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Elvensilver
2021-09-04, 12:43 PM
Essentially what the title says:
What spells or unconventional uses of hexes are there for a witch to quickly communicate with someone far away, say, a hundred kilometers or further? Preferably low level spells.

Wizards can get Sending, Dream, Whispering Wind, and a few others. In contrast, witches get so few options that they probably have to rely on the postal system, messenger pigeons, and friendly other spellcasters.

The only methods I found so far are
-Gnome witches can get Lesser Dream
- Some patrons (Wisdom and Star patron) get Dream as a patron spell
- Scrying, with the option to use Message through the scrying sensor
- the Speak in Dreams Greater Hex (and also the Nightmares Greater Hex: hopefully rely a message to someone in the dream while frightening and weakening them, so not really suited for casual conversation or asking allies for help)
- The archetypes Pact Witch and Dimensional Occultist get the Planar Ally spells to call an outsider with teleport to serve as a mail carrier
On high levels, there is:
- Teleport Object
- Summon Monster IX to hopefully get an unusual Trumpet Archon with Sending prepared.

So the only long-range communication methods for witches I found are either race-restricted, have a low chance of sucess on the level you get it, require a specific hex and a sleeping recipient, or are on a level where the witch could easily just teleport somewhere to talk in person. Am I missing something?

Edit: Added the patrons that grant the Dream spell and the archtypes that grant the Planar Ally spell to the list of possibilities.

Jack_Simth
2021-09-07, 05:41 PM
Summon Monster III (https://www.d20pfsrd.com/magic/all-spells/s/Summon-Monster/#3rd-level) for a lantern archon (https://www.d20pfsrd.com/bestiary/monster-listings/outsiders/archon/lantern-archon/summoned-creature-lantern-archon). They get Greater Teleport at will. Makes a decent message courier. Take all the time you like to write up a message on parchment, maybe build some form of rope harness to let a limbless creature carry the scroll, summon, describe, equip, and off it goes. Anywhere on the same plane, provided you can give instructions and describe the target area well enough within CL -1 rounds (last round has to be for teleport and drop; so 24 seconds at CL 5, the minimum, for you to issue orders).

Note that you'll need a very high caster level for Trumpet Archon Sending to work, even if it has it prepared - Sending has a 10 minute casting time.

If you use the "specific creatures" VARIANT rule, then you can use any intelligent summon - even Summon Monster I - as a VERY INSECURE message relay:
On a pre-arranged schedule, I summon an intelligent thing, give it a message.
On a pre-arranged schedule my buddy, elsewhere, summons the same intelligent thing, asks it to repeat the message. My buddy then gives the same summon a reply.
On a pre-arranged schedule, I summon that same intelligent thing, and ask it for the reply.

This is VERY INSECURE. Anyone who can summon the creature can intercept the message, and can maybe tamper with it.

Psyren
2021-09-08, 01:04 AM
Due to their Truespeech you don't even need to write up the message, just speak to the Archon and have it speak to the recipient. Summons don't last long but talking is a free action anyway.

It does appear that the lack of communication magic is an intended downside of the Witch, but there are plenty of items that can make up for the lack. (They should have at least gotten animal messenger though...)

icefractal
2021-09-08, 01:27 AM
Summoned creatures (from Summon Monster, at least) can't use teleportation in PF, so that method's out. Planar Bound creatures can, but Witch doesn't get that.

Psyren
2021-09-08, 01:58 AM
Summoned creatures (from Summon Monster, at least) can't use teleportation in PF, so that method's out. Planar Bound creatures can, but Witch doesn't get that.

Argh, I completely forgot that line.

Witches do get Telepathic Bond. You need to establish the link first, but once that's done it works plane-wide and can be made permanent.

Elvensilver
2021-09-09, 12:19 PM
Summoned creatures (from Summon Monster, at least) can't use teleportation in PF, so that method's out. Planar Bound creatures can, but Witch doesn't get that.
Most witches don't, but some archetypes do get the Planar Ally spells (Pact Witch and Dimensional Occultist). But heavens, that's a very expensive way to send messages.


Witches do get Telepathic Bond. You need to establish the link first, but once that's done it works plane-wide and can be made permanent.
Great catch! That seems to be the most low-level, most widely usable method so far. (Provided the witch has someone to make it permanent...)

Elvensilver
2021-09-11, 11:34 AM
Since I've found a solution, I'll share it with anyone interested: https://aonprd.com/SpellDisplay.aspx?ItemName=Irriseni%20Mirror%20Sig ht. While it is necessary for both parties to have a mirror nearby, and any communication has to be non-verbal, you can simply get a black board to write your part of the communication, and the other person can do the same or do charades.

Edit: Typo