Commune: What do deities know?

[Liminal Syzygy]

Commune spell description reads:

The character can contact the character's deity—or agents thereof—and ask questions that can be answered by a simple yes or no. (A cleric of no particular deity contacts a philosophically allied deity.) The character is allowed one such question per caster level. The answers given are correct within the limits of the entity’s knowledge. "Unclear" is a legitimate answer. In cases where a one-word answer would be misleading or contrary to the deity’s interests, the DM should give a short phrase (five words or less) as an answer instead. The spell, at best, provides information to aid character decisions. The entities contacted structure their answers to further their own purposes. If the character doesn't focus on the conversation, discusses the answers at length with other parties, or leaves to undertake another task, the spell ends.

My question is what do most people define as the "limits of a deities' knowledge"?

My players are communing over email and asking several specific questions about the layout of the dungeon (any secret areas we haven't found?) and specifics on the plans of the bad guys... What if any of this would the deity know?

 

[Pax]

My question is what do most people define as the "limits of a deities' knowledge"?

My players are communing over email and asking several specific questions about the layout of the dungeon (any secret areas we haven't found?) and specifics on the plans of the bad guys... What if any of this would the deity know?

Depends on what s/he is the deity OF.

The God(dess) of the Oceans would know EVERYTHING in, under, or immediately adjacent to ANY ocean ANYwhere in ANY plane that deity has power in or over. Where the OPcean is, that deity is OMNISCIENT.

However, said deity would know NOTHING of the heart of an ancient forest far form the ocean (s/he might be able to talk of a time, millions of years before, when that particular bit of land was the bottom of an ocean ... but current events? fat chance).

So, it comes down to: which deity are they communing with ... ?

A deity of Earth, or of Architecture, or of Secrets, might know of areas in teh dungeons. A Deity of plots, plans, secrets, the particular alignment(s) of the "badguys", the race(s) of the badguys, etc, might know about their plans.

It all comes down to which deity are they asking, and what is that deity the god(dess) of?

 

[GMVictory]

Depends on what deity are they attempting to commune with.

I would use their domains as the basis for their knowledge. Pelor would know about the sun, sky, stars, etc. but wouldn't know anything about a dungeon's layout. Vecna, god of secrets, on the other hand...

 

[Malachi of Kossuth]

Also, keep in mind that the divine being they are speaking with will only really help if it futhers his/her goals as well. If they character has been strong in faith and service to this being, then said being would be more willing to help with personal goals/wealth. However, a random commune from someone of little piety seeking personal wealth/info would get ambigious answers at best based on the personal goals of said divine being.

 

[James McMurray]

I disagree with having Pelor not know the layout of a dungeon. He may not actually know it right off hand, but it shouldn't take but a moment for him to shift his perception to that place and find out.

 

[Dingleberry]

If you have access to Deities and Demigods, check out the "Senses" and "Portfolio Sense" entries for the relevant deity.

 

[andargor]

I disagree with having Pelor not know the layout of a dungeon. He may not actually know it right off hand, but it shouldn't take but a moment for him to shift his perception to that place and find out.

But the question remains: would he do that?

Surely, if Pelor grants frivolous requests like this, he must be totally swamped by his followers begging for trivia...

Andargor

 

[Pax]

I disagree with having Pelor not know the layout of a dungeon. He may not actually know it right off hand, but it shouldn't take but a moment for him to shift his perception to that place and find out.

If you cannot see the sun, stars, and moon from inside the dungeon -- I would rule, Pelor knows nothing about it. Therefor, any questions about the dungeon would be answered with "Unknown."

Pelor could send an AVATAR into the dungeon to find out more -- but, that's not likely, for a mere commune spell.

Sans avatar, and unless there's something directly connected to Pelor in there (an old temple, an artifact or relic, etc) ... a place completely away from that which Pelor is the god OF, well ... is completely away from what Pelor KNOWS.

If it can be seen from the sky, or if the sky can be seen from it, then Pelor would know of it. Otherwise ... probably not.

 

[James McMurray]

But the question remains: would he do that?

Surely, if Pelor grants frivolous requests like this, he must be totally swamped by his followers begging for trivia...

Andargor

100 xp isn't frivilous, and you don't get to be an 11th+ level cleric without being a pious follower of your deity. I have never seen a player use Commune to attempt to get "trivia." Also, please note the "-or agents thereof- clause for the commne spell. Unless the question is hard enough to actually require the deity's intervention, it will be delegated to an underling.

 

[James McMurray]

Pelor could send an AVATAR into the dungeon to find out more -- but, that's not likely, for a mere commune spell.

Alternatively he could simply extend his sense to those locations via Remote Sensing. I won't post the full statistics (Deities & Demigods pg. 28) but summarized it means that a god can automatically view any area within 1 mile per rank around one of his worshippers, holy sites, or even a place where his name was spoken in the past hour.

To use the Pelor example, if the cleric doing the casting is within 17 miles of the dungeon, or spoke Pelor's name with 17 miles of the dungeon within the last hour, the question is easily answere. Given his high rank, this wouldn't be much trouble for Pelor, since he can simultaneously view 20 locations at once.