D&D 5E How specific is Commune with Nature?

[TaranTheWanderer]

You briefly become one with nature and gain knowledge of the surrounding territory. In the outdoors, the spell gives you knowledge of the land within 3 miles of you. In caves and other natural underground settings, the radius is limited to 300 feet. The spell doesn't function where nature has been replaced by construction, such as in dungeons and towns.

You instantly gain knowledge of up to three facts of your choice about any of the following subjects as they relate to the area:

• terrain and bodies of water
• prevalent plants, minerals, animals, or peoples
• powerful celestials, fey, fiends, elementals, or undead
• influence from other planes of existence
• buildings

For example, you could determine the location of powerful undead in the area, the location of major sources of safe drinking water, and the location of any nearby towns.

I'm more focusing on the word 'prevalent'.

Let's say, in a jungle area, there is a village of halflings. If you focus the spell around the village, the 'prevalent people' would be halfling?

If the Druid Leader of the tribe needs to locate a lost halfling child who has wandered out into the jungle, can you use commune with nature to find them or is it just going to tell me, "yeah, there are halflings in the area."

The spell seems to give detailed knowledge of whatever you're asking for. For example it says, "gain knowledge of Powerful Undead" and "Determine the location of powerful undead in the area". Which makes me think the spell would give me the location of the prevalent people (halfling, in this case) in the area. So, maybe the location of a village or concentration but, potentially, details on specific individuals - especially if they are the only 'person' within the area.

Or if the halfling has been kidnapped by humans, way out, away from the village of halflings, if the Druid were to cast the spell within range of the humans(some of the only 'peoples' in the area), will the spell only say, "the prevalent people's are human" or can I specify halflings?

 

[aco175]

I would think if you choose to use one of your 3 facts to key into the prevalent people in the area, you would know that a large group of halflings are to the north 2.2 miles. If you choose tour 2nd fact to ask about other groups of humanoids, then it becomes more of a DM interpretation. Does prevalent mean the largest source or just a good size of them? There could be a halfling community of 200 people and a goblin tribe of 50 and a moving band of 10 thugs with the halfling child all in the area.

Heck, with the new rules the word peoples could mean a lot of things now.

 

[Tonguez]

Prevalent means widespread in a particular area or at a particular time, predominant, powerful (archaic)

an individual cant be widespread or predominant, and a halfling isnt powerful ergo Commune with Nature cant locate an individual halfling. Just a big group of them, the question of how big is your DM call

 

[Stormonu]

Would it even tell you about the halfling village? The text you quoted states "The spell doesn't function where nature has been replaced by construction, such as in dungeons and towns". Would it see the village as a "hole" in the area?

 

[TaranTheWanderer]

Would it even tell you about the halfling village? The text you quoted states "The spell doesn't function where nature has been replaced by construction, such as in dungeons and towns". Would it see the village as a "hole" in the area?

It specifically lets you find towns since you can locate buildings I think it wouldn’t let you cast it while in a city.

The spell Even uses towns as an example of things you can find

 

[Tonguez]

It specifically lets you find towns since you can locate buildings I think it wouldn’t let you cast it while in a city.

The spell Even uses towns as an example of things you can find

The spell says it can identify buildings in otherwise natural areas - I assume it detects a rectangular gap or something. The Haflings probably do wander outside their town gates at times (perhaps farmers heading into the tobacco fields) so Nature would detect them at those times even if they sleep inside the burrows

 

[bloodtide]

The spell flat out says that it "doesn't function where nature has been replaced by construction, such as in dungeons and towns." A halfling village would be a place where "nature has been replaced by construction", so no information.
Commune with Nature, as written, won't help find a specific target.

Though this is a PERFECT example of the writers giving too much "help" as to what the spell does.
Try the 1E version: This spell enables the druid to become one with nature in the area, thus being empowered with knowledge of the surrounding territory. For each level of experience of the druid, he or she may "know" one fact, i.e. the ground ahead, left or right, the plants ahead, left or right, the minerals ahead, left or right, the water courses/bodies of water ahead, left or right, the people dwelling ahead, left or right, etc. The spell is effective only in outdoors settings, and operates in a radius of one half mile for each level of experience of the druid casting the Commune With Nature spell.

Of course 1E gives more "knows". But it's also vague. The 1E spell can pin point a person, object, thing.

The spell is high enough level that it should be useful.

 

[Hriston]

I'm more focusing on the word 'prevalent'.

Let's say, in a jungle area, there is a village of halflings. If you focus the spell around the village, the 'prevalent people' would be halfling?

If the Druid Leader of the tribe needs to locate a lost halfling child who has wandered out into the jungle, can you use commune with nature to find them or is it just going to tell me, "yeah, there are halflings in the area."

The spell seems to give detailed knowledge of whatever you're asking for. For example it says, "gain knowledge of Powerful Undead" and "Determine the location of powerful undead in the area". Which makes me think the spell would give me the location of the prevalent people (halfling, in this case) in the area. So, maybe the location of a village or concentration but, potentially, details on specific individuals - especially if they are the only 'person' within the area.

Or if the halfling has been kidnapped by humans, way out, away from the village of halflings, if the Druid were to cast the spell within range of the humans(some of the only 'peoples' in the area), will the spell only say, "the prevalent people's are human" or can I specify halflings?

The spell says "You instantly gain knowledge of up to three facts of your choice about [the prevalent peoples of the area (i.e. the halflings)]". You get to decide what facts those are. For example, one of those facts could be the location of the lost halfling.

 

[TaranTheWanderer]

The spell says "You instantly gain knowledge of up to three facts of your choice about [the prevalent peoples of the area (i.e. the halflings)]". You get to decide what facts those are. For example, one of those facts could be the location of the lost halfling.

When it says “up to three”, I read that, not as “3 facts about one of the subjects on the list” but as “facts about 3 things on the list”:

Facts about buildings
Facts about powerful undead
Facts about bodies of water

But my interpretation is derived from their example:

“For example, you could determine the location of powerful undead in the area, the location of major sources of safe drinking water, and the location of any nearby towns.”

 

[TaranTheWanderer]

The spell says it can identify buildings in otherwise natural areas - I assume it detects a rectangular gap or something. The Haflings probably do wander outside their town gates at times (perhaps farmers heading into the tobacco fields) so Nature would detect them at those times even if they sleep inside the burrows

I agree with you. I imagine that if you cast it in a jungle near a halfling village filled with grass huts built on the ground, the spell would detect the huts as blank spots where the spell doesn’t function (those are buildings) and the halflings living in and around the village would ping as the ‘people’ even if they were in the village. It wouldn’t detect halflings inside huts.

If it were a city with cobbled roads and almost no trees, I imagine the whole zone would stand out as a blank spot. So you could interpret that as a town.