw a Troll at a table with veteran players, I know they know a typical trolls weaknesses. I would not expect them to fumble about pretending to be ignorant.

But, I'll also likely throw in a twist (with veteran players), precisely because they are veterens. Anything from switching up resistances to outright reskinning a monster. Or maybe not, sometimes a Troll is just a Troll - the point is veteran players know to be cautious either way.

 

[DEFCON 1]

Burn a troll? Of course! Bards have Vicious Mockery as a cantrip for a reason!

 

[TBeholder]

Does the character know what a troll is, and if so, from what sources?
If the character have heard stories about them, common methods of disposal should be in the same stories as the rest of such "common knowledge".
If not, oh well.
Thus it's a matter of background dependent handouts.
A more important question is: can the character even tell that an ugly thing over there is a troll? The opportunities for this sort of relevant knowledge are more limited — stories are not picture books.

 

[Sacrosanct]

The problem is that trolls are losing an arms race.

Quite literally.

I voted no. But a lot depends on the game and if the PCs would have reasonable access to knowledge. I don’t think knowledge of trolls would be all that much really, especially if the PC grew up in rural or smaller areas and never knew someone who ever fought one. Just look at what some things people believe now, and we have Internet. How would a villager know how to kill a troll if no one in the village ever saw one or knew someone who had beaten one? It’s not like troll slayers go from town to town explaining it.

 

[Zardnaar]

Quite literally.

I voted no. But a lot depends on the game and if the PCs would have reasonable access to knowledge. I don’t think knowledge of trolls would be all that much really, especially if the PC grew up in rural or smaller areas and never knew someone who ever fought one. Just look at what some things people believe now, and we have Internet. How would a villager know how to kill a troll if no one in the village ever saw one or knew someone who had beaten one? It’s not like troll slayers go from town to town explaining it.

Bards go from town to town though. Town's also tend to have priests etc which would likely be better educated like real world ones were.

It's highly likely people know they exist and burn it with fire can be applied to a lot of things.

 

[Mort]

Quite literally.

I voted no. But a lot depends on the game and if the PCs would have reasonable access to knowledge. I don’t think knowledge of trolls would be all that much really, especially if the PC grew up in rural or smaller areas and never knew someone who ever fought one. Just look at what some things people believe now, and we have Internet. How would a villager know how to kill a troll if no one in the village ever saw one or knew someone who had beaten one? It’s not like troll slayers go from town to town explaining it.

But PCs are not "simple villagers." They're the crazy person who listened to the town storyteller and came out of it thinking, I want to see a live troll and see if the stories are true.

But aside from that, why do I need to judge what the player's character knows or doesn't know? It's ridiculously easy for a player, particularly an experienced one, to justify knowledge.

I'd much rather have the player know that, sometimes, relying on player knowledge will be wrong, and to be cautious doing it.

 

[iserith]

I explore a similar question in my short-form scenario "How to Defeat the Forum Troll" here on enworld.

 

[ad_hoc]

I'd much rather have the player know that, sometimes, relying on player knowledge will be wrong, and to be cautious doing it.

Yeah, I warn players not to metagame in general.

There is one adventure where there is a random encounter with an NPC. He seems to be important, and believes himself to be so, but in reality he is quite mad. He leads them around to areas in the dungeon that don't matter.

When the players first met him and they were deciding whether to follow him one player said "We don't want to take the game off the rails, lets follow him to get on with the plot."

They were awfully confused when the NPC was not helpful whatsoever. They learned a lesson about metagaming that day.

 

[Arnwolf666]

Yeah, I warn players not to metagame in general.

There is one adventure where there is a random encounter with an NPC. He seems to be important, and believes himself to be so, but in reality he is quite mad. He leads them around to areas in the dungeon that don't matter.

When the players first met him and they were deciding whether to follow him one player said "We don't want to take the game off the rails, lets follow him to get on with the plot."

They were awfully confused when the NPC was not helpful whatsoever. They learned a lesson about metagaming that day.

Lol!!! I have had enough problems without deliberately creating more of my own.