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<blockquote data-quote="Celebrim" data-source="post: 6751689" data-attributes="member: 4937">Speak with the Dead is certainly a divination spell, but its not really what I had in mind.&nbsp; For one thing, Speak with the Dead is already a highly problematic spell to adjudicate unless you've absolutely prepared for it (as in a murder mystery).&nbsp; This would be worse.&nbsp; It's generally a problem having to invent an NPC on the fly and figure out exactly what the NPC might know, if anything, and then to follow the directions given by the spell.&nbsp; For another, it's not really 'speak with spirit' and says as much, as much as it 'animate corpse', since the corpse has to be intact enough to actually speak to you. However, a lot of the complexity here is narrowed down by Speak with the Dead.&nbsp; Exactly what you'll be speaking to is established, and the fact that it is not in fact present or in possession of a volition is actually established.&nbsp; In my case, how we decide what we are speaking to or can speak to elegantly in something I want to pin down here.&nbsp; Does physical location matter?&nbsp; Can we speak to an individual spirit by name?&nbsp; What stops you from calling up Orcus at 1st level?&nbsp;&nbsp; What risk is there in bringing yourself to a spirit's attention?&nbsp; Can something you ask to manifest, decide to go further than that, as in Planar Binding?&nbsp; Once you decide what we are talking to, how do you decide what it knows.&nbsp; Contact Other Plane seems to provide a fairly reasonable set of mechanics.&nbsp; I was thinking something similar to 'Contact Other Plane', but just one question allowed and no chance of going mad.&nbsp; My first brief brainstorm on 'chance to know' was something like:Common Knowledge&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp; :&nbsp; 75%Unusual Knowledge&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; :&nbsp; 25%Rare Knowledge&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp; :&nbsp; 0%Rare and Very Specific Knowledge&nbsp;&nbsp; :&nbsp; -25%Add HD of spirit to chance that it knows.Add +25% bonus if the spirit is questioned regarding something pertaining to its specific domain.If the spirit is of a different alignment to the caster, the caster has to make an opposed charisma check or the spirit lies, misleads the caster, or deliberately evades the question, even if it knows the answer.Getting random spirits in some ways involves less problems than requesting specific ones.&nbsp; In the case of really powerful spirits, it's rather believable that they could be effectively omnipresent.&nbsp; But my game is just filled with very minor or very localized spirits.&nbsp; It's a 'haunted world', rich in animism.&nbsp; For example, the party got a big clue in one mystery when they realized that the house they were in had become sentient after centuries of habitation and it was aware of what was going on inside it and loyal to its owner.&nbsp; In that case, I decided I was ok with the Shaman just using their spirit empathy ability to try to appeal to the house to manifest, and ask it a question.&nbsp; That spirit could conceivably speak to someone reasonably near it, but would lack the ability to manifest itself 3000 miles away.&nbsp; Ditto a spirit of a tree, a rock, a stream, or the spirit representing all the rabbits in a particular forest, or a particular ghost, or any of the numerous other sorts of very minor spirits.But I'm realizing a relatively low level, &quot;Talk to nearby spirits&quot; spell has a lot of flavor and is entirely reasonable and occupies a niche different than planned spirit encounters.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Celebrim, post: 6751689, member: 4937"] [I]Speak with the Dead[/I] is certainly a divination spell, but its not really what I had in mind. For one thing, [I]Speak with the Dead[/I] is already a highly problematic spell to adjudicate unless you've absolutely prepared for it (as in a murder mystery). This would be worse. It's generally a problem having to invent an NPC on the fly and figure out exactly what the NPC might know, if anything, and then to follow the directions given by the spell. For another, it's not really 'speak with spirit' and says as much, as much as it 'animate corpse', since the corpse has to be intact enough to actually speak to you. However, a lot of the complexity here is narrowed down by Speak with the Dead. Exactly what you'll be speaking to is established, and the fact that it is not in fact present or in possession of a volition is actually established. In my case, how we decide what we are speaking to or can speak to elegantly in something I want to pin down here. Does physical location matter? Can we speak to an individual spirit by name? What stops you from calling up Orcus at 1st level? What risk is there in bringing yourself to a spirit's attention? Can something you ask to manifest, decide to go further than that, as in Planar Binding? Once you decide what we are talking to, how do you decide what it knows. Contact Other Plane seems to provide a fairly reasonable set of mechanics. I was thinking something similar to 'Contact Other Plane', but just one question allowed and no chance of going mad. My first brief brainstorm on 'chance to know' was something like: Common Knowledge : 75% Unusual Knowledge : 25% Rare Knowledge : 0% Rare and Very Specific Knowledge : -25% Add HD of spirit to chance that it knows. Add +25% bonus if the spirit is questioned regarding something pertaining to its specific domain. If the spirit is of a different alignment to the caster, the caster has to make an opposed charisma check or the spirit lies, misleads the caster, or deliberately evades the question, even if it knows the answer. Getting random spirits in some ways involves less problems than requesting specific ones. In the case of really powerful spirits, it's rather believable that they could be effectively omnipresent. But my game is just filled with very minor or very localized spirits. It's a 'haunted world', rich in animism. For example, the party got a big clue in one mystery when they realized that the house they were in had become sentient after centuries of habitation and it was aware of what was going on inside it and loyal to its owner. In that case, I decided I was ok with the Shaman just using their spirit empathy ability to try to appeal to the house to manifest, and ask it a question. That spirit could conceivably speak to someone reasonably near it, but would lack the ability to manifest itself 3000 miles away. Ditto a spirit of a tree, a rock, a stream, or the spirit representing all the rabbits in a particular forest, or a particular ghost, or any of the numerous other sorts of very minor spirits. But I'm realizing a relatively low level, "Talk to nearby spirits" spell has a lot of flavor and is entirely reasonable and occupies a niche different than planned spirit encounters. [/QUOTE]

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