Commune: What do deities know?

[dcollins]

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?

Historically, these are exactly the kinds of questions that commune is used to answer. D&D (a la western) deities have usually been practically all-knowing, except for particular issues that the DM specifically sets up -- other deities or artifacts, for example.

The spell is very much balanced, getting only a "20 questions game" and costing 100 XP, assuming by default that any deity pretty much knows anything they want of a mundane nature. Previous editions also suggested that the DM limit use of this spell to one per adventure/ week/ or month, you may want to institute that, as well.

It may seem a bit jarring, but when characters start getting 5th level spells, the DM has to take into account that they then have all kinds of resources for powerful divinatory magic to find out what their enemies are up to.

 

[Centaur]

Dieties know exactly what the DM wants the players to do. It is one of those great plot moving devices that is there to help the DM in the guise of something that is initiated by the players.

While on the surface it appears that the character is communing with his god for information about the situation at hand. In reality, it is the player saying to the GM, which way should we go now, or what do we do next.

At least, thats how I have run it whenever it was used by the Players. You just have to make it look like the answers are in line with what the clerics good might concievably know or be able to find out quickly...

 

[LordAO]

A Diety knows only what the DM wants it to.