Long Distance Call ... in D&D

[Ail]

Hi,

imc, for my idea of killing Ardonk Szerieza (see the thread by this name), I'd need to let Strahd know of some events that happen with the players in South Barovia. Luckily, without my asking, one of my players has decided to betray the group to Strahd precisely, and is willing to inform the local Barovian authorities (probably in Zeidenburg) that the PCs are somewhat teaming up with the Gundarakite rebels.

This is just fine for me, but I'd need Strahd to know of this information almost immediately after the guard learns it. How can Strahd do it?
I found the spell Sending, which could work perfectly if Strahd did communicate to all the guards in every major city in Barovia (there are not that many) on a daily basis, but the 25 words limit of the spell is even worse than an SMS, and hardly ideal for a guard report. Also, the Telepathic Bond would create a whole network (so to say) with a peer-to-peer connection between all the nodes (this is, burgomasters, guards, etc) which naturally would be unsuitable for Strahd: there would be too much communication between the figures of authority.

What I need here is for Strahd to be able to receive information from his subjects when he wants it without distance limit (as both these spells do). Is there a spell somewhere that does this?

Otherwise, if Strahd himself researched an Augmented sending, without word limit, what level would the new spell be? 6? 7? Other?

Thanks.

Ail

[Nathan of the FoS]

You could give him a crystal ball of telepathy. His official write-up has a crystal ball already, so that's a relatively minor upgrade that explains rapid person-to-person communication between Strahd and his minions easily.

[Ail]

You could give him a crystal ball of telepathy. His official write-up has a crystal ball already, so that's a relatively minor upgrade that explains rapid person-to-person communication between Strahd and his minions easily.

Thanks. Is that object detailed somewhere? Or are you simply adding a spell effect to a crystal ball?

Ail

[Nathan of the FoS]

It's in the DMG, page 253. Basically, the person using the crystal ball can communicate with any one person he sees in it.

[Ail]

It's in the DMG, page 253. Basically, the person using the crystal ball can communicate with any one person he sees in it.

Found it! Neat, it's just what I wanted

Ail

[Samael Hands of Stone]

I seem to recall Strahd mentioning this crystal ball in I Strahd, The War with Azalin Rex. He recieved it as a gift from the Vistani did he not?

[Gonzoron of the FoS]

While there's no problem giving him a crystal ball of telepathy if you want, I think he can get away with a regular one. Since it reproduces the scrying spell, it would seem to reproduce that's spells ability to cast spells through the sensor as well. According to the spell description, you can cast message through the sensor with a 5%/caster level chance of success. For Strahd, that's 80%. message lasts 160 minutes for him, which should be more than sufficient.

The only difference is that with the enhanced ball, he can send messages inaudibly, whereas with message, it's an audible whisper, but only heard by the targets. (up to 16 targets for Strahd) And he wouldn't have the suggestion power.

[Ail]

While there's no problem giving him a crystal ball of telepathy if you want, I think he can get away with a regular one. Since it reproduces the scrying spell, it would seem to reproduce that's spells ability to cast spells through the sensor as well. According to the spell description, you can cast message through the sensor with a 5%/caster level chance of success. For Strahd, that's 80%. message lasts 160 minutes for him, which should be more than sufficient.

The only difference is that with the enhanced ball, he can send messages inaudibly, whereas with message, it's an audible whisper, but only heard by the targets. (up to 16 targets for Strahd) And he wouldn't have the suggestion power.

´

Great, that works even better. It's so sweet because you haven't to change Canon, and besides, I prefer to have him actually speaking, albeit in whispers, than thinking. It's more movie-like, if you will...

Ail