Post/Author/DateTime	Post
#1 AttilathePun Apr 16, 2015 22:45:43	I will shortly be running my first game of 5e, and in going through the rules, I noticed something missing that was fairly critical in earlier editions: skill checks to see what the characters know about a given monster they encounter for the first time.  I couldn't find anything about this anywhere in any of the three core rulebooks.  It seems like a pretty important thing to just leave out of the new edition entirely, so if I missed it, I'd appreciate if someone could point me to the rules on this.     If this really wasn't included in the books, has anyone come up with a good homebrew rule or system to handle this?  How much info do you give your players for what kinds of DCs?  I could just go through and assign each monster progressive DCs for more obscure or specific information, but if someone has a more elegant solution, I'd love to hear it.
#2 AaronOfBarbaria Apr 16, 2015 22:56:45	Here's how I handle it: I just tell the players what their characters would know about the creatures they are facing - whether that is everything (common monsters), enough to know what is foolish (rarer monsters that are still common enough that people talk abou them), or nothing at all (extradimensional or extremely rare monsters that people only know about if they've encountered them or done specific research).   Having the players roll to see if their character knows something, in my experience, only adds one thing to the game: players having an idea that their character would probably have whether or not they know if it will work, but then deciding to do something else - something the player knows won't work - because the die roll didn't go their way.   Basically, all monster knowledge really does for the game is take away the characters' ability to guess correctly when guessing what will work.
#3 iserith Apr 17, 2015 6:40:23	Basic Rules, page 61:  "An Intelligence check comes into play when you need to draw on logic, education, memory, or deductive reasoning. The Arcana, History, Investigation, Nature, and Religion skills reflect aptitude in certain kinds of Intelligence checks."   Basic Rules, page 58:  "The DM calls for an ability check when a character or monster attempts an action (other than an attack) that has a chance of failure. When the outcome is uncertain, the dice determine the results."   "If the total equals or exceeds the DC, the ability check is a success—the creature overcomes the challenge at hand. Otherwise, it’s a failure, which means the character or monster makes no progress toward the objective or makes progress combined with a setback determined by the DM."   Therefore, if a player wants to know something about a monster, he must tell the DM that his character is taking a fictional action to draw on logic, education, memory, or deductive reasoning to learn or recall something about a particular monster. Then the DM must decide if the outcome of that fictional action is certain or uncertain. If it is certain - say, because it's a common monster or the character's background and experiences would reasonably make them knowledgeable about it - then the DM can just give them the information. If it is uncertain - say, because the monster is rare or obscure or the character's background and experience would not reasonably give them knowledge about it - then the DM asks the player to make an appropriate ability check, usually Intelligence. Almost any Intelligence-based skill can apply depending on the nature of the monster and the approach the player has stated for his character. For example, the acolyte cleric might try to recall something in his or her religious texts that referred to the monster (Religion). Or an observant rogue might watch how the monster does its thing, deducing from its behavior what its strengths and weaknesses are (Investigation).   The DC of the check varies, depending on the character's approach and the rarity of the monster and obscurity of information about it. If you only ever use 10, 15, or 20, however, it'll work fine. But what does success and failure on an ability check mean? The most common binary stakes are you either know (success) or don't know (fail). I, however, find that terribly boring and prefer to offer something on failure and sometimes a setback. So here's an easy go-to:   Success: The character identifies the monster, its type, and some lore about it that can be used to deduce its motivations, strengths, and weaknesses. If the player beats the DC by 5, the character also knows the monster's resistances and vulnerabilities and abilities. Failure: The character identifies the monster and some lore about it that can be used to deduce its motivations, strengths, or weaknesses. Alternative Failure: As per Success, but the character's sudden revelation leaves him frightened until the end of his or her next turn. (Use this basic alternative failure condition as a model for variations on this theme.) As with all stakes, I recommend making them transparent before the roll so the player knows what he or she is getting into when making that check. Some reasonable negotiation is acceptable.   Finally, if a player knows information about the monster, they can just say their character knows it and justify that knowledge in any reasonable way they like. However, since there is no guarantee that the DM hasn't changed the monster's stat block, it's smart play to confirm one's assumptions with in-game actions.
#4 Orethalion Apr 17, 2015 9:45:47	AttilathePun wrote:
#5 MechaPilot Apr 17, 2015 19:42:46	I usually decide beforehand what most people "know" about the monster in question. That "knowledge" is automatically available to PCs. It is not however, guaranteed to be correct; most people "know" things about monsters from the myths that have been passed down to them. For example, most people in my homebrew setting of Tenesia know that vampires are killed by sunlight. They are not. They lose all of their supernatural powers and are much easier to kill because of it, but they don't ash out like so many vampires do in other setting. If a player wishes to try her luck at making a roll, she can attempt a check. A 15+ gets you the common knowledge, but corrected. A 20+ gets you all the facts.