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Message: <blockquote data-quote="hong" data-source="post: 1169965" data-attributes="member: 537">Well, it depends on what you mean by "contributing to a story". If you believe that the story (or at least the relevant bits of it) should consist of PCs travelling to NPCs and asking them for clues on to how to finish a quest, then yes, commune can short-circuit that.But what is commune, really? It grants you the unique power to talk to your deity. What this means is that it effectively allows a PC spellcaster to take on the role of intermediary to the gods, a role that's very significant in many stories from folklore and legend. The priest, shaman, sage, oracle or medicine man who dispenses advice to the heroes is something that's a constant factor from one culture to the next.Thus you can think of commune as an enabling factor, something that allows you _and the players_ to tell a story, without having to rely on the clunky mechanic of an introduced NPC. All the elements are at the PCs' disposal, they just need to know how to use them.If you think that PCs shouldn't be given access to this level of power, consider that one of the other 5th level spells that a cleric can cast, besides commune, is raise dead. That should give an idea of how far beyond the mundane a 9th-10th level D&D character is.So I don't think it's necessary to change the rules at this point. First, you should think of what _kind_ of story the rules facilitate, and then consider whether it's the kind of story you'd like to tell.</blockquote>

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