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

[Morrus]

Prompted by a comment in another thread. Should they? And why/why not?

(Had people other than Van Helsing seen Dracula movies?)

 

[pogre]

This is a disagreement in my group from time-to-time. Quick nature skill check to see if they know to do it with bonuses for area lore, how common the monster is, etc.

 

[Nagol]

Depends entirely on the campaign.

 

[TheSword]

No. Unless their background or skills mean they should know.

In my opinion the creators of the Walking Dead had it right. If zombie movies exist then zombies are less scary. We played Curse of Strahd the same way. No characters knew what this blood sucking fiend was, because otherwise their characters are all planning for it.

If the players are mature enough to separate character knowledge from player knowledge I find this method is far more satisfying.

 

[ad_hoc]

In most settings, yes.

This is the sort of thing they would learn as children from scary stories.

 

[Guest 6801328]

Where is the option for “it’s up to the player”?

 

[Doug McCrae]

The other, related, question is: what if the player knows, but the character doesn't?

 

[Morrus]

The other, related, question is: what if the player knows, but the character doesn't?

It’s the same question .

 

[Dausuul]

For a relatively common monster like a troll? Yes, absolutely. That would be the sort of thing you learn from stories.

Contrast, say, a lich. Very rare, secretive, powerful monster that most people haven't even heard of. Among the few who have, there's likely to be more rumor and misinformation than fact. Low-level adventurers, or even mid-level ones, would be unlikely to know about the phylactery.

 

[Undrave]

Seems like the kind of thing a Knowledge Skill is for... but how high the DC for it will affect the CR of the monster. I feel like the Troll is built on the assumption the PCs will know to use fire... if they don't, the fight becomes harder so you should bump its CR.

That said, even if you know a weakness, it doesn't mean you're equipped to properly deal with it... in one Curse of Stradh Adventurer League game we ended up fighting a Werewolf with a Fighter, a Ranger and a Rogue and we had a single Silver Dagger between us... once the Rogue was downed the Ranger and I would just litterly pass the dagger to each other every turn. The most ridiculous juggling act ever...

No. Unless their background or skills mean they should know.

In my opinion the creators of the Walking Dead had it right. If zombie movies exist then zombies are less scary. We played Curse of Strahd the same way. No characters knew what this blood sucking fiend was, because otherwise their characters are all planning for it.

If the players are mature enough to separate character knowledge from player knowledge I find this method is far more satisfying.

In the game I play we were near a vampire and it was decided there's a LOT of legends about vampires to the point where our characters don't know what is and isn't true.