This can happen with new players who are native English speakers too, as D&D has a fair deal of vocabulary not everyone knows. Words like charisma and melee really got popularized by D&D.
Deep cut here: When I was a kid (ages past) and first heard friends talk about D&D, I thought there was a lens to keep you on the border. And without it, you might go straight Into The Unknown.
Rebel shareholders such as Alta Fox have been touting the radical concept of investing in the business, creating good products, and selling them.
You know, instead of screwing up relationships with long-term business partners, sending hired heavies to their fans' houses, and driving their customers to their competition.
So crazy it just might work.
A group of my players brought this up. I let them know that was fine, but the monsters would be able to return the favor.
We decided "the weave" determines the angle of squares (no diagonals).
Goth girls are drow.
That's the DM's wife.
Trick as old as the game Wizardry.
It's often better than making them fight their way back up.
If you think they’ll be too simple then it should only take your players about 20-30 minutes to solve.
That being 15 minutes to tell stupid jokes, and 15 more to burn down the building and leave.
Or step it up a notch. (And ya gotta wait until this comes up in conversation.)
Session 1: My Chaos Paladin tells party his goddess' name is Beth.
Session 2: Find magic sword, name it Beth.
Session 3: Tell party my goddess wants to be called Kate now. (Chaotics, ya know?)
Session 4: Explain that the goddess is OK if I still call my sword Beth, but I should name the next one Kate.
Session 5: Utter a vow of enmity: "For Kate's sake I stick my last Beth at thee!"
True Polymorph's duration is "until dispelled" if you concentrate for an hour. (That's hidden in the spell description.)
PSA: DM's, never imitate this
Back in the day, PC's would get strongholds and followers when they hit a certain level. Every crap DM (myself included) would think is was a great idea for monsters to sack one while the PC was away. It was never any fun.
When a player puts a little effort work into something, like a castle, house, or cart, don't trash it without their buyin. It's like a thief stealing their items when they were sleeping.
There are better ways to use these new settings in the campaign.
I'm a simple man, and will just ask for a AD&D 1e Unusual Sword +5 Holy Avenger, with an Intelligence of 17. Love me that 50% magic resistance in 5 foot radius, dispel magic at will, and +10 damage vs. Chaotic Evil.
Since I'm choosing, I'll assume optimum rolls for an "unusual sword", and take: All 14 extraordinary powers: charm person, clairaudience, clairvoyance, determine direction and depth, ESP, flying, heal, illusion, leviathan, strength, telekinesis, telepathy, teleportation, and X-ray vision.
Its Special Purpose should be slay "non-human monsters" disintegrating them on a hit unless they save (sure its special purpose should be slaying evil, but that's so restrictive. It should speak 10 languages.
Before I forget, it ought to match my alignment, so its ego doesn't overwhelm mine and make me stab myself or something. But maybe that's where the fun for the DM comes in?
They sure don't make 'em like they used to.
You're not dead when you're petrified, either, which can lead to some pretty interesting exploits, rules-as-written.
Petrified creatures count as creatures, not objects, so rules-as-written you can determine if a statue is a petrified creature by trying to target it with a spell that requires a creature for a target.
With the cantrip Poison Spray, you can check for petrified creatures without using spell slots or risking damaging the creature, since it would be immune to poison while petrified.