Speak with Dead

Speak with Dead
Spell Information
Spell level :	Innate level: 3, Cleric: 3
School :	Necromancy
Components :	Verbal and Somatic
Range :	Personal
Target/Area :	Self
Duration :	1 min. * cLevel 10 Rounds(cLevel).
Save :	Will negates
Spell resistance :	No

You can grant semblance of life and intellect to corpses, allowing them to answer several questions that you put to them. A corpse’s knowledge is limited to what the creature knew during life, including the languages it spoke (if any). This has the practical effect of conferring a +6 bonus to Lore: Local checks.

Answers are usually brief, cryptic, or repetitive. Though most corpses are willing to speak, some may refuse. A corpse that refuses to speak makes a Will save to resist the spell as if it were alive. If the corpse has been subject to speak with dead within the past week, the new spell fails. You can cast this spell on a corpse that has been deceased for any amount of time, but the body must be mostly intact to be able to respond. A damaged corpse may be able to give partial answers or partially correct answers, but it must at least have a mouth in order to speak at all.

This spell does not let you actually speak to the person (whose soul has departed). It instead draws on the imprinted knowledge stored in the corpse. The partially animated body retains the imprint of the soul that once inhabited it, and thus it can speak with all the knowledge that the creature had while alive. The corpse, however, cannot learn new information. Indeed, it can’t even remember being questioned.

This spell does not affect a corpse that has been turned into an undead creature.

Gaining knowledge with this spell beyond the bonus to Lore: Local checks generally requires supervision by a DM.

Gameplay Notes

Casting Time: 10 castings