Erasmuz’s Exhumed Exposition (aka read with dead)

[Brain]

Erasmuz’s Exhumed Exposition (aka read with dead)

I've got a character who wants to research a new divine spell, Read with Dead. He's an Ur-Priest and likes the idea of taking spells from the gods and twisting them to his purposes.

I'd like some help in formulating a research proposal ahead of time for when I get some time in an appropriate place to do some in character research.

Here's my concept of the spell so far:

Similar to Speak with Dead (based on it but twisted a bit)

[bq]Forces the deceased to read (and translate if neccessary) something that it could understand in life, out loud. The caster may provide a hierarchical list of preferred languages for the reading. If none of those are known by the deceased, then it defaults to a reading of the writing as is. If the deceased was a spellcaster with access to read magic in life, then it may read magical texts as if affected by that spell. The caster may also ask for a general overview if the deceased was familiar with the text in life. (For instance, one could have a dead wizard point out which spells were on which pages of his spellbook.) [/bq]

So I'm looking for help coming up with parameters for the spell, what level and duration and casting time and all that. Also, I'm looking for help with the wording or ideas about other neat things that could be done with such a spell.

EDIT
Here's what I have come up with so far:

Erasmuz’s Exhumed Exposition
Necromancy [Language-Dependent]
Level: Clr 2
Components: V, S, DF
Casting Time: 10 minutes
Range: 10 ft.
Target: One dead creature
Duration: 10 min./level (D)
Saving Throw: Will negates; see text
Spell Resistance: No

You grant the semblance of life and intellect to a corpse, allowing it to read aloud. The corpse’s knowledge is limited to what the creature knew during life, including the languages it spoke (if any). First, the corpse recites a list of languages that it can read as well as speak (it speaks the name of the language in that same language). The caster then specifies a language and starts specifying things to be read. The corpse must be as close to the object in question as it would have in life. Before reading, if the corpse has prior knowledge of any spells, codes, traps, or secrets pertaining to the object in question, it will explain. If the creature’s alignment was different from yours, the corpse gets a Will save to resist the spell as if it were alive.

Written material can be read at the rate of one page (250 words) per minute. Magical writing cannot be read, unless the corpse had used Read Magic in life at least once. For the purposes of warding magic, the corpse is considered to have the same identity it had in life. It will decipher codes or reveal messages concealed in otherwise normal text if it had the knowledge necessary to do so in life. If there are pages to be turned, the corpse turns them, or if the corpse has no hands, a ghostly hand appears to turn them.

If the corpse has been subject to Erasmuz’s Exhumed Exposition within the past week, the new spell fails. You can cast this spell on a corpse that has been deceased for any amount of time, but the body must be mostly intact to be able to respond. A damaged corpse may be able to give partial answers or partially correct answers, but it must at least have a mouth in order to speak at all.

This spell does not let you actually speak to the person (whose soul has departed). It instead draws on the imprinted knowledge stored in the corpse. The partially animated body retains the imprint of the soul that once inhabited it, and thus it can speak with all the knowledge that the creature had while alive. The corpse, however, cannot learn new information. Indeed, it can’t even remember being effected by the spell. This spell does not affect a corpse that has been turned into an undead creature.

What do you guys think about the wording or the power level for what it does? I kind of compromised between speak with dead and comprehend languages and read magic to come up with the parameters.

 

[Brain]

Here is the text for speak with dead, from the 3.5 SRD.

[bq]Speak with Dead
Necromancy [Language-Dependent]

Level: Clr 3

Components: V, S, DF

Casting Time: 10 minutes

Range: 10 ft.

Target: One dead creature

Duration: 1 min./level

Saving Throw: Will negates; see text

Spell Resistance: No

You grant the semblance of life and intellect to a corpse, allowing it to answer several questions that you put to it. You may ask one question per two caster levels. Unasked questions are wasted if the duration expires. The corpse’s knowledge is limited to what the creature knew during life, including the languages it spoke (if any). Answers are usually brief, cryptic, or repetitive. If the creature’s alignment was different from yours, the corpse gets a Will save to resist the spell as if it were alive.

If the corpse has been subject to speak with dead within the past week, the new spell fails. You can cast this spell on a corpse that has been deceased for any amount of time, but the body must be mostly intact to be able to respond. A damaged corpse may be able to give partial answers or partially correct answers, but it must at least have a mouth in order to speak at all.

This spell does not let you actually speak to the person (whose soul has departed). It instead draws on the imprinted knowledge stored in the corpse. The partially animated body retains the imprint of the soul that once inhabited it, and thus it can speak with all the knowledge that the creature had while alive. The corpse, however, cannot learn new information.

Indeed, it can’t even remember being questioned.

This spell does not affect a corpse that has been turned into an undead creature.
[/bq]

 

[UltimaGabe]

Interesting concept. Here's a question, though, simply for purposes of clarification: Can a deceased creature under the effect of a Read with Dead spell activate magic items dependant on Command Words, if the text being read contains such a command word?

 

[Brain]

Interesting concept. Here's a question, though, simply for purposes of clarification: Can a deceased creature under the effect of a Read with Dead spell activate magic items dependant on Command Words, if the text being read contains such a command word?

Hmm, good question. I'd say that it couldn't activate command words, but could trigger things that happen when the text is read. For example, read with dead could trigger explosive runes.

 

[Brain]

I was looking at Comprehend Languages and it has some interesting wording in it.

Written material can be read at the rate of one page (250 words) per minute. Magical writing cannot be read, though the spell reveals that it is magical. This spell can be foiled by certain warding magic (such as the secret page and illusory script spells). It does not decipher codes or reveal messages concealed in otherwise normal text.

Basically I want the opposite of this. I want the corpse to be able to read magic like it could in life, and also have knowledge of any codes or secret messages in text that it knew in life.

 

[Nifft]

"Hooked on Necrophonics". I like it.

Other less silly name ideas:
- Compel Recitation
- Tale of the Dead
- Necrocypher
- Read Me a Dead Time Story

-- N

 

[Cheiromancer]

"Compel recitation" gets my vote.

 

[Brain]

Hmm. Any good ideas that use alliteration with E-words? The character in question is named Erasmuz.

 

[Cheiromancer]

Hmm. Any good ideas that use alliteration with E-words? The character in question is named Erasmuz.

These adjectives (and nouns) come to mind (only the first few help with this spell):

Eldritch (magical)

Ebon (black)

Erudite (well read)

Erudition (quality of being well read)

Expository (related to a presentation or explanation)\

Exposition (explanation)

Epistular (related to letters)

Epistle (a letter. e.g. "Dear John,...")

Exsanguination (being bled out)

Erratic (wandering)

Erroneous (error-filled)

Ecstasis (being outside or beside oneself)

Epiphenomenal (superficial, or related to appearances)

E.g. "Erasmuz' Ebon Exposition" relates to the necromantic nature (necromancy = the "black art") and divinatory aspect of the spell.

 

[Nifft]

Exhumed Expositon. That's my final offer.

-- N