Communion

The casting time is spent setting up the space before the Communion, sharing information about what's going to be covered during the Communion, and following up with participants after the communion. It's divided evenly between preparation and completion. The completion steps must be done before the caster can cast this spell again. The two-hour duration can be extended by consent of the participants.

The caster chooses a center-point for the spell. They must be within 30' of that center-point when they finish casting the spell. Although they don't have to stay in range during casting (before or after the spell), they must remain within that range for the duration of the spell or transfer control of the spell to another qualified caster. The ritual can be prepared in advance as though casting it were a readied action, with the following differences: the readied spell can be held so long as the caster's concentration (or that of their qualified replacement) is not broken (not just until the turn after it is readied), and the casting can be completed as a single action (not a reaction).

For the duration of the spell, anyone within range who understands at least one language and consents to participate in the ritual can read each other's thoughts and are aware of each other's presence.

When you participate in the spell and as your action on each turn until the spell ends, you can focus your mind on any participant, or any one target that you can see within 30 feet of you. If the target you choose doesn't consent to participate, has an Intelligence of 3 or lower, or doesn't speak any language, the creature is unaffected.

You initially learn the surface thoughts of the participant–what is most on their mind in that moment. As an action, you can either shift your attention to another target or attempt to probe deeper into the same participant's mind.

If you probe deeper and the participant continues to consent, they must make a Wisdom saving throw. If they succeed, you, they, and all participants who are focusing on them gain insight into their reasoning, their emotional state, and something that looms large in their mind (such as something they're worrying over, something they love, or something they hate). Such insight specifically includes any critical concerns relating the current topic of conversation to the shared purpose of the participants, or to their own continuing ability to contribute to accomplishing that purpose. If they fail, only those participants who are focusing on that same target gain such insight; the target does not. Either way, the target knows that you are probing into their mind, and unless you shift your attention to another target, the creature can use its action on its turn to make an Intelligence or Wisdom check (their choice) contested by the caster's Intelligence or Wisdom check (caster's choice); if the target succeeds, they may remain as part of the Communion or exit gracefully (their choice).

Verbal conversations and questions directed to the participants naturally shape the course of their thoughts, so this spell is particularly effective as part of a facilitated policy-making meeting.

Participants can also detect the presence of thinking creatures they can't see. When you participate in the spell or as your action during the duration, you can — instead of focusing on a target — search for thoughts within 30 feet of you. The spell can penetrate barriers, but 2 feet of rock, 2 inches of any metal other than lead, or a thin sheet of lead blocks you. You can't detect a creature with an Intelligence of 3 or lower or one that doesn't speak any language.

Once a participants detects the presence of a creature in this way, if that detected creature consents to participate in the Communion, that creature counts as a participant for the remainder of the duration of the spell so long as they remain within range. In any case, participants remain aware of the presence of all other participants for the duration of the spell.

At higher levels. When cast with a higher-level spell slot, Communion allows the caster to form a link with additional circles of participants. To calculate how many circles can be linked at once, subtract one from the level of the spell slot and raise two to that power. For example, casting with a second-level slot allows the linking of two circles, whereas a ninth-level slot allows the linking of 256 circles. Each linked circle is a separate 30' sphere. Each such sphere must be located in some place that the caster has previously observed, and that place must be specially prepared — by the caster or by someone else under their guidance — to host a Communion circle. Participants in each circle gain the benefits of the spell as if it were cast by someone local to them, with the following additional benefits:

• The caster of the higher-level Communion spell may — with the consent of the participants in the circle at their location, including any that have been selected by the remote circles to join them as participants — select up to one person from that circle to join as a participant in each of the remote circles. This person cannot be the same person who was designated by that remote circle.
• Any participant in a remote circle can put their attention on the person delegated to them by the caster's local circle as though that person were in range.
• Each circle can, by consent, select one of their participants to become aware of and participate in the caster's local circle, including all other such selected participants, as though they were all in a single circle together. This person cannot be the same person who was delegated by the caster to join them from the caster's circle.

At fifth level and above, given additional willing participants who are qualified to cast Communion themselves, whether at the caster's location or in another circle, the caster may, with the consent of the circle at their own location (including its remote participants), group clusters of linked circles (and their selected remote participants) into subcircles of their overarching link. Each of these subcircles is then led by a qualified participating caster selected with the consent of all those participating in the original caster's circle, and may select a participant (not their leader) to join the caster's circle.