Hello, I was kinda wanting to get other peoples take on this question and see if there was a consensus. Well I guess there are several questions within this question.
Thri-Kreen Telepathy states "Without the assistance of magic, you can’t speak the non-thri-kreen languages you know. Instead you use telepathy to convey your thoughts. You have the magical ability to transmit your thoughts mentally to willing creatures you can see within 120 feet of yourself. A contacted creature doesn’t need to share a language with you to understand your thoughts, but it must be able to understand at least one language."
The first question is what does a willing creature entail? Do you have to gesture or hold up a board in front of people you meet asking if they are willing to talk to you before you can make contact? Or is it really setup more to just be non-aggresive people?
The second point/question, is that as you are unable to speak non-thri-kreen languages, do spells requiring the creature affected to understand you, such as Command or Suggestion not work at all? I understand that Thr-Kreen can cast spells with verbal components, but these spells specify that the creature understand you. You could telepathically speak to them I guess, but if you are fighting I doubt that makes them a willing creature.
I'm going to be playing a Thr-Kreen Wizard soon and wanted to wrap my head around the details of this. In my opinion the Thr-Kreen telepathy ability leaves a lot of vague space and grey areas.
The first question is what does a willing creature entail?
This comes up a lot - "willing" is particularly often used in certain spells. The answer is that your DM has to tell you what it means in their campaign, ideally based on common English definitions and their own predilections.
Do you have to gesture or hold up a board in front of people you meet asking if they are willing to talk to you before you can make contact? Or is it really setup more to just be non-aggresive people?
The way I usually handle it is that your brain gets magically pinged by something along these lines: "HELLO, I AM AN INBOUND MAGICAL EFFECT FROM THAT THRI-KREEN OVER THERE. DO YOU CONSENT Y/N?" That is, the target can dynamically consent at effect time, but is not told what the effect is. They are told that you're the source. This is based on my own predilections for how I like my games to go.
The second point/question, is that as you are unable to speak non-thri-kreen languages, do spells requiring the creature affected to understand you, such as Command or Suggestion not work at all?
If your DM fiats that your telepathy counts as being heard and you get the target to consent, then and only then spells like command, where the spell says you have to say something aloud, will work as you intend. Message is right out, since all you can send is your clicks.
I'm going to be playing a Thr-Kreen Wizard soon and wanted to wrap my head around the details of this. In my opinion the Thr-Kreen telepathy ability leaves a lot of vague space and grey areas.
Quindraco has some great points. The last one is most important. Talk to you DM... as all these points are incredibly important as to how a Thri-kreen wizard may or may not work.
When I rule on 'Willing' in my own game its just that... someone who choses to accept an effect. For telepathy its probably a feeling of communication in the mind, that one can chose to accept or shut out. I've seen it played as the initial telepath 'voice' is heard, and then the person can chose to open that connection or shut it. So no sign or gesture, no 'consent', just a feeling and acceptance or denial (as I run it).
Generally speaking, unless a spell says otherwise, and spell with a Verbal component requires audible speech. This goes for all things related to the spell, unless otherwise mentioned in the spell. This is usually RAW/RAI. Giving any form of telepathy the power to replace V components makes it incredibly more powerful, and a GM should carefully consider the ramifications. But again, up to the DM and can rule on individual spells... as RAF matters here too.
So talk it all out with your DM. Nothing is worse than assuming a fun character concepts works a certain way then getting 3 hours (or 3 weeks, or months) into a campaign and having your DM say "No, that's not how it works"!
Finally, please let us know how your DM rules on it! And have fun!!!!
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Remember there are Rules as Written (RAW), Rules as Intended (RAI), and Rules as Fun (RAF). There's some great RAW, RAI, and RAF here... please check in with your DM to determine how they want to adjudicate the RAW/RAI/RAF for your game.
A Thri-Kreen is going to have a hard time casting any spells which require the target to understand what you're saying - it seems unlikely that they will be willing to receive a telepathic message with the required instructions.
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Hello, I was kinda wanting to get other peoples take on this question and see if there was a consensus. Well I guess there are several questions within this question.
Thri-Kreen Telepathy states "Without the assistance of magic, you can’t speak the non-thri-kreen languages you know. Instead you use telepathy to convey your thoughts. You have the magical ability to transmit your thoughts mentally to willing creatures you can see within 120 feet of yourself. A contacted creature doesn’t need to share a language with you to understand your thoughts, but it must be able to understand at least one language."
The first question is what does a willing creature entail? Do you have to gesture or hold up a board in front of people you meet asking if they are willing to talk to you before you can make contact? Or is it really setup more to just be non-aggresive people?
The second point/question, is that as you are unable to speak non-thri-kreen languages, do spells requiring the creature affected to understand you, such as Command or Suggestion not work at all? I understand that Thr-Kreen can cast spells with verbal components, but these spells specify that the creature understand you. You could telepathically speak to them I guess, but if you are fighting I doubt that makes them a willing creature.
I'm going to be playing a Thr-Kreen Wizard soon and wanted to wrap my head around the details of this. In my opinion the Thr-Kreen telepathy ability leaves a lot of vague space and grey areas.
This comes up a lot - "willing" is particularly often used in certain spells. The answer is that your DM has to tell you what it means in their campaign, ideally based on common English definitions and their own predilections.
The way I usually handle it is that your brain gets magically pinged by something along these lines: "HELLO, I AM AN INBOUND MAGICAL EFFECT FROM THAT THRI-KREEN OVER THERE. DO YOU CONSENT Y/N?" That is, the target can dynamically consent at effect time, but is not told what the effect is. They are told that you're the source. This is based on my own predilections for how I like my games to go.
If your DM fiats that your telepathy counts as being heard and you get the target to consent, then and only then spells like command, where the spell says you have to say something aloud, will work as you intend. Message is right out, since all you can send is your clicks.
Have this talk with your DM, not with us! :)
Quindraco has some great points. The last one is most important. Talk to you DM... as all these points are incredibly important as to how a Thri-kreen wizard may or may not work.
When I rule on 'Willing' in my own game its just that... someone who choses to accept an effect. For telepathy its probably a feeling of communication in the mind, that one can chose to accept or shut out. I've seen it played as the initial telepath 'voice' is heard, and then the person can chose to open that connection or shut it. So no sign or gesture, no 'consent', just a feeling and acceptance or denial (as I run it).
Generally speaking, unless a spell says otherwise, and spell with a Verbal component requires audible speech. This goes for all things related to the spell, unless otherwise mentioned in the spell. This is usually RAW/RAI. Giving any form of telepathy the power to replace V components makes it incredibly more powerful, and a GM should carefully consider the ramifications. But again, up to the DM and can rule on individual spells... as RAF matters here too.
So talk it all out with your DM. Nothing is worse than assuming a fun character concepts works a certain way then getting 3 hours (or 3 weeks, or months) into a campaign and having your DM say "No, that's not how it works"!
Finally, please let us know how your DM rules on it! And have fun!!!!
Remember there are Rules as Written (RAW), Rules as Intended (RAI), and Rules as Fun (RAF). There's some great RAW, RAI, and RAF here... please check in with your DM to determine how they want to adjudicate the RAW/RAI/RAF for your game.
A Thri-Kreen is going to have a hard time casting any spells which require the target to understand what you're saying - it seems unlikely that they will be willing to receive a telepathic message with the required instructions.