Hacking the rules: Monster lore, part 1

Hacking the Rules

Monster Lore Part 1

I’d like to engage you in an experiment for a moment. 

Have a look at the image below and try to identify the creature pictured:

Tarrasque by JasonEngle on DeviantArt

Got a good idea of what that bad boy is? Good! Now, try to identify the creature in the next picture.

Yokai Monsters: Ningyo by Loneanimator on DeviantArt

Easy, right? 1^st one is the Tarrasque, the other one is, well, you’re probably not sure, but wish you hadn’t seen it. It’s a Ningyo, by the way. If you’re like me, the Tarrasque was immediately identifiable, but you probably had no idea what the Ningyo was. Everyone has heard of the Tarrasque, nobody has heard (or wants to hear) about the Ningyo. The former is one of the most infamous monsters in all the Pathfinder RPG, the other is an obscure monster tucked away in the back matter of an adventure path. From a realistic perspective, the Tarrasque would be immediately identifiable and the Ningyo would only be recognized by some out-of-work dork living in his mother’s basement, who has made it his sole mission in life to study and recognize every single Pathfinder monster in existence.

It might interest you to know that the Ningyo can be identified with a DC 11 Knowledge (religion) check, while the Tarrasque can only be identified with a DC 35 Knowledge (arcana) check.

My point, exaggerated though it is, is that the Pathfinder rules don’t do a good job of reflecting the infamy of monsters; Knowledge checks to learn monster lore don’t consider such factors as cultural knowledge, environment, rarity and notoriety of the monster being observed. It uses the creature’s Challenge Rating as the basis for identification. Think about it: the way the rules are written, the more dangerous a monster is, the harder it is to identify. This is ass-backwards and has always been a part of Pathfinder that has bugged me. Since my work only requires about 3-4 hours of work a day, I’ve had some think about this problem, and try to come up with a better way.

Why the monster lore rules don't work

Imagine your character encounters two different CR 1 monsters. One is a ghoul, the other is our friend the ningyo. Rules as written, both can be identified with a DC 11 Knowledge (religion) check. But we all know that ghouls are iconic D&D monsters; they are featured in most adventure paths in at least one encounter. The poor ningyo, on the other hand, makes nary an appearance in any adventure that I could find. Why is it that they are equally recognizable by the rules?

Now, imagine your character is from a desert environment. Happily wandering through the desert, you encounter a yeti. Never mind how the yeti got there, just follow me for a second. A quick glance at the bestiary shows that the yeti’s environment is cold mountains. But here he is, in the desert with you, ready to tear you limb from limb. You make a handy DC 14 Knowledge (local) check and Bang! You know everything there is to know about the yeti. Except for two important things: Having spent your whole life living in a desert environment, how the hell do you know anything about yetis, and what the fuck is a yeti doing in the desert?

After you kill the yeti with extreme prejudice, you later encounter a creature that is clearly some kind of fiend from the depths of hell. Now, your character has never actually been to hell. Maybe he’s read some books about it, or maybe he heard a bard sing a ribald tune about a horny vrock, but your character’s experience with the metaverse is very, very limited. We’re talking about other planes of freaking existence, for God’s sake! So, here’s your character, gleefully killing ningyos and yetis in the desert, when out pops a HALA DEMON! What’s a hala demon, you ask? No need to worry, your character simply makes a DC 14 Knowledge (the Planes) check, and mentally notes that the hala demon is a creature that resides in the plane of the Abyss, can alter winds at will, and has the flyby attack feat. And then he kills it.

Your character’s last encounter of the day, as he wanders through the desert, lustily killing everything he meets, is with a flood troll. Now, you don’t know it’s a flood troll until you make your DC 12 Knowledge (local) check. And then you know it’s a flood troll. Hurray, you! But a small, scared voice in the back of your head says “Umm, wait a second. I live in the desert city of al-Butfuq and flood trolls only live in temperate swamps or rivers. I don’t want to rock the boat or anything, but why does a rank in Knowledge (local) only let me know where the good brothels are in al-Butfuq, but it can allow me to identify every single humanoid creature in the entirety of creation?”

The examples above demonstrate that the knowledge rules for monster lore really don’t provide a realistic representation of a character’s ability to identify monsters. The more powerful the monster, the less you know about them. Environmental context isn’t considered. Rarity is ignored. Identifying humanoid creatures with Knowledge (local) has nothing to do with the monster being local. It’s messed up. And I’m trying to do something about it. And I’ll tell you about it in another message, cause I’m tired and it’s 1:43 a.m. and I want to go to bed.

Thanks for your patronage.