Which monsters are common knowledge to PCs?

[johnsemlak]

Which monsters are common knowledge to PCs in a standard Fantasy setting (I have WoG in mind, but I think it could be any one)?

And what about those monsters would be common knowledge?

I've just started a campaign with players completely new to D&D. Beyond what they know from Tolkien, they're not necessarily familiar with any standard monsters.

So I want to make a list of common, well known monsters, with a short description, that it would be assumed the PCs would know.

I want to start with the commeon humanoid races, but maybe also include some info about more legendary stuff, like Dragons, Undead, and others.

Any thoughts?

 

[smetzger]

1) Don't worry about making a list. It will be fun for them to discover the monsters on there own.
2) Describe each monster they encounter.
3) After the encounter tell them the name of the monster, for easy reference.
4) Add a class skill for all classes called Knowledge(Monster Lore). Use this skill to determine if they recognize the Troll for what it is and know about its regeneration and weakness to fire. Just use commone sense when determining the DC for this.

 

[Wulf Ratbane]

Not knowing what you are facing is one of the joys of being a new player.

Don't ruin the experience!

They will treasure these early memories for as long as they are roleplayers.

I would go smetzger one further-- don't name them at all. Describe them in the most general terms, let them come up with their own names for them. Make them describe them to the townsfolk or a sage afterwards, and let the NPC's give them a best guess.

Fear and mystery enhance the drama of your game sessions, and once they are gone, it is almost impossible to get them back.

Don't ruin it!


Wulf

 

[Joshua Randall]

I agree - don't tell the players about the monsters; make them find out the hard way. Part of the charm of D&D when you first start playing is not knowing what the heck is going on. You don't know if something is a major threat or a minor annoyance. How fun!

But pretty soon everyone reads the Monster Manual and then a lot of the fun and mystery is taken away. That's when you have to turn to ever more exotic monsters, or add classes to the normal ones, to spice things up. But for now, treasure this opportunity.

 

[roytheodd]

I would let them be familiar with the names of monsters but not necessarily with associating them properly. What I mean is that it's very likely they've heard of dragons and goblins, but may not know one when they see one. It's quite possible that any type of humanoid could confuse the party and get labeled as a "goblin". It's also possible that hydras or wyverns make the party think they've seen a dragon. I'd probably give out some vague and nasty rumors about the local monsterlife (well, it's not quite "wildlife") and I would never tell the party what they're facing, but rather let them guess. Maybe folks in town or on the militia could set them straight after they've returned to boast of their tales.

 

[alsih2o]

i think th player should have a certain level of knowledge of the worlds monsters, even if it is flawed or skewed.

orcs are probably seen, even by the lowest peasant. drawings of dragons would probably abound.

in one adventure we had a travelling circus come thru with a girrallon in tow.

between slave labor from humanoids to the people who trained the pc's someone has to have given them some knowledge of what is out there.

i can see the spellcasting classes as having had even more experience (with the possible exception of sorcerer) with critters of reknown.

 

[Dagger75]

Think of it like this. You could probably to go almost anyone on the street where you live and ask them how to kill a vampire and a werewolf. You would get the old stake throught the heart for the Vampire and silver bullets for werewolves. Those don't exsist but it is almost common knowledge how to destroy them.

Now in D&D those baddies do exsits so wouldn't the stories be true. I had players at first level now that orcs hate the light, trolls don't like fire (I never told them about the acid). Then through in some other stuff that isn't true, Ghouls hate garlic. Skeletons hate water, zombies need to eat brains to live. This will keep them on there toes but at least give them a chance of surviving the big stuff.

Also, if a new player plays a bard, let him do the bardic knowledge thing.

 

[coyote6]

I'd let them know what their characters would know, with the specifics depending on the characters & their backgrounds, of course.

For example, if the characters all come from a village near a swamp that's been infested with trolls for generations, they'd probably be familiar with trolls, and probably techniques for fighting trolls (i.e., use fire & acid). And if their nation has a border that's frequently attacked by hordes of orcs, they'd probably have at least heard tales of orcs.

Really, though, the only thing I'd be concerned about are critters that require special methods to defeat them; without knowing about D&D's tendency towards "regenerates anything but fire or acid damage" critters, a troll or the like can be much more dangerous in a fight. Worse, it can be a frustrating fight to the players, and not necessarily the fun kind of frustration. But not knowing that orcs are strong, brutal, and savage isn't so much a problem.

 

[Renaissance Man]

The monsters that I would deem subjects of common knowledge would be those that are truly ubiquitous (goblins, orcs, etc.) or else occupy a prominent position in the collective imagination. (Dragons may be rare, comparitively speaking, but most folks have a very clear conceptualization of them.)

With regard to those creatures, I would further define "common knowledge" as the physical description, relative toughness (approximate CR at best), and special qualities (dragons' breath weapon, vampires' vulnerability to stakes through the heart, etc.) of specific creatures. Perhaps knowledge of their preferred habitat (climate/terrain) and organizational tendencies, but nothing more without a few ranks in an appropriate Knowledge skill.

 

[the Jester]

Pcs prolly have a passing knowledge of the extremely common or taleworthy monsters, such as orcs, goblins, dragons, and undead. But this knowledge may be false in some cases (I like Dagger75's examples- "ghouls don't like garlic," indeed!) You might consider seeding some contradictory stories among the group, too ("No way, man, zombies don't eat brains- they don't eat at all, and if you can make them eat salt...") Just make sure all the players know that their information is hearsay and may or may not actually be useful.