Spirit Communion

5th-level necromancy (ritual)

Casting Time: 1 minute

Range: 30 feet

Components: V, S, M (incense, holy ashes, food and drink, and grave dirt, all together worth at least 25 gp, which the spell consumes)

Duration: Concentration, up to 1 minute, but see spell description

You summon a roiling mass of spirits, which occupy a space roughly 10 feet on a side within 30 feet of you. These can either be the essences of long-dead humanoids or a few of the lingering spirits of nature. The phantoms understand you regardless of what language you speak.

You ask the spirits up to three questions that can be answered with a yes or no. You must ask your questions before the spell ends. After a moment of disturbing hissing, whispering, and other sounds as the spirits writhe about one another in consultation, you receive a correct answer for each question.

While the spirits have access to much ancient knowledge and can see the flow of time and possible futures, they are not omniscient, so you might receive “unclear” as an answer if a question pertains to information that lies beyond the spirits’ knowledge. In a case where a one-word answer could be misleading or contrary to the spirits’ interests, the DM might offer a short phrase as an answer instead.

Once the spell ends—because your questions have been answered, you lose concentration, or the duration expires, whichever comes first—you must attempt a DC 15 Charisma (Intimidation or Persuasion) check to convince the spirits to return to the netherworld. You make a single check for the entire mass of spirits, and a natural 1 on this check is always a failure. On a success, the phantoms disappear, but on a failure, they remain beyond the spell’s duration and become hostile to you and to all living things. You do not gain XP for defeating these spirits, which burst into a group of 2–5 (1d4+1) wraiths.

Even if the spirits do not attack you, leaving them to harm others is considered a vile deed (see “The Well of Woe”).

If you cast the spell two or more times before finishing your next long rest, there is a cumulative 25 percent chance for each casting after the first that the spirits immediately break free of the spell and turn hostile (as if you’d failed the Charisma check at the spell’s end), before you can even ask your questions.