Divination/Contact Other Plane: Exactly what *does* a God know?

[VirgilCaine]

The spell descriptions are not much help. Phrasing, consequences, what can be asked, yes.

What is a reasonable limit on what a deity knows for the purposes of these spells?

 

[dcollins]

You might consider the Divine Rules SRD and deities' "Remote Sensing" and "Portfolio Sense" abilities: http://www.d20srd.org/srd/divine/divineRanksAndPowers.htm#remoteSensing

 

[Vorput]

Hmm... interesting question...

They're sort of, well... a God. So theoretically, anything.

The exact answer depends on your pantheon, and what sort of abilities your dieties have, what role they play on the material plane, and how much they care about the caster.

Moreover, you have to consider if this is information another diety or agent (Proxy) would block for their own purposes...

But barring any strange pantheon rules, or opposing divine intervention- I'd say they know everything.

 

[blargney the second]

dcollins, that's a very useful link!
-blarg

 

[Crothian]

I always allow gods to know things that deal with the domains their followers can have access to. But it is really a setting thing that can be very different depending on the nature of gods.

 

[Vrecknidj]

Gods know exactly what the DM wants them to know.

Dave

 

[VirgilCaine]

Gods know exactly what the DM wants them to know.

Dave

Well, that's one bad DM in the world identified.

 

[Shin Okada]

Gods know exactly what the DM wants them to know.

Dave

Seriously, I suppose this is the exact intent of the designer.

 

[Saeviomagy]

Seriously, I suppose this is the exact intent of the designer.

To be honest, given the level of the spell, and the spells it compares with, it's probably not a bad idea to assume that the deity contacted is totally omniscient unless there's some serious interference going on.

It's not like the spell is 100% accurate even then, the penalties for failure are massive, and spells only slightly higher level give a lot more information without a chance or penalty for failure.

I think the real answer to this question is - if you stop divinations from working, even if you think it's somehow logical, then expect your players to simply not bother, and your campaign to be a whole lot less interesting.

 

[ruleslawyer]

I dunno. To be honest, the only relevance that deities' stats will ever have in my campaigns is for instances like this.

I say go with the Remote Sensing and Portfolio Sense abilities (as well as any likely salient divine abilities or class abilities that suggest themselves). It's a great way to inject some added flavor into the game (f'rex, Mystra will know pretty much EVERYTHING about magical creatures, disturbances to the Weave, or powerful spellcasters' activities, but asking her about something related to the operations of a thieves' guild is unlikely to generate answers).