Player Character Knowledge about the Red Wizards of Thay

[Vorenus]

Hello, Adventurers!

I am a relatively new DM, and I have a question: How much knowledge should player characters have about the Red Wizards of Thay? I've been running my group through Lost Mine of Phandelver, and after that I plan to take this same group of PCs through a combined Tyranny of Dragons and Storm King's Thunder epic campaign using Phandalin as home base. There is a Red Wizard necromander in the Lost Mines of Phandelver module, and two Red Wizards in the first Tyranny of Dragons module. And the modules seem to make it more or less common knowledge that player characters would know about Thay and Red Wizards, but the modules don't explicitly state that. I also checked Sword Coast Adventurer's Guide, but didn't get a good answer from that either. So, my questions:

1. How much should player characters know about the Red Wizards of Thay? Are the Red Wizards infamous and PCs should have a basic general knowledge of them?

2. Specifically, should PCs know that Thay is ruled by a Lich?

3. Should PCs know that Thay is a mage-ocracy, where non-mages are second-class citizens at best?

4. Should PCs know that most Red Wizards are evil? And that most Red Wizards aspire to one day become Liches?

5. For that matter, should PCs even know what a Lich is? Is that basic background knowledge for people who live in Faerun? I expect they know about Dragons--at least general information--but do they also know about Liches?

Thank you for taking the time to read this and to help me with this background information.

--Vorenus

[Keravath]

This would tend to depend on the characters, their backgrounds, their interests and their class. There is no one right answer so in the end you need to decide what works best in your campaign.

First, you need to decide how widespread is knowledge of politics and geography. Do folks generally know more than the next town over? We live in a society where information is vast and readily available to anyone, people regularly travel to the other side of the world. However, in the middle ages, it used to be relatively common for folks to live out their lives without traveling more than 10 miles from home. Books and learning were uncommon. Many people were involved in food production and distribution. Occasional travelers might be the only real source of rumors, gossip and knowledge.

In the first world like ours, detailed knowledge of Thay would likely be readily available to anyone, in the latter, many folks might never have heard of it and wouldn't know what a Lich was even if someone tried to explain it.

You need to decide where your world fits on this spectrum. Someone with a learned background proficient in history might tend to know a bit about Thay or would know where to find out. They might have heard of the red wizards who rule the town. They would require more detailed knowledge to know how the Red Wizards were structured. However, considering the presence of many supernatural creatures and threats in a D&D world, if a Lich ran the Red Wizards they might try to avoid making that common knowledge if possible.

Finally, based on what you decide is likely available information, you then have to look at the characters and their abilities to determine if anyone actually knows anything useful in the circumstances.

Sorry I can't be more concrete, but what is known as either common or uncommon knowledge depends on the game world and some details like that may not be specified so it is up to the DM to decide even when running a published adventure.

[Vorenus]

Thank you for the response. I respectfully request additional guidance. I will try to share the relevant information to help provide the context so that my questions from my original post can be answered with greater fidelity.

You mentioned that I need to decide how widespread this information is. I am a little puzzled by this. I am running this campaign in the Forgotten Realms setting using published adventures and the Sword Coast Adventurer's Guide. Since it is an established world, why do I need to decide how widespread the information is? Isn't that already defined in the world? I'm very new to the Forgotten Realms, so perhaps I have just missed something, but I haven't been able to find a concrete answer about this. I hear what you're saying about the different dispersion of information in a high-tech, fully-connected world like the present Earth vs. a low-tech world, but it seems to me that Forgotten Realms is probably not as unconnected as real-world Earth was historically. For that matter, it's not all that clear what the full tech level of the Forgotten Realms is. I'm more used to GURPS that has defined tech levels for game worlds, and I have been using that concept as my general background, but it is not uncommon to run across items in the Forgotten Realms that seem anachronistic, such as rapiers, firearms, and bombs, but also including crazy clockwork devices. I am not quibbling with any of that, it just seems like it is part of the setting and that's fine. But anyway it seems to me that Forgotten Realms is more connected than the real-world historical Earth was. Magic users can communicate across vast distances, travel is not as difficult because so many things can fly or even teleport (or plane shift), there are so many beings that live for hundreds of years that can spread the knowledge, etc. So I guess what I'm getting at is I don't know the answer to the question how widespread the knowledge of the Red Wizards of Thay should be in a run-of-the-mill Forgotten Realms campaign, and that's where I would like additional guidance from people who have more experience with the Forgotten Realms than I do.

Turning to the next point you raise, the level of knowledge and background of the particular characters in my adventuring group. I'll try to answer that. My adventurers have all just leveled up to Level 3. We are about 2/3rds of the way through The Lost Mine of Phandelver. The party consists of the following characters, and I will include brief notes about their prominent knowledge-based skills and backgrounds:

1. Aasimar Paladin, Soldier background. Proficient with the following skills: Athletics, Insight, Intimidation, and Persuasion
2. Half-Orc Barbarian, Outlander/Tribal Marauder. Proficient with the following skills: Athletics, Intimidation, Perception, Stealth, and Survival.
3. Wood Elf Ranger, Folk Hero background. Proficient with the following skills: Animal Handling, Athletics, Nature, Perception, Stealth, and Survival.
4. High Elf, Criminal/Spy background. Proficient with the following skills: Acrobatics, Athletics, Deception, Insight, Investigation, Perception, Stealth. (Rogue Expertise in Perception and Stealth.)
5. Dwarven Cleric (Life Domain), Acolyte background. Proficient with the following skills: Arcana, History, Insight, and Religion.

The campaign began in Neverwinter, which is the starting point for LMoP. We haven't gotten too much into the characters' backgrounds before showing up in Neverwinter, although that is something I am trying to work into the story. I have ideas for the Wood Elf Ranger and the Half-Orc Barbarian that I will be working in to tie their back stories into the campaign soon, but we haven't gotten that far yet.

I will say that the Dwarven Cleric's player has worked in at least two and probably more like three History rolls per session. He does it a lot. I actually don't mind that because when he rolls well I can feed him more tidbits of lore of the area, which I probably was going to give them players anyway but now there's a game mechanic reason for me sharing it. The Dwarven Cleric's player has done a really good job of sharing this information with the rest of the party without coming across as a total pedant. He's actually probably the best player in the group, from both a roleplaying perspective and also a perspective of who has the best grasp of the rules in the group. And yet he is also the least likely to disrupt anything and is the most likely to set up the rest of the group to shine. In my experience with other games (as I said, I'm new to D&D and new to the Forgotten Realms), most players rarely ever want to play a true support character or a healer, but this player has had no problem with it. He is the glue that is holding the group together. The next best player from both a skill and roleplaying perspective is the Aasimar Paladin. She (both the player and the character are female) is a very good roleplayer, and is also really good at guiding the rest of the players. The Dwarven Cleric player has a lot of gaming experience, the Aasimar Paladin has a moderate amount, and the other three are new--this is their first ever exposure to roleplaying (other than I think video games, which don't really count). The Aasimar Paladin is the team leader, and the player does an excellent job of not trying to railroad the rest of the group. She does an excellent job of communicating with the other players and they almost always come to a consensus on what they are going to do. In combat, she is really good at tactics, although again I think the Dwarven Cleric is probably better but he is content to play a true support character. Between the two of them they offer tactical suggestions to the other three, but they don't do it in a way that seems bossy or heavy-handed. In game, the Paladin will yell out orders during combat situations to the rest of the party and most of the time they do what she orders (except the Rogue seems the most likely to just do his own thing), but again none of the other players seem to resent that she is doing that, probably because she does such a good job of developing the consensus when it is not a combat situation. Out of combat she is very good at diplomacy both with the PCs and the many NPCs, and in game she stays level headed and focused on achieving the mission.

Even the three new players are fun to play with. Everybody is playing a heroic character, nobody is playing an evil character, nobody is playing a "lone wolf" who just wants to go off and do his own thing and ignore the group (although the Rogue player has done this a few times, but not so much that it has become a problem). And they all have a good attitude about it. Sometimes the Ranger's player tries to jump in when it's not his turn, but usually he is pretty patient.

Anyway, hopefully this is enough information that you or someone else can answer my previous questions from my original post.

Thank you all again for reading this, and I look forward to hearing your thoughts.

[CorporateSlave]

I am a relatively new DM, and I have a question: How much knowledge should player characters have about the Red Wizards of Thay? I've been running my group through Lost Mine of Phandelver, and after that I plan to take this same group of PCs through a combined Tyranny of Dragons and Storm King's Thunder epic campaign using Phandalin as home base. There is a Red Wizard necromander in the Lost Mines of Phandelver module, and two Red Wizards in the first Tyranny of Dragons module. And the modules seem to make it more or less common knowledge that player characters would know about Thay and Red Wizards, but the modules don't explicitly state that. I also checked Sword Coast Adventurer's Guide, but didn't get a good answer from that either. So, my questions:



1. How much should player characters know about the Red Wizards of Thay? Are the Red Wizards infamous and PCs should have a basic general knowledge of them?
I think the main point here is this is hard to say without fairly detailed background information on the PC's (The Sword Coast is West , Thay is East).

(For example, a Wizard would certainly have come across knowledge of the Red Wizards during their schooling...a wizard of Necromancy particularly so.)

The Paladin or Cleric may well have some knowledge due to their backgrounds and training, particularly the Cleric with Acolyte background.

The Half-Orc barbarian? Maybe? Where is he from exactly? An orc from a tribe in the East of Faerun would no doubt have heard of the "red robed slaver wizards" who hire orcs for their armies. An orc from an isolated tribe far from Thay, they may never have heard of the Red Wizards whatsoever.

The "Folk Hero" Ranger? Possibly not, if he's from the West and has stayed in the woods and away from cities and book learning his whole life.

The Criminal Rogue? Especially a long-lived (elf) one, would probably know something of the Red Wizards, even if they never took part in any of the slaving Thay is known for.

PC's from big cities, especially those with more "studious" backgrounds (or storytelling, like a bard) would no doubt have heard stories, and have some knowledge. PC's from small, isolated villages who worked on the farm until they decided to hit the road may know little to nothing. Even within the "established world" of the Forgotten Realms, knowledge can vary from place to place, at the DM's judgement. You really can justify just how much you want your players to know, even within the established setting. Certain backgrounds are more likely to know more. Most of your questions have the same answer, which is just that "it depends." A Paladin or Cleric would almost certainly have been taught what a lich is. To a half-orc barbarian who grew up in the wilds it might just be a smelly wizard.

Generally, (how I've seen it handled in campaigns I've been in) the PC's have limited knowledge of the Red Wizards, unless their class, background, or a good history check made the DM decide they knew a bit more detail. The PC's might have heard of a cruel land named Thay far to the East that is ruled by tattooed, bald wizards who wear red robes. The Wizard might make a history check and be informed by the DM that they are known to practice Necromancy. The Paladin might also make a history check and be told he has heard these red wizards control armies of undead, and even count undead liches among their most fearsome leaders. However, if your campaign's principle narrative is served by a more detailed knowledge, have at it! You can always just say one of the PC's has read a book that accounts the history of the Red Wizards.

[Nhorianscum]

*Roll knowledge history*

[firelistener]

*Roll knowledge history*

lol

For real though, this is exactly why the arcana, religion, and history skills exist. The simplest thing is just assign a DC for a knowledge check on things like that. If a player character is a wizard or from an area influenced by Thay, you could give them advantage on it. Depending on how they roll, you tell the players out-of-character some info that their character suddenly recalls. Roll well; get juicy info. Roll low; it's stuck on the tip of your tongue.

In general, concerning Thay, I'd say most people in Faerun are aware that Red Wizards are "bad guys" and that Thay is ruled by wizards. They caused wars and such in the past with the Sword Coast, so veterans of those conflicts surely told spooky tales about evil Red Wizards to their kids.

[Mordaedil]

1. Aasimar Paladin, Soldier background. Proficient with the following skills: Athletics, Insight, Intimidation, and Persuasion
2. Half-Orc Barbarian, Outlander/Tribal Marauder. Proficient with the following skills: Athletics, Intimidation, Perception, Stealth, and Survival.
3. Wood Elf Ranger, Folk Hero background. Proficient with the following skills: Animal Handling, Athletics, Nature, Perception, Stealth, and Survival.
4. High Elf, Criminal/Spy background. Proficient with the following skills: Acrobatics, Athletics, Deception, Insight, Investigation, Perception, Stealth. (Rogue Expertise in Perception and Stealth.)
5. Dwarven Cleric (Life Domain), Acolyte background. Proficient with the following skills: Arcana, History, Insight, and Religion.

My take on their knowledge and reasoning:

1. Should probably know about the red wizard in general and that they are led by a lich, if only due to how much they would be the precise enemies of this class/race combination. Requires a check for detailed knowledge though.
2. Should be very unfamiliar with red wizards from nearly across the continent unless they've met red wizards at some point.
3. Unlikely to know of the red wizards.
4. Probably familiar with red wizards, but mostly as a part of the underground and more as a warning of not getting involved with them, because they are bad news.
5. Probably familiar with red wizards, should be allowed to roll a history check for how extensively.

[Bobthewizard]

It doesn't matter. Don't stress about what they should know. You can run the adventures with them having no knowledge and the red wizard they ran into is just a random necromancer or you can give them more background if you want. The game works fine either way.

The same goes for history of every city and country in Faerun. It's just how much you want to be immersed in the world and how closely you want your world to mirror the cannon.

I ignore all that for Lost Mines, especially for new players, and it works fine. For a longer adventure I'm running, Thay is the big enemy so they get a lot more information over the course of the adventure. If you want to give them a little more immersion, you could just tell them what you want them to know when they run into the first red wizard.

Your question isn't a bad question and I'm sure you'll get lots of different opinions, but I think you should do what you want and know that whatever you decide will work. You know your game and your players better than any of us.

[darknite]

In general I'd say each of those pieces of info would be relatively available knowledge, though not necessarily all that common. Would a PC know these things? Maybe, based on their experience. Could they find them out with relative ease? Sure.

The last one about 'Do they know about liches' is a bit parochial, as it assumes that a member of the adventurer's class has never heard of the great horrors of their age. Tales of such monsters are rife throughout the land, being whispered over cups in the back of taverns or sung about by bards seeking coin in the market. Now they may have lots of misinformation sprinkled in there but it's silly to think that the folk are unaware of such creatures in a world where gods stride and magic is everywhere.

[hamishspence]

I think that Red Wizards would be significantly more prominent to the general public after a few years of Thayan Enclaves being present in many cities.

[Corsair14]

1. Magic oriented or noble type PCs would likely have heard of them and know they are an evil magical society/cartel. Unless it is a local organization it is doubtful they know more than that.

2. Very doubtful. If PCs even know what a liche is, any word that the leader is an undead at all would likely fall into the category of "I hear William Wallace is 10 feet tall, and shoots lightning bolts from his eyes and fireballs from his arse."

3. Depends on how close the PCs grew up to Thay lands.

4. Doubtful. They might know they are ruthless boogie men and use magic. Most people if they have even heard the word liche probably have no clue what they actually are and fall into tooth fairy category.

5. Dragons are legendary creatures and most people will never see one in their lifetime and view them like the Loch Ness monster. A 1st level PC of a religious background paladin, cleric and wizard backgrounds will have heard at least a little about liches but classes less educated in magical arts like sorcerers, druids or warlocks probably will not have. General population will have no idea anything like that exists and mentioning it would likely get the PCs laughed at like we laugh at the idea of vampires today.

[GreyBlack]

When it comes to metagame knowledge, I always give my players this answer:

You live in a magical fantasy world full of ogres and trolls and vampires. Parents want their children to eventually grow up and survive in this world. Are you telling me that there aren't little rhymes and general knowledge about how you should use fire against that troll to try and get away? Or stories about how you should try and stick a vampire in the heart with a stake? In our own culture, we have all sorts of stories about how we shouldn't go into the woods alone or we'll get eaten by wolves (e.g Little Red Riding Hood), take food from strangers (e.g Snow White), or how we shouldn't put too much stock into personal appearance (e.g. Beauty and the Beast). Why wouldn't parents in D&D tell you stories like that to teach you how to survive in the D&D world?

So, to answer your question, I would argue that whatever knowledge your players have about the Red Wizards already is fine. They've heard stories about how they're dangerous and trying to take over the world and stuff. If a player doesn't know, invite one of the players who does know to fill them in.

[HappyDaze]

I think that Red Wizards would be significantly more prominent to the general public after a few years of Thayan Enclaves being present in many cities.

I was going to say this. In 3e, Thayan enclaves were in major cities across the Faerun. Everybody knew a bit about them, but their inner workings were not public knowledge (sorta like Google). Even if there were rumors of the Red Wizards being evil, people knew for a fact that they traded fairly in magic, so they were willing to discount the ugly rumors because they wanted to visit the magic merchants.

I'm not sure if Thayan enclaves are still a part of the Realms in 5e.

[Vorenus]

I love the comparison of the Red Wizards of Thay to Google. That made my day.

I think I should clear up one thing: This is not a case of players metagaming. The Dwarven Cleric player is the only one who as a player knows anything about D&D really, or about the Forgotten Realms, and he has done an excellent job of not metagaming. He does ask fora lot of History checks, but that seems fine to me, and he never complains when he gets a bad roll and I tell him he doesn't remember that information or remember anything significant about the pertinent details. The situation is more the other side: My players don't know much about Forgotten Realms (other than the Dwarven Cleric player, of course), and so I don't want to short-change their experience because arguably their characters should know more than the players do about their own world.

Thanks to everyone for your suggestions and insights. I appreciate it.

--Vorenus

[BruceLeeroy]

https://www.realmshelps.net/faerun/organizations/redwizards.shtml

The Red Wizards are everywhere, they're a franchise of sorts. If a character has ever spent time in a major trading city, they have heard of them. However, the Red Wizards try to carefully manage their reputation for PR purposes, so what the characters know may not be accurate.

[GreyBlack]

I love the comparison of the Red Wizards of Thay to Google. That made my day.

I think I should clear up one thing: This is not a case of players metagaming. The Dwarven Cleric player is the only one who as a player knows anything about D&D really, or about the Forgotten Realms, and he has done an excellent job of not metagaming. He does ask fora lot of History checks, but that seems fine to me, and he never complains when he gets a bad roll and I tell him he doesn't remember that information or remember anything significant about the pertinent details. The situation is more the other side: My players don't know much about Forgotten Realms (other than the Dwarven Cleric player, of course), and so I don't want to short-change their experience because arguably their characters should know more than the players do about their own world.

Thanks to everyone for your suggestions and insights. I appreciate it.

--Vorenus

Ah that's fair. Then my answer was useless and I apologize.

In this case, the players only need to know as much or as little as you tell them. If they're interested in the red wizards and want to know more, give them characters who can fill them in. I'm sure some of the NPC'S in your campaign will be willing to share information with the characters?

[Bigmouth]

You live in a magical fantasy world full of ogres and trolls and vampires. Parents want their children to eventually grow up and survive in this world. Are you telling me that there aren't little rhymes and general knowledge about how you should use fire against that troll to try and get away? Or stories about how you should try and stick a vampire in the heart with a stake? In our own culture, we have all sorts of stories about how we shouldn't go into the woods alone or we'll get eaten by wolves (e.g Little Red Riding Hood), take food from strangers (e.g Snow White), or how we shouldn't put too much stock into personal appearance (e.g. Beauty and the Beast). Why wouldn't parents in D&D tell you stories like that to teach you how to survive in the D&D world?


Ah that's fair. Then my answer was useless and I apologize.
Hardly useless IMO. Your speak to cultural knowledge quite well. This is before radio, before tv, before the internet, but it is not before shared knowledge. The absence of modern media doesn't mean that information isn't shared. Merchants and travelers spread stories. The Bard Broadcasting Network exists. Storytellers spread their stories as they travel, then those stories get spread locally.

Also, don't discount the effect of magic on storytelling. Bards and adventurers don't have to purely rely on the spoken word to pass along information and make great stories. The minor illusion cantrip allows those with access to it to produce realistic images. I can hardly imagine a Bard (or anyone else with access to it) not using it when telling stories of amazing things. Imagine the oohs and aahs that would erupt in a tavern when the image of a fire breathing dragon was produced.

Teleportation circles and portals (along with a lot of other spells) make long distance travel in Faerun a lot different than in a non-magical world. Shorter travel times means more information.

1: Yes, definitely. Red Wizard of Thay are a world wide threat. Everyone should know about them. As slavers, they probably are a common "Don't wander off or the Red Wizards will get you" sort of thing.
2: Should everyone know they are ruled by a lich? I don't think that was ever described as a secret (It's been a long time) but if it isn't specifically a secret, then I'd say yes, everyone should know. It is an amazing boogeyman story.
3: Yep. Everyone should know it's a mage-ocracy. They have spread themselves around the world, people should definitely know this.
4: Yes, everyone should know that the Red Wizards are evil. Them all wanting to be horribly spooky undead wizards is just good story telling.
5: Yes, they should know about liches...but specifics not so much. Spooky undead wizards are totally unforgettable and stories about them would be popular. But the nuts and bolts assumes a lot more knowledge. Could easily be mixed up with vampires, ghouls, whatever.

[Tanarii]

https://www.realmshelps.net/faerun/organizations/redwizards.shtml

The Red Wizards are everywhere, they're a franchise of sorts. If a character has ever spent time in a major trading city, they have heard of them. However, the Red Wizards try to carefully manage their reputation for PR purposes, so what the characters know may not be accurate.If the lore hasn't changed (and I can't recall my SCAG right now, that's probably the best way to give players knowledge of them. Like the zhents (who have changed lore-wise) the Red Wizards were into almost everything, had widespread trading branches, and we're very aware of the importance of maintaining healthy PR as best they could.

Generally speaking, they managed to pull off 'kinda slimy (magic) traders' with the general population, with varying degrees of how much folks though you could trust them. From 'they're kinda bastards when it comes to haggling, but at least a deal is a deal' to 'read the fine print twice' to 'don't pay them until you've got the product in hand'.

[HappyDaze]

If the lore hasn't changed (and I can't recall my SCAG right now, that's probably the best way to give players knowledge of them. Like the zhents (who have changed lore-wise) the Red Wizards were into almost everything, had widespread trading branches, and we're very aware of the importance of maintaining healthy PR as best they could.

Generally speaking, they managed to pull off 'kinda slimy (magic) traders' with the general population, with varying degrees of how much folks though you could trust them. From 'they're kinda bastards when it comes to haggling, but at least a deal is a deal' to 'read the fine print twice' to 'don't pay them until you've got the product in hand'.

Thayans are also not all into becoming undead. That was Tam's big push, and while he was the most powerful of the 8 leaders of Thay, he was a necromancer and the only one I recall being undead.

Also, while the Thayans are slavers, so too are a lot of FR nations. Also, the Thayans don't try to enslave people outside of their homeland because it's bad business.

[Envyus]

Thayans are also not all into becoming undead. That was Tam's big push, and while he was the most powerful of the 8 leaders of Thay, he was a necromancer and the only one I recall being undead.

Also, while the Thayans are slavers, so too are a lot of FR nations. Also, the Thayans don't try to enslave people outside of their homeland because it's bad business.

Tam is now the supreme ruler of Thay. All the other 8 leaders of Thay are now his subordinates. (Membership is also different cause he killed all the old ones.)

But yeah he is more interested in subtle hostile action towards more places, unless Thay plans to outright attack.

[HappyDaze]

But yeah he is more interested in subtle hostile action towards more places, unless Thay plans to outright attack.
Which is bad for business, and Thay is all about business now. They won't even attack Aglarond (a nation that does not trade with them) because it could cause nations sympathetic to Aglarond to cut trade with Thay. Tam's alignment is now Corporate Evil.

[GreyBlack]

Hardly useless IMO. Your speak to cultural knowledge quite well. This is before radio, before tv, before the internet, but it is not before shared knowledge. The absence of modern media doesn't mean that information isn't shared. Merchants and travelers spread stories. The Bard Broadcasting Network exists. Storytellers spread their stories as they travel, then those stories get spread locally.

Also, don't discount the effect of magic on storytelling. Bards and adventurers don't have to purely rely on the spoken word to pass along information and make great stories. The minor illusion cantrip allows those with access to it to produce realistic images. I can hardly imagine a Bard (or anyone else with access to it) not using it when telling stories of amazing things. Imagine the oohs and aahs that would erupt in a tavern when the image of a fire breathing dragon was produced.

Teleportation circles and portals (along with a lot of other spells) make long distance travel in Faerun a lot different than in a non-magical world. Shorter travel times means more information.

1: Yes, definitely. Red Wizard of Thay are a world wide threat. Everyone should know about them. As slavers, they probably are a common "Don't wander off or the Red Wizards will get you" sort of thing.
2: Should everyone know they are ruled by a lich? I don't think that was ever described as a secret (It's been a long time) but if it isn't specifically a secret, then I'd say yes, everyone should know. It is an amazing boogeyman story.
3: Yep. Everyone should know it's a mage-ocracy. They have spread themselves around the world, people should definitely know this.
4: Yes, everyone should know that the Red Wizards are evil. Them all wanting to be horribly spooky undead wizards is just good story telling.
5: Yes, they should know about liches...but specifics not so much. Spooky undead wizards are totally unforgettable and stories about them would be popular. But the nuts and bolts assumes a lot more knowledge. Could easily be mixed up with vampires, ghouls, whatever.

I was saying my answer was useless because his players had the opposite problem; they didn't know _enough_ about the world as opposed to too much. In most other out of game knowledge circumstances, it'd be far less useless. XD

[Vorenus]

Thank you all for your suggestions. I appreciate your insight.