Author Topic: What is the most cost/xp efficient way to do lots of long range communication?  (Read 4103 times)

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Gavinfoxx

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Hey, I was wondering if anyone knew what the best items (or spells) were for large scale, long range communication, in 3.5e? Like if you have to get messages accross hundreds of miles, what's the best way to enable that capability for a kingdom?

Does anyone have a compilation of long range communication gear in 3.5e?
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altpersona

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clairvoyance w/ caster level shenanigans

plain old scrying, done at both ends.
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Gavinfoxx

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I did some searching, which of these is the best option?

Aspect Mirror, Complete Scoundrel
Mirrors of Communication, Dragon Magazine #327.
Sending Stones, magic item compendium

Edit: Whispering Flame and Speaking Stones don't seem to work; they don't last forever
« Last Edit: April 20, 2011, 11:38:30 PM by Gavinfoxx »
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veekie

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Dancing Lights relay morse towers? :P
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[spoiler]
"Just what do you think the moon up in the sky is? Everyone sees that big, round shiny thing and thinks there must be something round up there, right? That's just silly. The truth is much more awesome than that. You can almost never see the real Moon, and its appearance is death to humans. You can only see the Moon when it's reflected in things. And the things it reflects in, like water or glass, can all be broken, right? Since the moon you see in the sky is just being reflected in the heavens, if you tear open the heavens it's easy to break it~"
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[/spoiler]

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Sinfire Titan

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I did some searching, which of these is the best option?

Aspect Mirror, Complete Scoundrel
Mirrors of Communication, Dragon Magazine #327.
Sending Stones, magic item compendium
Eternal wands of Whispering Flame, combine Magic Item Compendium & the spell from Five Nations.

There's a ring in the MiC that has a long-range communication ability. Unlimited as long as everyone is wearing the attuned rings.


[spoiler][/spoiler]

Ithamar

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Spell Weavers (MMII) can communicate with each other telepathically at a range of 1,000 miles.  Hire / Enslave / Thrall / Cohort / Etc. two (or more) of them and you're set.
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Gavinfoxx

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This is to be large scale. REALLY large scale.  Like equipping an entire nation and her fleets (plural!) with magical radios kind of large scale... so yea.
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veekie

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In that case Dancing Lights and spyglasses on signal towers with morse code probably should be the cheapest magically speaking.
The mind transcends the body.
It's also a little cold because of that.
Please get it a blanket.

I wish I could read your mind,
I can barely read mine.

"Skynet begins to learn at a geometric rate. It becomes self-aware at 2:14 a.m. Eastern time, August 29th. At 2:15, it begins rolling up characters."

[spoiler]
"Just what do you think the moon up in the sky is? Everyone sees that big, round shiny thing and thinks there must be something round up there, right? That's just silly. The truth is much more awesome than that. You can almost never see the real Moon, and its appearance is death to humans. You can only see the Moon when it's reflected in things. And the things it reflects in, like water or glass, can all be broken, right? Since the moon you see in the sky is just being reflected in the heavens, if you tear open the heavens it's easy to break it~"
-Ibuki Suika, on overkill

To sumbolaion diakoneto moi, basilisk ouranionon.
Epigenentheto, apoleia keraune hos timeis pteirei.
Hekatonkatis kai khiliakis astrapsato.
Khiliarkhou Astrape!
[/spoiler]

There is no higher price than 'free'.

"I won't die. I've been ordered not to die."

Gavinfoxx

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In that case Dancing Lights and spyglasses on signal towers with morse code probably should be the cheapest magically speaking.

That doesn't get Beyond the Horizon communication unless you have a string of towers, or a bunch of ships stretching from one place to another....
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veekie

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Yeah, but its cheap and you can have relays make up the gaps and since its cheap per unit you can make quite a lot of them. The more magical options have difficulties when upscaling because of cost explosion, this just has a fixed cost per distance.
The mind transcends the body.
It's also a little cold because of that.
Please get it a blanket.

I wish I could read your mind,
I can barely read mine.

"Skynet begins to learn at a geometric rate. It becomes self-aware at 2:14 a.m. Eastern time, August 29th. At 2:15, it begins rolling up characters."

[spoiler]
"Just what do you think the moon up in the sky is? Everyone sees that big, round shiny thing and thinks there must be something round up there, right? That's just silly. The truth is much more awesome than that. You can almost never see the real Moon, and its appearance is death to humans. You can only see the Moon when it's reflected in things. And the things it reflects in, like water or glass, can all be broken, right? Since the moon you see in the sky is just being reflected in the heavens, if you tear open the heavens it's easy to break it~"
-Ibuki Suika, on overkill

To sumbolaion diakoneto moi, basilisk ouranionon.
Epigenentheto, apoleia keraune hos timeis pteirei.
Hekatonkatis kai khiliakis astrapsato.
Khiliarkhou Astrape!
[/spoiler]

There is no higher price than 'free'.

"I won't die. I've been ordered not to die."

The_Mad_Linguist

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In that case Dancing Lights and spyglasses on signal towers with morse code probably should be the cheapest magically speaking.

That doesn't get Beyond the Horizon communication unless you have a string of towers, or a bunch of ships stretching from one place to another....
Been done.
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altpersona

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is scrying that hard? or well, scrying and a couple chalk boards.
The goal of power is power. - idk
We are not descended from fearful men. - Murrow

The Final Countdown is now stuck in your head.

Anim-manga sux.


The_Mad_Linguist

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Oh yeah, drow house insignia (transmitting)
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Saeomon

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A Thrallherd with Thrallherds who have yet more Thrallherds as Thralls could set up a Mindlink network that encompasses an entire kingdom.

It could be done with just Thralls, but if the Believers are also Telepath Psions, or psionic creatures granted Mindlink through Psychic Chirurgery then the total number of Thrallherds required is diminished.

Since the Thralls and Believers are absolutely loyal to their Thrallherd, the Master Thrallherd could, for example, issue a cascading command that every Thrall and Believer strap themselves to the top of poles spaced 25 feet + 5 feet/level distant from the next Thrall or Believer.

Voila! Telephone poles!


CrimsonDeath

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In that case Dancing Lights and spyglasses on signal towers with morse code probably should be the cheapest magically speaking.
How about drum towers?  Those don't even have to be magic or rely on line of sight.

veekie

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Bigger signal distortion and less bandwidth(you can modulate colors and generate simple patterns) though. Light based transmissions go further and you only really need towers proper if you want them to be defensible or if the place is wooded. You can have someone cast the spell into the sky while on the ground.
The mind transcends the body.
It's also a little cold because of that.
Please get it a blanket.

I wish I could read your mind,
I can barely read mine.

"Skynet begins to learn at a geometric rate. It becomes self-aware at 2:14 a.m. Eastern time, August 29th. At 2:15, it begins rolling up characters."

[spoiler]
"Just what do you think the moon up in the sky is? Everyone sees that big, round shiny thing and thinks there must be something round up there, right? That's just silly. The truth is much more awesome than that. You can almost never see the real Moon, and its appearance is death to humans. You can only see the Moon when it's reflected in things. And the things it reflects in, like water or glass, can all be broken, right? Since the moon you see in the sky is just being reflected in the heavens, if you tear open the heavens it's easy to break it~"
-Ibuki Suika, on overkill

To sumbolaion diakoneto moi, basilisk ouranionon.
Epigenentheto, apoleia keraune hos timeis pteirei.
Hekatonkatis kai khiliakis astrapsato.
Khiliarkhou Astrape!
[/spoiler]

There is no higher price than 'free'.

"I won't die. I've been ordered not to die."

altpersona

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ok, here it is,

leadership + abuse

followers, fans, thralls come one come all.

er'r body line up, use your free action to pass this note to the guy next to you.

just keep your congo line in tact and you have zero cost instant relay communication. use giants for harsh terrain.
The goal of power is power. - idk
We are not descended from fearful men. - Murrow

The Final Countdown is now stuck in your head.

Anim-manga sux.


Cagemarrow

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It's possible characters with the lucid dreaming skill could pass messages to anyone in the planes if they can determine when the other person is dreaming and make a dc 25 or less check. Depending on where in the plane of dreams they are.

Not great for instant communication, but useful for time intensive messages. 1 min in the real world is 10 in the dream realm.

I planned to have an apprentice/master character do his training using this method. Called him the sandman.

Sinfire Titan

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It's possible characters with the lucid dreaming skill could pass messages to anyone in the planes if they can determine when the other person is dreaming and make a dc 25 or less check. Depending on where in the plane of dreams they are.

Not great for instant communication, but useful for time intensive messages. 1 min in the real world is 10 in the dream realm.

I planned to have an apprentice/master character do his training using this method. Called him the sandman.
Lucid Dreaming is one of those skills that no one's ever heard of that just happens to be so goddamn useful. Gotta love it.


[spoiler][/spoiler]

Ikeren

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Sending stones are relatively cheap and convenient. If you need to network a large number of people, you have a "hub" or "centre" which then relays all the messages.