Feign Death & Speak With Dead

[egomann]

OK, none of my players lurk here to the best of my knowledge so I can ask this...

They tried to save an old man from a mugging, but he died before they could help him and the assailants got away.

What they do not know is that he is not really dead, but had a Feign Death cast upon him to fool the PC's into doing his dirty work (I am running Four from Corymr in case anyone is wondering).

So anyway the PC's cast Speak with Dead on the body, and ask him some questions. I decided that since he was not really dead, he could bluff the PC's and answer the questions any way he likes.

The Cleric casting the spell failed his spellcraft roll (secretly) and was unable to notice anything strange when he cast the spell.


Do you think I handeled it right, or should the Cleric have been able to notice without a spellcraft roll?


Thanks.

 

[Kahuna Burger]

OK, none of my players lurk here to the best of my knowledge so I can ask this...

They tried to save an old man from a mugging, but he died before they could help him and the assailants got away.

What they do not know is that he is not really dead, but had a Feign Death cast upon him to fool the PC's into doing his dirty work (I am running Four from Corymr in case anyone is wondering).

So anyway the PC's cast Speak with Dead on the body, and ask him some questions. I decided that since he was not really dead, he could bluff the PC's and answer the questions any way he likes.

The Cleric casting the spell failed his spellcraft roll (secretly) and was unable to notice anything strange when he cast the spell.


Do you think I handeled it right, or should the Cleric have been able to notice without a spellcraft roll?


Thanks.

Can you reproduce the description of the spell here?

 

[Numion]

Caster knows if the target fails it saving throw, but that doesn't matter since the target doesn't always get a saving throw with that spell.

I'd say you handled it right.

 

[Dirt]

Hey egomann!

Ha...that's pretty funny. My players come up with devious ways to avoid plot hooks all the time.

In this case, I probably would have given that to them. A Speak with Dead allows them to talk to the spirit. Since he isn't really dead, I would have simply told them that it didn't work. When the caster failed their spellcraft check (to ascertain WHY it didn't work), I would have mentioned that "something is keeping you from speaking with his corpse".

 

[Teemu]

Where is feign death from?

The target of the spell was invalid, because you cast speak with dead on a dead body (and it's the body that answers, not spirit). Thus, the cleric would've known that the spell failed. Though this feign death spell could change things.

 

[Hjorimir]

D&D is about having fun and what egomann did is certainly in that spirit. I say well done.

 

[Starglim]

OK, none of my players lurk here to the best of my knowledge so I can ask this...

They tried to save an old man from a mugging, but he died before they could help him and the assailants got away.

What they do not know is that he is not really dead, but had a Feign Death cast upon him to fool the PC's into doing his dirty work (I am running Four from Corymr in case anyone is wondering).

So anyway the PC's cast Speak with Dead on the body, and ask him some questions. I decided that since he was not really dead, he could bluff the PC's and answer the questions any way he likes.

The Cleric casting the spell failed his spellcraft roll (secretly) and was unable to notice anything strange when he cast the spell.


Do you think I handeled it right, or should the Cleric have been able to notice without a spellcraft roll?


Thanks.

I think you handled it right for the situation.

If someone can produce a 3e version of Feign Death, we can look at the rules question. My guess is that it would fail and the cleric wouldn't know why. By the RAW, the old man's living spirit can't answer the cleric's questions because the spell specifically excludes that, and his body is not a valid target for the spell, but the latter depends on exactly what feign death does.

 

[frankthedm]

Very intelegent ruling.

A spell designed to trick someone into thinking you are dead would likey have that built in.

 

[Jack of Shadows]

Hey egomann!

Ha...that's pretty funny. My players come up with devious ways to avoid plot hooks all the time.

In this case, I probably would have given that to them. A Speak with Dead allows them to talk to the spirit. Since he isn't really dead, I would have simply told them that it didn't work. When the caster failed their spellcraft check (to ascertain WHY it didn't work), I would have mentioned that "something is keeping you from speaking with his corpse".

As I recall,

That is incorrect. Speak with Dead does NOT actually deal with the soul/spirit of the departed and is in fact directed at the remains of the deceased. I can't recall if that was stated in the PHB or CD or possibly Libris Mortis. But I'm certain I read it somewhere.

Damn now I'm going to have to go searching for it.

Jack

 

[Teemu]

I found the spell. It's in Tome and Blood. And it only makes you appear dead (though it can give you deady immunities, like crits, IIRC), so by RAW, the cleric would've known the spell doesn't work. But why...?

Jack, it's in the spell description.