Speak with animals

[Addicted2Fail]

I'm not near my rulebook and I couldn't find anything on google.

The question is, the speak with animals spell/ability.
Does this allow the animal you speak with to be able to construct a legitimate sentence? Or are you limited because you're speaking to a dumb s$*~ int 2 animal?

Also, are familiars that have this ability restricted to animals of their exact type? Or for example could a rat speak to a mouse? Or an eagle speak to a hawk?

[BigNorseWolf]

Quote:

Does this allow the animal you speak with to be able to construct a legitimate sentence?

Dm's call. The point should be comprehendable though, otherwise the spell does nothing. "Big thing dark place" is not a sentence but it does get the point across.

Quote:

Also, are familiars that have this ability restricted to animals of their exact type? Or for example could a rat speak to a mouse? Or an eagle speak to a hawk?

It says general type. Rat to mouse and eagle to hawk is very close, so that should definitely work. Raven to hawk might be a little more iffy.

[Fredrik]

For the first, it doesn't matter, because "the more stupid ones make inane comments." Even if they can reply to your questions with legitimate sentences, if you ask an ordinary dog whether he's seen a person of a certain description recently, his answer could be "I eat poo."

For the second, "If the master is 7th level or higher, a familiar can communicate with animals of approximately the same kind as itself (including dire varieties): bats with bats, cats with felines, hawks and owls and ravens with birds," etc.

[Jorda75]

I have always had the animals impart feelings and images into the minds of the one casting the spell, the animals don't have a language as broad or detailed as our own, so they would more likely use imagery or a sort of shared understanding. The wolf thinks of the tree and the image appears in the casters mind and so forth.

[Benly]

Fredrik wrote:

For the first, it doesn't matter, because "the more stupid ones make inane comments." Even if they can reply to your questions with legitimate sentences, if you ask an ordinary dog whether he's seen a person of a certain description recently, his answer could be "I eat poo."

Dogs are pretty bright and could probably tell you whether someone matching a description a dog might notice had passed by - it wouldn't be much use for "a man with a feather in his hat" but "a man who smells like brimstone and bat guano" could work. I feel like asking a dog about who's passed by lately is kind of the quintessential "legitimate adventuring use" of Speak With Animals.

Squirrels, though, don't expect much from those guys.