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Message: <blockquote data-quote="CuRoi" data-source="post: 5437550" data-attributes="member: 98032">I always take intelligence and wisdom into consideration for all monsters and NPCs. So Speak with Animals yields some not terribly useful results sometimes. Animals aren't concerned with human speech or details and they think in a very foreign manner. I usually center reponses around the animals habitat and general manner of living and the players have to interpret whether they learned anything useful or not. Therefore - level one : ) Speak with Plants - this one is tough. As others have mentioned, there is no intelligence or wisdom guideline for a tree. I treat it closer to a mini-Commune spell. The plant has a good feel for the earth and the like, perhaps for the passing of animals, weather conditions, changes in climate, etc.  I'd agree with being unable to supply detailed descriptions, but would provide info about powerful forces especially forces they might be sensitive to (negative planar, fire, positive energy, etc.) For instance, I think a plant could "know or feel" the difference between the passing of a Cleric of Death and a Druid. I also would think they have soem sort of community which they can "communicate" with on a certain level as pposed to the idea that they are just solitary lifeforms...a tree in a forest isn't "alone" by any means. The spell does list limitations but also seems to ascribe personalities to plants which indicates a farily high level of sentience. So that seems to open some room for actual conversation. My current DM's take: Druid: "I cast speak with plants to see if they know where the evil monster went" DM: (Roleplaying a Ficas or other indoor plant) "Gasping - WATER, WATER! I think he went that way... WATER!" AD&D had it at 4th level and was actually less vague than the current description - you could ask questions (whether creatures had passed, etc.) and even ask the plants to trip up pursuers (though not animate them entirely).</blockquote>

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