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<blockquote data-quote="Celebrim" data-source="post: 7643961" data-attributes="member: 4937"><p>It sounds like 5e may have attempted to address the problems with the spell in order to make it more useful.&nbsp; One problem that the earlier versions of the spell had that the current one doesn't is that the earlier version of the spell had percentage chances that the entity in question would not know the answer to the question or would lie and give a false answer.&nbsp; This complexity meant that the spell was unreliable, as you'd not know for certain whether the answer you got was dependable.&nbsp; You could contact more powerful spirits that were less likely to lie, but only at a cost of much more difficult saving throw.&nbsp; And certainly in no prior version were you ever likely to be so safe on that saving throw that you'd only fail on a double 1.&nbsp; Likewise the result of failure in earlier editions were much harsher than the results in 5e, as a failed save would leave you a gibbering wreck for weeks and not just until &quot;a long rest&quot; (unless you are playing a variant where a long rest implies a week of downtime and not just overnight).</p></blockquote><p></p>

[QUOTE="Celebrim, post: 7643961, member: 4937"] It sounds like 5e may have attempted to address the problems with the spell in order to make it more useful. One problem that the earlier versions of the spell had that the current one doesn't is that the earlier version of the spell had percentage chances that the entity in question would not know the answer to the question or would lie and give a false answer. This complexity meant that the spell was unreliable, as you'd not know for certain whether the answer you got was dependable. You could contact more powerful spirits that were less likely to lie, but only at a cost of much more difficult saving throw. And certainly in no prior version were you ever likely to be so safe on that saving throw that you'd only fail on a double 1. Likewise the result of failure in earlier editions were much harsher than the results in 5e, as a failed save would leave you a gibbering wreck for weeks and not just until "a long rest" (unless you are playing a variant where a long rest implies a week of downtime and not just overnight). [/QUOTE]

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