Monster Lore in Sorrow in Haven

I've been pushing so hard to get v2 of the rules written up that I have entirely neglected this blog! Tomorrow is the last session of both the year and the current campaign, then I'm taking a break from GMing Sorrow and getting into the editing process - because the text is done and artwork is coming in. Satisfaction all around.

Here, in all sorts of glorious detail. are how characters (and therefore players) know about Monsters.

Knowing About Monsters
Every good adventurer should know something about monsters, but definitely not everything. At least not until they've encountered them enough. If everything is known by the players (and hence their characters, meta-gaming be damned) then the monsters are effectively just normal creatures to battle - a gibbering red torture spider may as well be a rebid lion for all the terror it elicits from the players

Common Monsters
If a monster is Common (the actual monster Frequency Encountered classification) and the Threat (how dangerous the monster is) is equal to or less than the character's level, they will automatically know a few things. If the creature's Threat is above the character's level, they can make a Level Check (difficulty equal to how much higher the Threat is than the character's level) to know the stuff.

• Name (not the personal name)
• Threat (the actual threat level, which is meta-gamey, but a quick note on how dangerous they are)
• Type (filth, unclean, beast, etc)
• Territory (what type of region or dungeons these things hang out in)
• One fact about the creatures attacks, defenses, habits, or abilities
• If the character has the Monster Lore advance, also 1 rumor about the creature

All Other Monsters
Monster frequencies other than Common are

• Uncommon
• Rare
• Very Rare
• Unique
• Local

Local, incidentally, means the creature will ONLY EVER be found in the specific location. It is like unique, but for a group of critters. Unique, of course, meaning there are just one of them. If a character wants to know things about any of these creatures, they need to know about they'll need to make a Monster Lore Check.

Monster Lore

Monster Lore is an Alternate Advance (anyone can take it)  with no requirements.

After spending 1 Turn studying a monster (active observation and interaction) the character makes an INT check, the difficulty based on the rarity of the creature. With a successful check, the character will know the information about the monster as though it were Common. 

If the check is a Critical Success the player may also ask a number of yes/no questions equal to half their level.

If the check is a Legendary Success the player may also ask a number of yes/no questions equal to their level (instead of half).

This ability does not work on NPCs or non-famous unique creatures.

This advance may only be used once per monster until the character advances in level. In other words, if a character uses monster lore on a particular creature, success or failure, they can't use it again on that specific monster again until they go up a level.

Famous Monsters
But what about famous monsters? Everyone knows about Gurnd07, the Mecha-Cyclops of the Void Gate. Of course they do. If a creature is tagged as Famous, they are treated as Common, but each piece of information provided is a rumor and not necessarily true!

• Uncommon: each rumor is 50% true
• Rare: each rumor is 40% true
• Very Rare: each rumor is 30% true
• Unique: each rumor is 20% true

A Monster Lore Check against a famous monster is made with Advantage, success indicating actual information is gathered.

Monster Lore II

This advance can be taken to enhance the Monster Lore ability. In addition to the benefits of Monster Lore, the character will know if any of the monster parts are valuable or have specific uses and may ask the GM one open-ended question about the monster. If the INT Check is a Legendary success all questions may be open-ended.

The Actual Monster Lore INT Check

This roll should be made in the open, never secret. The difficulty is based on the monster frequency:

• Common: +0
• Uncommon: +1
• Rare: +3
• Very Rare: +5
• Unique: +8

On a Failure, the player can request information, but it has a 75% chance of being false.

On a Critical Failure, the player can request information, but it has a 90% chance of being false.

On a Legendary Failure, doesn't know anything about this monster.

Multiple Characters with Monster Lore

Great! They each get a roll if they want one and can confer all they like. Since Monster Lore is an Advance, it is a significant investment in the character. If multiple characters go that route, the GM will hand out info like mad, but the characters may be lacking in other areas.

Multiple Characters, Common and Famous Monsters

For common monsters, the GM hands out set of information for everyone. For famous monsters, they should hand out a set of info for each character that wants to participate. This could cause some serious confusion as everyone has different info, or a consensus (which could be wrong). In either case, the GM should do what seems like the most fun for the group. 

Final Thoughts

Monsters should be mysterious, and learning about how they work can be fun. The rules above give the players a chance to get some insight for their characters when something unknown is encountered. However, when players encounter something they have encountered before, even with new characters, that information doesn't mysteriously go away - the actual experiences become common knowledge within the game world. Characters from the last campaign were paralyzed by the bite of a gorging worm? Well - the new characters know about that because the players do - and that is OK! Maybe they heard a story about those other adventurers, or perhaps it is part of some macabre children's song. In any case, be reasonable and have fun!