Monstrous Compendium Vol. 1: Spelljammer Creatures
Frozen Sick
D&D Beyond Basic Rules
Basic Rules (2014)
Sign in to view your library & saved favorites.
Sign in- Marketplace
Monstrous Compendium Vol. 1: Spelljammer CreaturesFrozen SickD&D Beyond Basic RulesBasic Rules (2014)Sign in to view your library & saved favorites.
Sign in
Hi there!
So I want one of my players to speak with his grandfather's spirit. He has to find the corpse and make a ritual to summon him. Is there any spell in DnD that allows that?
Thanks in advance.
Speak with Dead seems like the obvious answer, it's only five questions though so if you're planning a longer conversation it might not be what you want.
To be honest if all you want is conversation with a spirit you can just say "you've got a spell scroll that allows you to speak to your grandfather" and leave it at that, it's not like it's a combat spell where you need to worry about balance.
There's a few options available to you - primarily Speak with Dead (3rd Level - Bard, Cleric, Wizard), though the spell has prewritten limitations in that you can only ask the spirit five questions - It is free to answer as accurately, deceptively, briefly or extensively as it likes and is limited to information that the spirit knows.
Contact Other Plane (5th Level - Warlock, Wizard) - could apply if the grandfather has been dead long enough to move onto an afterlife and become a Petitioner - This spell negates the need for a corpse, but similarly only allows the spirit to respond to five questions, and is decidedly more specific in answers - It is limited to short, often single-word answers - and also carries greater risk the to caster.
Yeah, Speak With Dead was an option, but I didn't like the idea of asking only 5 questions.
I didn't think about Contact Other Plane, but I think it has almost the same problem as Speak With Dead.
I think I'm gonna create a specific spell scroll for this hahaha
Thank you both for your help! ❤️
You could also, make a NPC available to your character that is some sort of Medium or Clairvoyant... Like a traveling ***** or a Fortune Teller in a Town.
They could 'channel' his spirit and have as long of a conversation that you want, for a small fee of course :)
Cheers!
Breathe, dragons; sing of the First World, forged out of chaos and painted with beauty.
Sing of Bahamut, the Platinum, molding the shape of the mountains and rivers;
Sing too of Chromatic Tiamat, painting all over the infinite canvas.
Partnered, they woke in the darkness; partnered, they labored in acts of creation.
Hahaha The small fee is a must. I love that idea!
The problem is I need the player to find his grandfather's corpse in a certain place. I'll think about it. 🤔
Thanks for your answer! ❤️
You could always just go with speak with dead, but say, in this one case, the stars are aligned properly and your grandfather is so excited to talk to you that you get 7 questions, or however many. Personally, I like the limited number of questions, as it imposes some stakes and stops the conversation drifting on too long. I really enjoy when my players have to prioritize what they’re going to ask.
Or you could just have his ghost appear when they find the body.
The issue with the scroll is they could use it on someone else, or try to copy it to their spellbook, and then what do you do?
In general, I advise against using the D&D spellcasting system for rituals. The D&D spellcasting system is designed for combat mostly, and there are only a handful of spells with longer casting times meant to be more of a preparation / ritual type thing. You're much better off homebrewing a cool ritual yourself for neat narrative moments like these with unique requirements and custom effects.