[New Spell] Speak With Monsters - Rgr4/Drd4

[BrooklynKnight]

I've seen many of these in my day. I had a flash of inspiration and wrote my own. It falls under the other Speak With diviniation spells that Druids and Rangers get. Its too strong for Bards IMO. (I wanted to make it level 5 but none of them receive spells that high.)

So here it is. Feel free to post opinions.


Speak with Monsters
Divination
Level: Drd 4, Rgr 4
Components: V, S
Casting Time: 1 standard action
Range: Personal (See Text)
Target: You
Duration: 1 min./level

You can comprehend and communicate with monsters and creatures of any type that have an intelligence below 3. The communication is limited to flashes of instinct and genetic memory that all creatures are born with, and simple emotions like hunger, fear, and anger. You may transmit the same simple concepts to any creature that you see. You may not try complex communication with any creature using this spell. Should a caster attempt this, the spell immediately fails and if the target creature's intelligence is under 3 it immediately becomes confused or enraged and may attack the one casting the spell (50% Chance - Caster's Charisma modifier). Note that creatures with an intelligence under 3 run on pure instinct, they respond to immediate stimuli and satisfaction and do not understand the prospect of a reward or favor. Any attempt to offer or ask for one will cause the spell to fail with the above effects. Images of Food or Danger work best when attempting such communication.

 

[BrooklynKnight]

Hrm, I might have spotted a design flaw in my spell. Heh, I'll look at it when I get home. If anyone else spots what i'm talking about feel free to post it in the meantime.

Edit-

Ok, so here is the design flaw. It stems from the SRD actually.
Here is a paste of the Animal Subtype from the SRD.

Animal Type: An animal is a living, nonhuman creature, usually a vertebrate with no magical abilities and no innate capacity for language or culture.

Features: An animal has the following features (unless otherwise noted in a creature’s entry).

—d8 Hit Dice.

—Base attack bonus equal to 3/4 total Hit Dice (as cleric).

—Good Fortitude and Reflex saves (certain animals have different good saves).

—Skill points equal to (2 + Int modifier, minimum 1) per Hit Die, with quadruple skill points for the first Hit Die.

Traits: An animal possesses the following traits (unless otherwise noted in a creature’s entry).

—Intelligence score of 1 or 2 (no creature with an Intelligence score of 3 or higher can be an animal).

—Low-light vision.

—Alignment: Always neutral.

—Treasure: None.

—Proficient with its natural weapons only. A noncombative herbivore uses its natural weapons as a secondary attack. Such attacks are made with a –5 penalty on the creature’s attack rolls, and the animal receives only 1/2 its Strength modifier as a damage adjustment.

—Proficient with no armor unless trained for war.

—Animals eat, sleep, and breathe.

And here is the Speak with Animals Spell which I originally based this on.

Speak with Animals
Divination
Level: Brd 3, Drd 1, Rgr 1
Components: V, S
Casting Time: 1 standard action
Range: Personal
Target: You
Duration: 1 min./level

You can comprehend and communicate with animals. You are able to ask questions of and receive answers from animals, although the spell doesn’t make them any more friendly or cooperative than normal. Furthermore, wary and cunning animals are likely to be terse and evasive, while the more stupid ones make inane comments. If an animal is friendly toward you, it may do some favor or service for you.

My original intent for the spell was for use with creatures that work only on instinct, like Oozes and maybe some Dire Monsters. But apparently the SRD makes it so that an Intelligence of 2, and even 1, lets you be smart enough to understand those concepts. Now, double checking with Ooze i see it LACKS intelligence all together and I see where my mistake was.
I'm going to edit the spell so that it works on creatures with NO intelligence of all types. (I dont think I have to worry about constructs because they are typically immune to these spells anyway and are pre-programmed not to listen. They'll hear the command but may not follow up on it.)

Thoughts?

 

[BrooklynKnight]

I might also change it so that the spell works as Speak With Animals when dealing with creatures of the animal type that have 1-2 intelligence.

 

[hunter1828]

The way you've edited it looks ok to me...making sure to use creatures instead of animals gets rid of the game stat issue on animals.

hunter1828

 

[BrooklynKnight]

no other comments?