Telepathic Bond: Magic Conference Call
Usable By: Wizard
Spell Level: 5
School: Divination
Casting Time: 1 action (ritual)
Range: 30 feet
Duration: 1 hour
Components: V, S, M (Pieces of eggshell from two different kinds of creatures)
You forge a telepathic link among up to eight willing creatures of your choice within range, psychically linking each creature to all the others for the duration. Creatures with Intelligence scores of 2 or less aren’t affected by this spell.
Until the spell ends, the targets can communicate telepathically through the bond whether or not they have a common language. The communication is possible over any distance, though it can’t extend to other planes of existence.
Review by Sam West, Twitter: @CrierKobold
There’s this weird problem tabletop RPGs have in that the players are basically actors, and the characters are, well, the characters. Sitting down at the table includes planning, conversing, joking, and strategizing about the in-game world as if the actors are influencing and changing some of the scripts of everyone’s character. It can be hard to make choices and decisions that feel unaffected by “meta” knowledge; deciding what Rory the barbarian would do when his player knows their is a giant meat grinder of murderous tentacles on the other side of the door while Rory doesn’t feels messy. If this is a genuine problem that you find annoying, may I recommend Telepathic Bond!
Instantaneous non-verbal communication over any distance is great. Setting this up prior to adventuring doesn’t cost you a spell slot and facilitates a constant state of everyone being up to speed on what everyone else is doing. You can say goodbye to the awkward decisions around making character choices knowing your character lacks information another has, because you all can constantly share it! No longer will you have to find a reason to check back on the wizard in the other room, because you the player know they’re being murdered by an invsibile stalker, but your character doesn’t!
Beyond it being a great tool to aid meta table issues, Telepathic Bond will feel like a quality of life update your group can enjoy. The ritual tag makes it more like a feature than a spell, as you don’t need to commit any slots to use it. While other options for telepathy exist, this one is available to every 9th level or higher wizard, and can be constantly maintained without showing any signs of communication.
This spell does have some limiters; moving in between planes or using demi-planes can mitigate the benefits of the spell, giving the DM some tools to create environments to disable or alter it. NPCs and villains can frequently use this tool as well, as instantaneous non-verbal communication requiring no signals can make silent alarms incredibly easy.
If you’re going into a high-stakes stealth mission, a Mission: Impossible style heist, or just looking to clown on the NPCs in a private group chat, Telepathic Bond is here for you. It is convenient, low cost, and an excellent tool to have in your spellbook.
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