What ability check should I ask to my players if they want to know the lore of a monster?

Hi there!

I'm running a campaign and my players have encountered a Nothic. One of my players wanted to know more about this monster and I asked him to roll Arcana in order to know the lore behind Nothics. My question is, is that correct? Should I have asked for another ability check?

Thanks in advance.

I would say Nature check. The skills' descriptions give a good idea of what to you for what:
Nature     Intelligence     Recall lore about terrain, plants, animals, and weather.
Arcana     Intelligence     Recall lore about spells, magic items, and the planes of existence.
https://www.dndbeyond.com/sources/dnd/phb-2024/playing-the-game#Skills

I used Arcana due to the magical background of the Nothics (they were mages...bla bla bla).

But yeah, Nature makes so much sense. Thank you!

Honestly, I often do a quick breakdown for myself:

• History - book knowledge about a thing.
• Nature - knowledge about where the thing lives, what it eats
• Religion or Arcana - if the thing has a pertinence to it.

Then I will tell the player "make me a History, Nature, or Arcana roll for it."

They pick, and I will tell them the information relevant to their choice:

• History: Nothics are one-eyed creatures which live in the underdark and can melt flesh from bones with their gaze.
• Nature: Nothics live in groups in the underdark, and are intelligent conversationalists.
• Arcana: Nothics were once mages who sought excessive knowledge and were transformed into one eyed creatures.

That way the players can tune to their characters and learn things which relate to their proficiencies.

If you want to get fancy, you could do it based on the type of monster. I found an image which listed suggestions for which skill was applicable.

• Arcana: Aberration, Elemental, Fey, Monstrosity
• History: Construct, Dragon, Giant, Humanoid
• Nature: Beast, Ooze, Plant
• Religion: Celestial, Fiend, Undead

Quote from ThorukDuckSlayer >>

Honestly, I often do a quick breakdown for myself:

• History - book knowledge about a thing.
• Nature - knowledge about where the thing lives, what it eats
• Religion or Arcana - if the thing has a pertinence to it.

Then I will tell the player "make me a History, Nature, or Arcana roll for it."

They pick, and I will tell them the information relevant to their choice:

• History: Nothics are one-eyed creatures which live in the underdark and can melt flesh from bones with their gaze.
• Nature: Nothics live in groups in the underdark, and are intelligent conversationalists.
• Arcana: Nothics were once mages who sought excessive knowledge and were transformed into one eyed creatures.

That way the players can tune to their characters and learn things which relate to their proficiencies.

 That sounds so interesting! I'll take that! 

Thank you 😊

Quote from Stabbey_TC >>

If you want to get fancy, you could do it based on the type of monster. I found an image which listed suggestions for which skill was applicable.

• Arcana: Aberration, Elemental, Fey, Monstrosity
• History: Construct, Dragon, Giant, Humanoid
• Nature: Beast, Ooze, Plant
• Religion: Celestial, Fiend, Undead

 This is also cool! 

Thank you ❤️

The Monster Research table in Tasha's is also a great place to look for which checks work for what creatures.

Assuming you’re using 5.5 rules, then what you’re looking for is in the 2024 PHB Rules Glossary:

Study [Action]

When you take the Study action, you make an Intelligence check to study your memory, a book, a clue, or another source of knowledge and call to mind an important piece of information about it.

The Areas of Knowledge table suggests which skills are applicable to various areas of knowledge.