Rangers attacking fav. enemies ...

[orlondok]

Should a Ranger know their favored enemies?

What I am trying to ask is ... if the Ranger has Undead as fav. enemy ...
when first encountering an enemy should the ranger be aware that the enemy is undead ...
and therefore get her bonus damage vs. that creature ?

[GreatDane]

It's a DC 10 Knowledge check to answer "really easy questions" such as "is the rotting corpse attacking me an undead abomination?" I think most tables decide not to waste time making that particular roll.

For creatures whose type is not immediately obvious, like some aberrations or a disguised enemy, a Knowledge or Spot check might be appropriate. I wouldn't want to play a ranger if I had to constantly check for my foe's type, though, so this should be used sparingly.

[Telonius]

Most of the time, yes. If it's an enemy they can't identify, they'd still get the mechanical bonuses. But if they do something like encounter a Vampire who's disguised as a human, or a phasm that's in the shape of a tree or something, the DM wouldn't necessarily need to tell them, "The person is actually an undead," or "The tree is an aberration." The DM should take the +2 bonuses into account when figuring out skill checks or writing down the damage it takes, but wouldn't tell the player unless the player would have some way of knowing.