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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Ahnehnois" data-source="post: 6157222" data-attributes="member: 17106">The identity of a werewolf includes shapeshifting. The identity of a magmin includes setting things on fire. The identity of a basilisk includes turning things to stone. Are you saying that the "identity" refers to a creature's name and tells you absolutely nothing else about it?According to the rules, the highest DC is 30 for really tough questions. That means if I'm a player and I roll a 30 on a Knowledge check with the right skill for a monster, I expect to learn every piece of information that could be meaningful to me, even regarding the most unusual monster that I have no reason to know about.Are you suggesting the converse? That in a world where "Medusa" is a race, not an individual (and is real, not a part of some mythology), that their identity is a mystery to anyone who can't make a DC 17 trained Knowledge check? And that someone who can only learns about the obvious petrification ability if the DM decides to let that be the "useful bit" of Knowledge?Are you suggesting that a trained adventurer, having slain a hundred monsters or so to reach level 7 and traveled the world and had great adventures, could see a Medusa in the distance, clearly identify its scaly skin and snaky hair, rolls a 16 on the appropriate Knowledge check, and turns to his compatriots and says "Hey, what's that thing?" The implications of what you're suggesting are that everyone in a D&D world is astonishingly stupid.In that case, the players aren't getting screwed by the SoD!They don't need one. The monsters in the MM exist when the players are not fighting them. They communicate (in some cases anyway). People interact with them, fight them. Then those people communicate. I should think that if, say, basilisks live in a particular area, a DC 10 to 15 Knowledge (Local) or Gather Info should tell you "hey, watch out for those lizards with the petrifying gaze!". Seeing a field of statues should allow a DC 15 or so Knowledge (Arcana) check to know that a monster with a petrifying ability is probably nearby. The monster identification rules are a backup in case that kind of stuff does not work.That's kind of a natural consequence of high-level D&D play. If you want to avoid that dynamic, you have to create situations (teleport blocking, time limited goals, etc.) that force characters not to do that.</blockquote>

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