[RPG] How to send long messages over long distances

dnd-5espells

For communicating short messages (of 25 words or less) over long distances, we have the Sending spell. However, if I wanted to communicate, say, the contents of a 1-page letter (i.e. long enough that simply casting Sending multiple times isn't good enough) to someone far away (on the same plane, probably on the same continent, but many weeks away by land travel), is there a spell or other magic that can accomplish this? A solution might involve physically teleporting the letter itself, or simply conveying the message via some other means. Although sending the letter as a physical object would probably be preferable, unless you're expecting the recipient to be constantly prepared to take dictation at any time.

It can be assumed that the intended recipient is living in a city and not traveling around much, so for example a spell that sent the message to their place of residence rather than directly to them would be fine, as long as the message isn't so ephemeral that it appears and then disappears before they get home from their grocery shopping. It would also be acceptable if some reasonable amount of setup was required to create a "receiving station". I, on the other hand, am a busy adventurer constantly on the move, so an elaborate or non-portable setup on the sending end is probably not viable.

One obvious method of accomplishing this task is to use a 7th level spell slot to teleport to the recipient and deliver the message in person. So that puts a sort of upper limit on what should be required: a better method should be more efficient than teleporting there yourself.

Since this is pretty open-ended, you can impose reasonable additional constraints in your answer, such as requiring the recipient to also be a spellcaster. Just be clear about what your solution requires.

Best Answer

A few 5th level options

One of the best options is the 5th level spell Dream. With this spell, you can converse with a person known to you while they sleep, as long as they are on the same plane of existence as you. If you aren't trying to damage or impair them with this spell, the spell automatically works. And best of all...

The target recalls the dream perfectly upon waking. [PHB, p.236]

If the recipient of the message you intend to send is in a location with a permanent teleportation circle, (such as an academy of magic or a major temple of a powerful religion), then you could also use the 5th level spell Teleportation Circle. It can transport "creatures". You could find a mouse, tie your message to it, and have an ally toss it through the portal that the spell opens (you couldn't toss it yourself, since you already took your action to cast the spell, and the portal only lasts one round).

With some specific subclasses, there may be other options as well. As an example, a Wizard of the School of Illusion could cast Magic Mouth on the wall of the room of a minion, who is given instructions to stand in front of it and say a specific phrase every day at an appointed time. The mouth could be programmed to appear and say "nothing to report" over and over for 10 minutes when the minion says its trigger phrase. Then, when the Wizard wants to contact the minion, they could cast the 5th level spell Scrying on the location, and thus see the mouth activate. The Wizard could use their "Malleable Illusion" ability:

Starting at 6th level, when you cast an illusion spell that has a duration of 1 minute or longer, you can use your action to change the nature of that illusion (using the spell’s normal parameters for the illusion), provided that you can see the illusion. [PHB, p. 118]

With this, the Wizard could change the message every round, and thus send a long message over the 10 minutes that Scrying last. Since Magic Mouth lasts until it is dispelled, this could be done every day (though it would take up a 5th level spell slot to Scry on the location, in order to "see the illusion").