Character Knowledge
Don’t waste time with minor details or arguments about character
knowledge—find an efficient way to deal with them. Smart players expect their characters to
have some basic knowledge about the places they frequent. They also expect
their characters to have some ability to lay their hands on information about
places they visit.
It is a good idea to prepare reference materials about your world and always
keep them on hand. Include things such as geography, climate, political
divisions, and similar information that is common knowledge. Likewise, prepare a list
of rumors and other easily obtainable information about the current adventure,
and pass it around at the beginning of the game. Doing so not only saves time,
it also helps make players feel that their characters are part of a living world.
Of course, high-level characters are specialists in their areas of expertise.
If the adventure is going to be an in-depth investigation of a new twist on an
old spell, the archmage of the party probably knows all about the spell. It’s
perfectly understandable that the wizard doesn’t know about the spell’s new use,
but common knowledge should be readily available.
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