It's a fantasy role-playing game.

DM: You are Vex Vex'ahlia, a half-elf ranger . You are the member of the famous group of adventurers. Previously, She  Dimension Door'ed her way into the ritual room, which  Vox Machina  followed over the wall. She seemed to complete the ritual, creating this small, vacuous, spinning black sphere that is locked in place.
DM: Make an intelligence check. Just roll a d20 and add your intelligence. And you have advantage on it because he's your favored.
Player: I'm not that smart. 12.
DM: 12? Okay. You know that these creatures are incorporeal. They can generally shift in and out of solid matter as a way of moving and defending itself. You know that they're difficult to fight in the dark. You also know that they, because of their form, are generally resistant to a lot of types of elemental-type damage. And lighting and cold: no effect whatsoever.
Player: Got it.
DM: As well as poison.
Player: Good to know.
DM: That's as much as you can ascertain with that roll.
