Post/Author/DateTime	Post
#1 TrueManiek May 12, 2015 0:47:08	How do you handle questions like “Do I know things about this NPC?”   Let’s say you introduce a new Npc to the party, some influential governor who is quite famous, but it is the first time he is introduced to the players, although the character could have heard about him already. And then, players start asking questions directed to the GM “What does my character know about him? ; “Did I heard about him?” ; “Do I know about his shady past?” – something like that. Probably to establish more about the character knowledge of the world and people in it.   So how to handle it? Do you answer questions? Let them decide, and though leaving the npc past a characteristic a little (or a lot) to the players? Establish everything beforehand? I wonder…
#2 Barky May 12, 2015 2:30:28	if it's a puclic figure like a governor, I'll allow a History check. DC would be low or high depending on whether he's from their hometown or from a faraway land. I'll give them enough tidbits to make him interesting without giving away key plot points, strength & weaknesses, or other things that would take the mystery away. A better score, more tidbits. A worse score, they have to start fro scratch. It's more of a roll-playing aid for me, actually.    Skills like this aren't "truth detectors", they're more like steering wheels: they let you guide the party down a path of your choosing.
#3 AaronOfBarbaria May 12, 2015 2:50:18	I decide, based on where the charater is from and what kind of life they lived prior to the start of the campaign, what information they have about the NPC, and I tell them all of what seems probable that they would have heard (including whether they have heard different versions of certain stories about the NPC).   If the players want to, they can interject that it seems they should know about an NPC because of one element of their character or another (such as if a PC is a Noble or a Historian, they likely have heard more about a famous and influential governor), and I'll take that into consideration if I hadn't already.   Anything beyond that, the players have to actually do something in-character to get the info. For example, they could ask around to get a sense of what the general populace thinks of the person, or put out a notice that they are willing to pay for good information on the man, or simply find someone that knows the fellow and ask them about him.   The one thing that I absolutely never do is "roll to see if you have already heard about this guy" - either the character knows something and I just tell the player what it is, or the character doesn't know anything. The die rolls are saved for situations where the characters are actually doing something (acting, rather than just thinking) and the outcome is uncertain... like trying to intimidate one of the governor's servants into spilling some good gossip and not immediately rush off to tell the governor people are asking question about him because you made the servant more scared of what you will do than of what the governor will do.   In general, I am very forthcoming with info for the players - knowing what they are up against doesn't alter the difficulty of a challenge; it simply gives them a fair shot at making intelligent choices how to deal with a challenge.
#4 Rya.Reisender May 12, 2015 3:26:07	In the case above, it kind of strongly depends on the character background. I would think going by the character background "Is it reasonable for the character to have heard about that person?" then just go by realism or combine it with a roll (see below).   Like if the group finds a box with an emblem on it and that emblem belongs to a shop in the hometown of one of the character, he will obviously recognize it, whereas the other characters don't (unless their background states they have been in that town too). I might ask for a roll to determine the difference between "You recognize the symbol but are not sure where you've seen it before" and "You recognize the symbol! It's from the weapon shop of your hometown."   If it's completely uncertain what the character knows, I do an Intelligence check (could be History, Arcana, Nature, Religion, depending on what the player wants his character to recall). Then usually give the player more information, the higher the roll result. I usually think of 3 pieces of information I could give the character before rolling and sort these from "Common information that doesn't really help" to "Super useful information". Then give out information at DC10 (get only the common info), DC15 (common info and something useful) and DC20 (all of the previous and super useful information).   I often do this when a player is like "What does my character know about this monster/enemy?" or "Does my character know anything about this area?" or "I want to recall in which gods these creatures believe in".   But establishing "everything" beforehand is probably always the best way to go because it gives the character the "Aha, I've read something about that in my background, it's related to me!" effect, which can be nice. You can't always go this path simply because it's usually impossible to really think of everything before even starting to play, so just trying to cover as much as possible is enough and the rest will be resolved as explained above.
#5 Razintarr May 12, 2015 3:38:44	It also depends on the role the governor has in the adventure. If he is an obstacle to overcome (for example they need his permission to enter a dungeon on the governors properrty), then I'll give the players the common knowledge they have, and the opportunity to roll to see if they know certain peculiarities they can use in their talk with him. A simple History check might reveal that an ancestor of the governer was on the wrong side of the Estarian Wars. Bringing up the Esterian Wars would be a bad idea. Another pc might find out the governer has a sweet tooth, and the promise of rare treats would help gaining his favor.    If the governor is a "questgiver" then I'll tell them what is needed for them to take the bait. Tell them the governors motive to send them, tell them that he's rich enough to pay them the reward he promised them, that he's known for keeping his promises if the players doubt that.    Or the governor's role could be strictly a "reward giver". After the adventure the players get their rewards from the governor for saving his land from the menace they found threatening it. Short common knowledge, and a description of the reward ceremony. Delving into the governor's past, his motives, his connections, it can wait for a later time when it becomes more relevant.
#6 BadMeeple May 12, 2015 4:37:52	Razintarr wrote:
#7 Rya.Reisender May 12, 2015 4:55:03	And it could also be the other way around - that knowing something about him from the very beginning would ruin the whole adventure, so better not tell that part.
#8 iserith May 12, 2015 5:02:26	TrueManiek wrote:
#9 Kazadvorn May 12, 2015 7:38:58	I try not to have situations where the players have to roll a skill check to see if they know something about an NPC. In designing the adventure, and with a fair knowledge of the PC's backgrounds I, as the DM, should already be pretty sure about what the PC's know or don't know about the NPC being introduced.   As others have said, I'd prefer to have the players actually conduct some sort of investigation of NPC's that they haven't met previously... rather than just say "Roll Streetwise to see what you've heard about this guy."   Exceptions....   In a situation where you have time constraints... you're running a one-off at a store or convention... and the players just don't have unlimited time to do investigations. Then I might resort to a die roll for info.   It's part of the design of the adventure... I've already determined that someone might have heard something that I, as the DM, can't be sure about. I apply this to monsters more often than NPC's. Has this character ever run into a troll or ghoul before? I don't know? Well, roll to see if someone might have some background info on that particular foe... special abilities... natural tendancies... some idea of the threat level of the monster...
#10 bawylie May 12, 2015 8:09:59	Tell them everything they need to know, & everything commonly known.    A check only formalizes the information they need to play.    Once they know what they need to know, it's on them to act if they want more. That's where checks come in.    "Alright I hit the streets, businesses and poor, to check their opinions on the top dog." That'll be gather Ye olde rumors check.    "I'll check the genealogy at the bibliotheca." That is an INT check. Etc
#11 DemoMonkey May 12, 2015 13:09:02	What is the NPCs function in your adventure planning?   Give the players the information that allows that role to be fulfilled.   (And "I want him to be a blank slate they know nothing about." is a valid answer to that question. as is "I want them to have heard lies about him and not know they are lies at the beginning.")   If the NPC is improved or a random encounter, have the players roll, and then fill in info to a level of detail appropriate to their roll.
#12 intently May 12, 2015 13:15:34	AaronOfBarbaria wrote:
#13 iserith May 12, 2015 13:30:30	intently wrote:
#14 intently May 12, 2015 13:40:50	iserith wrote:
#15 iserith May 12, 2015 13:47:04	intently wrote:
#16 AaronOfBarbaria May 12, 2015 19:30:03	For the record, I am with Iserith on these recent points.
#17 intently May 16, 2015 11:43:32	Thanks.   iserith wrote:
(Reply to #17) AaronOfBarbaria	intently wrote:
#19 TheLarch May 17, 2015 8:49:04	Generally I tend to let players know a fair bit of common knowledge about NPC's that are public figures. Succeded history checks adds more exotic bonus info that could give the PC's an edge. Eg the players are fighting a powerful evil wizard and decides they want to persuade the govenor to aid them.   Without a history check they'll know things like that he commands the largest army in the north, that he is known to be hot headed and intolerant of criticism.   With a succeeded history check they'll know that a few years back the govenor did in in fact aid the evil wizard in question when he was attacked by a group of mercenaries.   This extra bit suggests that he might in fact be sympathetic to the wizard in some way, and the group might change their strategy.