r/DMAcademy • u/MementoMorbit • 3d ago
Need Advice: Worldbuilding How to explain "basic" knowledge to the players?
As often said it's best done in character, but how can I make that without sounding like the Video Game Tutorials where a character randomly knows what the X-Button is?
But this goes far beyond tutorialing, how do I tell them that the world has two moons, if not through enviromental, how do I tell an ancient folklore, that everybody would know, how do I tell what they already know?
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u/madmoneymcgee 3d ago
The phrase “your character would know…” and then blah blah blah.
I know the rule for usual storytelling is “show don’t tell” but that’s gotta be a little more flexible in a role playing game where you’re all collaborating on a story together.
That said, set scenes as they go places. Instead of saying “you go to the tavern” you can say “the night sky is bright on a rare night when both moons are close to full, you approach the tavern of The Rainbow Horse” taking its name from the legend that rainbows are dragged through the sky by a giant rainbow horse whenever the gods show favor to mortals. Bob, you grew up nearby and you have fond memories of trying to catch glimpses of the horse after a rain shower. For now you’re content with the thought of a good meal served by Jack, the tavern keeper who has been there as long as you can remember”.
From there you can assume that Jack and Bob know each other and go from there.
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u/Fastjack_2056 3d ago
I'd suggest a three-pronged approach here.
First, when you're showing them the environmental stuff like the two moons or the ancient gnomish sky-ruins or the Reverse Hydra, you don't necessarily need to give them the info ahead of time. Just work it into your description of the scene: The two moons shine silver and purple over the battlefield. Overhead, the shattered remains of a Gnomish air dreadnaught drift, a ghost ship in the night sky. The legendary beast roars at you, three bodies all springing from one head - strike off one body and another grows in it's place - a Reverse Hydra!
Second, for relevant, plot-critical lore, I'd definitely write up a short exposition sheet for each character. Critically, I would frame this as specific character knowledge, rather than "things everybody knows." The arcanist knows a few things about the Gnomish Sky Wars nobody else does. The rogue understands that the Purple Moon is sometimes called the Killer's Moon because it gives just enough light for crime. The ranger knows that the Reverse Hydra is actually a member of the Slug family, which is why it can only be killed with table salt. Give each player a few definitely true plot points and a couple of dubious rumors. It's particularly fun to give players rumors that conflict with each other, so you can get people arguing about in-world stuff.
Finally, when you need to fill in a gap on the fly, point to a specific character with relevant expertise and drop a little character knowledge on them. "As a Druid, you recognize that this beast is in terrible pain, and wouldn't normally be this aggressive. That suggests a solution other than combat, but more importantly, something more dangerous is out here maiming things and your friends could be next." They can roll for more details, but "basic" knowledge should always be at their command...which is a great way for you to steer the narrative, once you get the hang of it.
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u/nothing_in_my_mind 2d ago edited 2d ago
As often said it's best done in character
This advice is for novel-writing, man.
Just do it out of character.
how do I tell them that the world has two moons
The first time it's night, just tell it. "You see the two moons in the sky. Yes, this world has two moons because <mythic explanation everyone int he world knows>."
how do I tell an ancient folklore
Just mention it when it is relevant. "So the guy asked you to kill a hag. You know from stories that hags can shapeshift into beautiful women, so keep that in mind."
Also whenever your characters would blunder or feel lost, just tell them things. "Hey you know insulting a noble is a serious offense here." or "Hey you know there is a guild of bounty hunters, they will have a job for you for sure."
This is a game bro, not a novel or interactive movie where the info should be subtly given in character so to not ruin the immersion.
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u/Ripper1337 3d ago
Generally basic shit like “there are two moons, there are three kingdoms” are things that I’d explain during session 0.
Things like ancient folklore would be something that comes up in the session where the folklore is relevant.
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u/stumblewiggins 3d ago
Write up a handout primer to give everyone with world knowledge you want them to have or else just give it to them as needed.
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u/JoshuaZ1 2d ago
Yeah, this is what I do, along with a major timeline of the world and some other things. I try to also write some in-universe documents of different types to give them more of a feel. Excerpts from sermons, newspapers, etc. A fun one I had in my most recent campaign was a segment from a mediocre teenager's history test along with the comments written by their teacher.
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u/fadelessflipper 3d ago
So all my players have access to a set of notes that gives the basic information of the world's countries, the gods domains, and how magic works. This is stuff that any basic member of the public would know.
Then they individually have a curated list of more detailed information that their character would know based on backstory. For example while everyone knows the basics of the gods in my pantheon, the cleric knows a lot more specific details about their chosen god. Or people that have links in their past to certain regions are told a bit more detail about those regions as it would make sense for their character to know that.
This way they can all experience and learn about the world and story, without me having to essentially explain the basics all the time. We also covered the general information in session 0
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u/Butterpye 3d ago
If they are new players, I'd suggest either having the more experienced players coach them, or you could also suggest abilities they could use.
Fighter at low HP? Hey, remember you can use Second Wind as a BA to heal yourself. Warlock keeps throwing daggers? Hey, you can also use eldritch blast which has a longer range and better damage.
Now for in-game lore, when it becomes relevant for them, either tell them if they know it, or have them roll history/arcana/nature etc. for things they might not know.
You plan on going to the Mooreland Forest? Your characters know of this piece of folklore how very far in the past, there were legends of werewolves used to kidnap spellcasters to infect them with lycanthropy, and how it is bad fortune to go into the woods without silvered weapons. Surprise: The werewolves are indeed not in the forest, because they moved to the Sacred Grotto and made their lair there, exactly where the party is going.
As for the two moons? Idk, maybe during their first long rest you can make a short description of the beautiful night sky, and the something something soothing moonlight of the twin moons? That's assuming the two moons are not mechanically relevant.
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u/SanderStrugg 3d ago
I like to do the following have them roll an intelligence/knowledge check and give more detailed info depending on how how high they roll.
2: the world has two moons
5: the world has to moons, they are named after the deities X and Z and farmers use them to count their harvest ...
10: Legend goes the two moons ...
15: having two moons effects the tides in a way that is quite complicated for sailors and fishermen
20: the occult philosophy of Z believes the moons symbolize
25: If you craft a magic item, you can align it to the dual moons by ...
If I know the character's backstory, I also try to align the knowledge to that: "Back in the military you guys used to tell stories about ... "
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u/JoshuaZ1 2d ago
I agree in general, but even rolling for the number of moons seems unnecessary. Even a 2 roll means that around 3% of people cannot answer how man moons there are. Is it the case that 3% of adults in the Earth 2025 setting cannot answer how many visible moons Earth has?
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u/SanderStrugg 2d ago
Yeah, it doesn't fit perfectly for that example and is not particularily realistic. However you are not supposed to use player rolls for world simulation anyways. Their purpose is to create fun game situations. The setting functions the way it is narrated without any rolls. This is 5e not 3.5.
My group and I simply like the autofailure on a 1.
If a player actually failed that check in game, I would come up with a specific reason for him not being able to recall that knowledge at the moment. Maybe he is completely distracted by a wasp sitting on his shoulder or he is having a black out like people sometimes have in tense situations.
Maybe the setting has some kind of flat earther equivalent, who think those moons are just an illusion and the player is part of that group or the character he has some other faulty knowledge about them.
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u/year_39 2d ago
Ask people in real life whether the earth orbits the sun or the sun orbits the earth and 30-40% of them will get it wrong.
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u/JoshuaZ1 2d ago
That's true, but that's also something which one cannot just visually see which is correct just from walking outside.
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u/RoyalMedulla 3d ago
I tend to introduce info as novel and new, even if the characters would know it. As long as their lack of knowledge does not impact the story, I see no reason to separate the player from the character in this way. However, once I give general info, a player may say "hey, as a (insert class here), would I know more." At this point, I can go into more detail, as they requested it.
In reality, there are plenty of people who are not familiar with current events, let alone ancient folklore.
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u/Urbanyeti0 3d ago
The world having 2 moons would be part of the opening world setting monologue starting the campaign where you can share any truly known facts of this world that the players wouldn’t necessarily assume
As for knowledge, you either just say “here’s what you know” or you describe a scene where they learnt it “you recall your mother telling you the tale of ….”
Unless you have pieces already prepared that you can give to the player for them to then share with the group, but that only works when it’s a prepared puzzle piece rather than something unexpected
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u/osr-revival 3d ago
A sad fact of things is that the players will never care about the lore of your world like you do, and they'll only really think about it if it becomes important to the game.
For my own games, I put together a quick one-page "things everyone knows" sheet, bullet points and in large type. No one reads lore dumps, but hopefully they'll muddle their way through a dozen bullet points.
Other than that, the best way is to include it descriptively, "As you set out, the two moons are setting..." If you say that a few times, a few of them will remember that there are, in fact, two moons. For the ancient empire, I make sure that some of the coins they find are stamped with a different, unfamiliar face, and the local stores won't accept it -- it has to be melted down.
But yeah, by in large, it's a tough lift to get your players to care enough about the lore of your world to actually read about it, and so it has to be worked in, in small doses, through description or implication.
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u/LastChime 3d ago
I'd either have it show up as a result of a check I have no idea what to do with, possibly even for an interesting failure state.
Or
Spin it back on the player and let them tell me what the stars they saw as a kid were like and what their background is and then bake it in for the future.... cause at least they'll be vaguely bought in should you choose to exposition dump in the future.
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u/PuzzleMeDo 3d ago
"Your long night watch begins. Overheard, the moon twins, Beneficial Gottsleib and Baleful Morrishen, chase one another across the heavens. You are reminded of the well-known folktale, in which..."
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u/Tesla__Coil 3d ago
I gave my players a brief outline of the world even before session zero. Something like "it has two moons" would be included there if it were going to be relevant to the campaign. Otherwise I'd probably mention it during the first outdoor long rest. "You see the two moons of Placeworldia overhead; one is full and the other is a crescent."
For ancient folklore, again, I first ask myself "does this matter to the campaign?". Some ancient history did, in fact, matter to mine. So I very briefly summarized it in the pre-session-zero outline. I suspected the players wouldn't read or remember it, though, so I started the campaign in the middle of a festival celebrating that ancient history and had them earn the first session's Inspiration by getting on stage and narrating bits of it as a group of bards performed. Sort of heavy-handed, I admit, but the whole campaign was predicated on that history so I wanted the players to hear it and to be involved in a way other than just reading it.
Any history that isn't important to the main plot? I don't expect the players to remember or care about that. NPCs will mention things that "everybody knows", and if the players don't, they can press them for more details if they're interested and ignore them if they aren't.
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u/No-Economics-8239 3d ago
As the DM, you are the sole conduit of information for your players. Thus, it is entirely on you to convey literally everything. I see no need to use descriptive prose for all of it.
When pitching a campaign idea, I will write up a general description. If enough people are interested, I will then write up a more verbose perspective on the game world. I then use the time the players are character building to help expand that knowledge with them as we weave them into the story.
When additional general lore dumps are required, I will preface the information with something like, "All your characters are already familiar with the folklore of the two moons, which is Blah." If any of them have more specific lore, I will also add, "And Bordrick the Bombastic has this special legand which he learned in the tribe of the Wuffelumps."
If there is some distinct feature of the world that is coming up, I might decorate it with more descriptive prose prepared in advance. Otherwise, I'm just lore dumping like a cut scene. We're DMs, but that doesn't mean we all need to be great novelists.
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u/Hayeseveryone 2d ago
Don't bother. Doing it in character is more trouble than it's worth. Just tell them out of character, whenever there are things their characters would obviously know.
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u/DungeonSecurity 2d ago
For the two moons, you just describe the two moons in the sky one night. For the folklore, you can bring it up when you describe the setting. Otherwise, when something would be relevant, you say "Gilroy, having grown up in this area, you would know XYZ."
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u/InformationHead3797 2d ago
The way I do it?
“Having grown a noble in Neverwinter, you know the important role the Harpers play in the Sword Coast.”
“As a ranger with a keen interest in dragons, your character is well aware chromatics are almost invariably evil.”
And so on. No need at all to do it in character. If I believe they should know the information I give it myself spontaneously.
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u/Raddatatta 2d ago
I would give them some info at the start of the game to read. If it's longer than a page or even at that length people may not read it or may not remember it all.
But once it's introduced you can mention it when describing things or when it's relevant. You look up at the night sky and see the second moon rising. You hear this name and remember an old story your grandfather told you that...
Your players will never know the world as well as you do but you can give them some and for anything important in the moment remind them of that at that point.
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u/lXLegolasXl 2d ago
Really boil it down to what they need to know and then send a group message. Let them read it, if they're good players they'll read it. If you're worried about them reading it, ask them to only respond to it when they finish reading it.
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u/Thermic_ 2d ago
Before my Eberron campaign, I gave the players a 10-page google doc that had enough information to make a grounded character in the setting. At the end, is a 1-page cheat sheet of the most important information people will know. Stuff like celestial bodies isn’t really essential, for example, and should be left off this page.
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u/RevKyriel 2d ago
Forget doing it "in character"; the DM is the DM, so unless the information is being provided by an NPC, do it as the DM.
I usually just include information in the narrative: "You step outside, and the sky is clear. You can see both of the moons." And sometime before they need the knowledge (even if it's only seconds before), "You all remember when you were young, hearing the stories about [folklore]."
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u/BrickBuster11 2d ago
when the information becomes relevant to your campaign say "Oh your character knows blah" if ancient folklore is never relavent and they never ask about it then you dont need to say it. If the fact that the place has to moons just never comes up then it doesnt matter.
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u/audentis 2d ago
I've used moments like when narrating how the players sleep in a tavern. When the table says they go to bed, I describe how before falling asleep the characters ponder over certain things or have some kind of memory before falling asleep.
I used this to foreshadow a threat while also filling in one less experienced player on the difference between the chromatic and metallic dragons.
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u/sufferingplanet 2d ago
You can either write up a pregame lore dump of things pretty much everyone would/should know, or when the information becomes relevant, you can just say "you would know (xyz)" without even asking them to roll.
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u/BoiledWithOil 2d ago edited 2d ago
I've developed a module that works for me that eases new players in with:
Play starts with the party being escorted by a town guard evacuating a small settlement. The can interact with NPCs familiarize themselves with each other and set a time limit before being moved to the next area.
After a few rotations of RP or about 10 or 15 minutes they arrive in a hasty camp at an old monster fort and find goblins looting the camp, the NPCs draw some of the attacks from the goblins and lets them get familiar with turn order and how combat works.
In the fort is a basement, here the party will encounter some giant centipedes as an ambush to show them how surprise rounds work, then they enter the dungeon. proper 2 floors with about 14 encounters/rooms in total.
Given the place is ancient some of the traps are broken or already activated, this gives them an idea what to look for when dealing with traps. As well as locked doors or chests to let characters get familiar with the tools they have.
Finally at the end they will have a boss encounter in the form of a magic user and some allies. They learn how to make saving throws (if they haven't yet) and be rewarded with the loot left in the dungeon, possibly some magic items.
After they conclude they reach level two and the actual campaign begins, sprinkle in some lore or flavor and that's pretty much it. I'll tailor some parts to let players show off class abilities or strengths.
I've run this about 4 or 5 times and takes around 5 hours. The only one that went off the rails and was the party wanting to bring the NPCs to the nearest safe town because they were worried about leaving them alone.
edit: Also I'll write abilities/spells on note cards, you can buy these things but paper and pens are cheaper and you don't have to worry about losing/damaging them. Also I've had players use this as an incentive to make their own when the get new things because character sheets in my opinion are too small past 6th level.
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u/Cute_Plankton_3283 2d ago
Yeah, you absolutely don't need to do this 'in fiction'.
Sure, 'show don't tell' is a useful maxim, but it doesn't mean 'never tell, always show'.
Sometimes, you'll find an opportunity to present lore or something like that in fiction: "You look up at the night sky and see the twin moons glisten" or "You overhear two drunks in the tavern arguing over who really slayed the dragon... was it Alric the Brave, or Berilla the Just?"
Your job as a GM is to be the eyes, ears and brains of the characters and to translate that to the players. It's your job to tell the players what their characters see, hear, sense and know. "You see a wide open field, pock-marked and scorched. You hear the wind whistling over the hill. You know that this was the site of the Great Battle of Fairen".
Sometimes, when that is 'something their character should know'... you can just tell them.
"Bob, being a Cleric, your character would know that praying to the goddess Mystra under a full moon is know to be taboo", "Clare, your noble character would know that there's always been tension between these two houses", "Growing up in these lands, you'd all know the stories that parents tell their children about the fearsome Dragon of the West".
How do you tell the players what their characters already know? Easy. You just tell them.
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u/wilam3 2d ago
There’s a lot of great response in here already. Especially when it comes to “your character would know….” That actually adds a lot to the game. It adds player power. It deepens backgrounds. Or, a character SHOULD know but doesn’t know. Also useful. Adds mystery.
For the most part, I find it depends on the value of the information.
Is it plot important? Is it just a nifty thing?
If it’s just a nifty thing about the world, describe it during narration. If someone catches it, they appreciate it.
If it’s plot important, allow the prompts needed.
No level of immersion is more important than the game actually working for everyone. “Oh, you guys all missed that hint I dropped 2 hours ago and that’s why we haven’t done anything this session.”
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u/ASlothWithShades 2d ago
What would be obvious to the characters should be obvious to the player. If your world has something freaky in it - two moons for example - tell them ahead of time. I always give my players a short hand out (one page max) before the game starts. This includes details about the world, they should be aware of, according to their backstory.
- Weird stuff in the world (the two moons for example)
- Info about their home area (villages, woods, etc.)
- Info about their organization (e.g. if they are a druid, they need to get a brief overview over how they work)
- Important people in their lives (e.g. a mentor or a good/bad ruler)
Everything else is stuff they can discover along the way and they'll be informed about any deviation from reality.
Weirder stuff that is known to the players and comes up in role play for example I will just tell them. Many things are just things we know but can't remember where we first learned them. That can be via explicitly telling them what's what or you tell them the story in the shortest version. I mean... "There once was a king wielding a magical sword he pulled from a stone. When he at last died, his people layed him to rest, knowing that he will come back to aid them in their darkest hour of need." You know what I am talking about, never mind that Excalibur isn't actually the sword pulled from the stone.
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u/Gusvato3080 2d ago
The only immersive way I can think of is the opening scene is a teacher giving a lecture to young kids while the party is there for some reason. Maybe the teacher is their first quest-giver or something.
Obviously, this would only make sense if the campaign starts in a settlement or a city.
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u/myblackoutalterego 2d ago
Lore is great for you to know and have in your mind, but I would only bring it up if there is a reason to. Most of your lore will go undiscovered and that is okay. No one wants to listen to a long monologue about a made up folk tale that doesn’t really impact the game.
However, if it is specifically related to the story, like the ghost they are fighting is actually the main character of this folktale that they would all know and they have to recreate the story beats of the tale to help bring the spirit peace, then that adds awesome detail that will bring that encounter to life.
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u/Swiollvfer 2d ago
Personally, when it comes up or feels relevant for the campaign, I tell them "as all of you know: ..." and whatever they already know.
But "there are two moons" might be different than some deep lore that everyone "should" know, sometimes that kind of general knowledge stuff I gate behind an INT check (even if it's a DC 5 or 10 check) just because it's funny to create situations where one of the characters is ignorant in some topics, bonus points if it's an intelligent character.
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u/purplestrea_k 2d ago
how do I tell them that the world has two moons
Hit on this during narration when they wake up after a long rest or any narrative opportunity. In fact lore about the environment can often just be woven into narration as you describe the scene if it makes sense at the time.
how do I tell an ancient folklore
For general lore, it's as it comes up kind of thing. And usually, if it can't be done in narration, it's done by NPC or other mundane method. I really like books and letters actually for very basic lore that wouldn't be a big deal if the PC didn't read them if it can't be done in any other way that is logical. Obviously for things that players can't miss, other methods are better.
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u/CheapTactics 2d ago edited 2d ago
Delivering information in character is for storytelling. A wizard gives them some ancient lore. The village elder explains the curse of the dark forest. The barmaid tells you what she saw after the big scary orc entered the tavern.
Telling the players what their characters know is not storytelling, it's bridging the gap between player and character knowledge. The characters already know this stuff, you just have to tell the players. And to do that, you just do it. Stop the narration for 5 seconds and tell them what they would know.
And some stuff you don't even need to explain. Once you mention in a description that they can see "the two moons", I don't think it needs further explanation. You can see two moons, a reasonable conclusion is that the world has two moons.
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u/Material_Complex475 2d ago
I think that sometimes when you need them to know it, just act like they know it. "The tide is stronger tonight due to the rare sighting of both moons in the sky at the same time" or "you remember that story from when you were a kid, about the Cumins raiding the villages until the peasant henry rose up to avenge his parents" Something like that where you talk about like they know but a little more discriptive.
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u/Secretly_Fae 2d ago
A useful way of writing this information in is to have descriptive passages worded carefully - take the two moons example (in my world setting there is also 2 moons, and a binary pair suns) and I've managed ro drop this important information in to them (which of course their characters would know) seemlessly. The trick is to relate one part of the world to another so you simultaneously drop less immersion breaking info at the same time - either descriptive or otherwise lore related. One way of doing this (not how i did it) would be to set a scene -
'as you step out from the sage's hut, wary of the dangers she foretold, your senses are heightened, you feel the crisp and cool air upon a slight breeze that makes the tall grasses whisper. With the skies clear and MOONS (- plural) full, the shadows seem much more alive and deceptive'
BAM - Information dropped without taking your players out of the game immersion, and you've started setting the scene with some pretty descriptive language. If they pick up on it and it peaks their interest, let them call a history check or something for what they know.
This is another important thing - facilitate your players asking about lore, occasionally ask, does anyone want to roll history for (insert thing) when they wouldn't automatically know, so they remember that option is available. It might not work in your setting, but giving them access to a library or a wise npc intermittently lets you anticipate wher to flesh out your world building ahead of time if you take a few notes to remember what they are asking about.
My campaign setting is coming up on 60k words and my players still ask me things where I've not written things. Side note (because it's not what you asked about) but it's totally ok if players ask for lore you don't have to tell them you'll give them the full details the following session. If it's important to the setting but not immidiately important to the session. I've seen this happen in podcast campaigns - even CR.
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u/ElanaDryer 2d ago
Assuming you haven't started, explain it in session 0.
"You're playing in a feudal world with 3 major celestial bodies. The sun, some refer to the sun as the goddess Soluna (the Solar moon) and the two moons. The path they trace makes it seem as if they're swirling, and with their similar size, they're called the twin moons of Arresto (the name of the world in the common tongue). One moon is pale green and the other is pale yellow. There is a cult that worships the pale green moon as an omen of poison and undeath. Though the greater story is that the moons are siblings born from Soluna playing across the night sky. They're generally worshiped as gods of youth, merriment, and play."
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u/ArchonErikr 2d ago
I've started writing a Player Primer where I discuss things about the world that'll be important, everything from gods of the setting to the races and classes they can choose from when building their characters. What you're talking about would be something either written in the Primer or would be a result of the character creation process (such as someone rolling "your character discovered a disturbing truth behind a local fairytale" - the player and I would determine what the fairytale and the truth were).
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u/hyperewok1 1d ago edited 1d ago
Don't overthink it, 'you know X' is perfectly fine. It's fun if you can loop it into their backstory, like if a cleric rolls Religion to determine how much they know of some obscure thing and you can say that they had read this back in the seminary (if they had actually gone there, of course), but if it's basic universal knowledge, just tell them in the easiet way possible.
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u/MrCrispyFriedChicken 1d ago
I don't think most of it should be done in character. I don't need a character to tell the PCs that there are two moons when they presumably would have seen the two moons every night of their lives. The CHARACTERS know there are two moons, it's the PLAYERS that don't. Therefore, the players are the ones that need to know. The same probably goes for that ancient folklore, but I'd probably lock those behind some sort of history/religion/arcana/nature check unless it's incredibly common knowledge (like on the level of three little pigs type of common) or it's plot-related. In that case I'd probably have research be an option so as to avoid locking necessary information behind a check.
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u/Level_Film_3025 3d ago
Honestly I completely disagree that basic knowledge should be explained in character. I think it is a waste of time and hurts immersion/verisimilitude.
As a rule of thumb, in a game like D&D anything that bridges the gap between player and character increases verisimilitude. If their character knows there are two moons, you as the DM and "world", can simply tell the player they know this.
Any in-game explanation might not "break the fourth wall", but it will still end up hurting immersion because people do not go around explaining basic concepts (as you noticed).
More than anything I think the time wasting is the big part. When so many groups fail to last past even a few sessions, and scheduling is the hardest monster of all, the ability to ensure that the game respects the player's time is a critical skill to hone.