I was wondering if anyone in their campaigns has allowed for easy communication between the party and NPCs? Something like the party has interacted with an NPC in the past and they gained a new piece of knowledge and want to run it by their friend. It wouldn't make sense to stop what they're doing and travel for a couple of weeks just to ask this question, but it's pressing enough that their curiosity is piqued.
Does anyone implement a long-range communication device such as a fantasy cell phone in their games? Can anyone see how this may be broken and ways around it?
The Adventure Zone had something called the Stones of Far Speech. I'm not exactly sure how it worked (item description) but it essentially acted as a walkie-talkie radio or cell phone.
I’m lenient with Sending Stones, vs how they are written, but I still make them function in dedicated pairs. I have a party whose NPC “dispatcher” kept one stone and sent the other with the party. I let them talk like on a cell phone even though I think messages are supposed to be capped at 25 words on each end. I have another game where an NPC kept a box of sending stones under his shop counter like a contact list of colleagues in the same field (antiquities). So, yeah, maybe they were intended to be rarer and more impressive in older editions of D&D, but in the current age of cell phones, long distance communication feels too basic to keep out of a game.
You could do a “Rare” version of Sending Stones that could be used more than once/day. Or even a “Very Rare” version that could be used at will. Rarer versions could even include more than a pair of stones, maybe 3-5 all linked together?
I wonder if having limitations on the sending stones would be a hassle or actually fun. Such as having X times/day or something. A pre-paid minutes plan. I do think that if these are implemented there should be either a player roll or a GM roll to decide on if the NPC is available or willing to answer the players' call.
The Adventure Zone had something called the Stones of Far Speech. I'm not exactly sure how it worked (item description) but it essentially acted as a walkie-talkie internetradio hören or cell phone.
I run a political intrigue campaign, wherein asking distant NPCs questions is not only important, it can be critical. Three of my players have the Sending spell (two clerics and a bard), and I reskinned a Sending Stone as a literal calling card, enabling once-a-day communication with a black marketeer.
I found that in the early days, my players would ask NPCs for information instead of trying to figure things out on their own. It got a little annoying on my end, because it felt like the players were trying to take the easy way out and expected NPCs to be experts on literally everything. Having the long-distance communication be a reusable but finite resource that doesn't always produce useful results cut down on the data-mining abuse.
I also ended up giving one player a Ring of Mind Shielding with a soul pre-loaded in it. That NPC is now an advisor living in the bard's head, and the player has had fun roleplaying with this new, ever-present and moderately knowledgeable resource.
I run a political intrigue campaign, wherein asking distant NPCs questions is not only important, it can be critical. Three of my players have the Sending spell (two clerics and a bard), and I reskinned a Sending Stone as a literal calling card, enabling once-a-day communication with a black marketeer.
I found that in the early days, my players would ask NPCs for information instead of trying to figure things out on their own. It got a little annoying on my end, because it felt like the players were trying to take the easy way out and expected NPCs to be experts on literally everything. Having the long-distance communication be a reusable but finite resource that doesn't always produce useful results cut down on the data-mining abuse.
I also ended up giving one player a Ring of Mind Shielding with a soul pre-loaded in it. That NPC is now an advisor living in the bard's head, and the player has had fun roleplaying with this new, ever-present and moderately knowledgeable resource.
Having access to NPCs from a long-range shouldn't always work. Maybe the NPC simply responds back with "I'm busy, try again in 3 hours after I've finished by business"; or might just get annoyed and refuse to answer if there are too many questions being asked.
Basically, unless you've employed them to do it, the NPCs aren't just sitting around waiting to answer questions from the PCs.
I was wondering if anyone in their campaigns has allowed for easy communication between the party and NPCs? Something like the party has interacted with an NPC in the past and they gained a new piece of knowledge and want to run it by their friend. It wouldn't make sense to stop what they're doing and travel for a couple of weeks just to ask this question, but it's pressing enough that their curiosity is piqued.
Does anyone implement a long-range communication device such as a fantasy cell phone in their games? Can anyone see how this may be broken and ways around it?
Sending Stones
Creating Epic Boons on DDB
DDB Buyers' Guide
Hardcovers, DDB & You
Content Troubleshooting
The Adventure Zone had something called the Stones of Far Speech. I'm not exactly sure how it worked (item description) but it essentially acted as a walkie-talkie radio or cell phone.
I’m lenient with Sending Stones, vs how they are written, but I still make them function in dedicated pairs. I have a party whose NPC “dispatcher” kept one stone and sent the other with the party. I let them talk like on a cell phone even though I think messages are supposed to be capped at 25 words on each end. I have another game where an NPC kept a box of sending stones under his shop counter like a contact list of colleagues in the same field (antiquities). So, yeah, maybe they were intended to be rarer and more impressive in older editions of D&D, but in the current age of cell phones, long distance communication feels too basic to keep out of a game.
You could do a “Rare” version of Sending Stones that could be used more than once/day. Or even a “Very Rare” version that could be used at will. Rarer versions could even include more than a pair of stones, maybe 3-5 all linked together?
Creating Epic Boons on DDB
DDB Buyers' Guide
Hardcovers, DDB & You
Content Troubleshooting
I wonder if having limitations on the sending stones would be a hassle or actually fun. Such as having X times/day or something. A pre-paid minutes plan. I do think that if these are implemented there should be either a player roll or a GM roll to decide on if the NPC is available or willing to answer the players' call.
Thanks for sharing.
I run a political intrigue campaign, wherein asking distant NPCs questions is not only important, it can be critical. Three of my players have the Sending spell (two clerics and a bard), and I reskinned a Sending Stone as a literal calling card, enabling once-a-day communication with a black marketeer.
I found that in the early days, my players would ask NPCs for information instead of trying to figure things out on their own. It got a little annoying on my end, because it felt like the players were trying to take the easy way out and expected NPCs to be experts on literally everything. Having the long-distance communication be a reusable but finite resource that doesn't always produce useful results cut down on the data-mining abuse.
I also ended up giving one player a Ring of Mind Shielding with a soul pre-loaded in it. That NPC is now an advisor living in the bard's head, and the player has had fun roleplaying with this new, ever-present and moderately knowledgeable resource.
Having access to NPCs from a long-range shouldn't always work. Maybe the NPC simply responds back with "I'm busy, try again in 3 hours after I've finished by business"; or might just get annoyed and refuse to answer if there are too many questions being asked.
Basically, unless you've employed them to do it, the NPCs aren't just sitting around waiting to answer questions from the PCs.