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MuadDib
Senior Scribe
South Africa
442 Posts |
 Posted - 26 Jun 2007 : 09:13:49
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Hail and well met, fellow scribes!
As most of you who know me will know, while I try be as active on these forums as I can, my knowledge is severely limited by the fact that I have actually never played in a P&P D&D game before.
I've played every piece of computer software there is, likewise I've joined some very entertaining PbEM's, but no proper D&D game as such.
Until now...
I'm happy to announce that for the first time ever - I am actually involved in a proper Pen and Paper D&D game, and it's amazing! I'm having an absolute blast. It's everything I hoped for and more 
Given that it's my first campaign, I'm unsure about a number of things, and I thought I would consult the combined knowledge of CK in an attempt to come up with a solution.
My problem at the moment, is one of lore. We're currently staying in a town that has a Bane infestation. Dopplegangers, and priests of Bane are all over the place. When we first started the campaign, my only hint was a medallion with the symbol of Bane on it, which my character saw. When the DM described it, I recognised it as a symbol of Bane, and thus drew conclusions about the town etc. What I want to know is, am I allowed to make those conclusions, or am I supposed to role-play my knowledge down? My character, a dwarf barbarian, has an intelligence of 10, and has been secluded in a mine his entire life, and I find it hard to think he would know much about human deities and intruiges. So how do I handle this situation - where I as a person am in possession of knowledge and abilities of deductive reasoning etc, and my character is perhaps not?
Any help would be appreciated!
Much love
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MuadDib - Candlekeep Inn Barhand |
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Snotlord
Senior Scribe
Norway
476 Posts |
Posted - 26 Jun 2007 : 09:39:25
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Try to figure out how the group handle these matters. If use of player knowledge is accepted, or even expected, use it freely.
Keep in mind that some DM dislike "setting-lawyers", and that you might spoil the adventure for the DM and fellow players with too much "secret" lore.
If use of player knowledge is not accepted, well, roleplaying is usually more fun when the characters are clueless and things go wrong IMO.
...so the first thing you need to do is to keep the secrets secret, for now, and wait and see. |
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Matthus
Senior Scribe
Germany
393 Posts |
Posted - 26 Jun 2007 : 10:53:18
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Hail MauadDib,
always nice to get a new fan for P&P 
To answer your question: I wouldn't offer the player knowledge if it wouldn't be crucial for the play, maybe the group got stuck, has no ideas and so on. It is always a possibilty to evolve a more detailed background for your character even deep in the play, maybe the barbarian had dealings with a bane cabal in the past, his brother got caught by some slavers - if the DM permits it. But with your knowlegde it would be the most learned barbarian ever, wouldn't it? 
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Edited by - Matthus on 26 Jun 2007 11:13:20 |
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Kuje
Great Reader
USA
7915 Posts |
Posted - 26 Jun 2007 : 16:03:13
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Well, if it was my game, I'd base it on race, class, character history, and if the character has any knowledge religion skill. To me, a dwarf character with an average intelligence that grew up in a mine would probably not know that much about, if anything, about Bane.
If the character does know anything, because of the way you said the characters history is, etc, it might not be true information about the deity or the deities church/influence.
So, what I guess I'm saying is I prefer, when I'm DMing, that players keep character information seperate unless the info is widespread or something that the characters might know based on their class/race/history/skills.
But for your character, I'd have a lot of problems about how the character knows anything about Bane at least until we made some dice rolls. |
For some of us, books are as important as almost anything else on earth. What a miracle it is that out of these small, flat, rigid squares of paper unfolds world after world, worlds that sing to you, comfort and quiet and excite you... Books are full of the things that you don't get in real life - wonderful, lyrical language, for instance, right off the bat. - Anne Lamott, Bird by Bird
Scribe for the Candlekeep Compendium |
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Kentinal
Great Reader
4686 Posts |
Posted - 26 Jun 2007 : 17:26:18
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Player knowledge is not character knowledge.
That the player knows a symbol of Bane, does not mean the character knows the symbol of Bane. Just like a character does not know what levels, hit poinrs, etc. the character should look to its history. Multiple deities are however known to exist, it becomes posible the character has encountered Bane followers in the past and knows the symbol because of that. A Drawf though most likely would be mostly familar with Draven deities, perhaps underdark deities depending on where the character grew up. Talk to the DMabout your character history, talk to your DM about if player knowledge is permitted to be used at all in the game.
You should understand that the other players also likely know it is a symbol of Bane. You might follow the example they set, however in general using player knowledge that the character should not know is called meta-gaming (or other terms) and generally does not belong in a game. |
"Small beings can have small wisdom," the dragon said. "And small wise beings are better than small fools. Listen: Wisdom is caring for afterwards."
"Caring for afterwards ...? Ker repeated this without understanding.
"After action, afterwards," the dragon said. "Choose the afterwards first, then the action. Fools choose action first."
"Judgement" copyright 2003 by Elizabeth Moon |
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MuadDib
Senior Scribe
South Africa
442 Posts |
Posted - 28 Jun 2007 : 10:16:37
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Thanks for the comments guys - I was thinking along the same lines.
I withheld my knowledge of the Bane symbol, and didn't let it affect my playstyle. At the time I did it because the group I'm playing with is brand new to the realms and I didn't want to come across as a total know-it-all (how ironic since I'm far from that heh) and alienate them from the game.
Now I've got good reason for what I did. I thought that from an RP sense of things, it would be good to whithold that information.
Thanks again for the insightful comments - much love |
MuadDib - Candlekeep Inn Barhand |
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Marquant Volker
Learned Scribe
Greece
273 Posts |
Posted - 30 Jun 2007 : 04:10:34
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Sometimes the line between player knowledge/character knowledge is blurred, when that happens i believe its ok to ask your DM if your character knows about it or not. This can be done as an "out of character question" or (better version) ask your DM in-game ,for example when hes describing the symbol of Bane ask him if your character has seen it before or has any idea about it. (usually he will ask you for a knowledge religion roll, but if he doent dont worry, he is up to something)
Enjoy the Game |
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LucianBarasu
Fellaren-Krae Co-ordinator
USA
214 Posts |
Posted - 10 Aug 2007 : 00:21:10
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I agree. the best way to handle is: " When in doubt, ask the DM." it's his world, and he'd probably be the best to give you the correct answer as to what your character knows in his dwarven mine, rather than how much you know with your Library of lore.
i always tell my parties... "When in doubt...ask me." |
Lucian "The Bringer" Barasu
Fellaren Krae Project Co-Ordinator
"Why do you cry?"
"He is Conan, Cimmerian. He won't cry... So I cry for him."
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Chosen of Moradin
Master of Realmslore
Brazil
1120 Posts |
Posted - 10 Aug 2007 : 02:07:42
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Heh! I remember of a good moment in a Greyhawk game table when this conflict of player knowledge x character knowledge appear:
The group was in an inn, and our paladin was carrying an evil artefact. We're pretending to leave it with Mordenkainen, or some other wise mage. But in the middle of the night, someone enter in the room of the paladin, and stole the artifact. The paladin awake only to see the thief in the window, but the thief shot a poisoned dart in the holy warrior and flee in the night.
After a good work of our cleric, we managed to save the life of the paladin. We interrogate our friend, trying to get a description of the thief. So, the DM describe the thief to the player, and the player described it for us... the problem was that the thief was an NPC published in the Enemies and Allies book, a mind flayer assassin!
Well, all of us was playing with 1st level characters... after the description, and a lot of bad tests of knowledge, our last vestige of hope was in our bard, and his bardic knowledge. The player concentrate, roll the dice, and got a 1!!!  In that point, the player knew that the thief was a mind flayer, but he does the best with his result:
"Lets see... purple skin... bald... with tentacles... I know it! I know it! They are the octopus-man of the South Sea! They are coming by the river! Oh, by the light of Pelor!!! I bet that Yuz recruit them! We will die... run for your lifes! Run for your lifes!... and start to run in despair in the inn.
A good and unforgetable moment. |
Dwarf, DM, husband, and proud of this! :P
twitter: @yuripeixoto
Facebook: yuri.peixoto |
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Reveltions of a noob
