Speak with Dead
“A corpse converses with you brie y. It will answer any three questions you pose to it to the best of the knowledge it had in life and the knowledge it gained in death.”
What is the extent of knowledge the corpse would have gained in death?
I’ve usually limited it to knowing whether other souls are also dead and maybe their final destination (Heaven, Hell, Valhalla, etc), but what are some other things a spirit might know?
If it lingered after being killed, it could know whatever it’s killer did afterwards. Also if it’s spirit haunts the area you found the corpse in it could know everything that has happened while it’s been there. Which, if all you found were some old dusty bones, could be quite a lot.
This spell is meant to act like a clue-by-four so in that respect I’d recommend using it to forward the plot with the player’s questions and not worry about what the dead guy would and wouldn’t know (within reason). So the answer to the question is “whatever is convenient to move the plot forward”.
I think depends on the game itself. Ask your cleric or other dead-related class character.
A lot of it would depend on the context in which the players find the corpse, and what their interests are when casting the spell.
Do they want knowledge about the area? The spirit has haunted the immediate area for some time, and can give clues.
Do they want to investigate the death? The spirit is obsessed with its murderer, and stalked their dreams.
Are they looking for the lost treasurer that the corpse was once hunting? The spirit is an encyclopedia of treasure lore – but obviously didn’t know of at least ONE danger!
Depending on these circumstances, let that develop. Perhaps this will help shape how Speak With Dead generally works in the current campaign overall; or perhaps the results are specific to that corpse. Either way, make it interesting!
I’d veer away from thinking of the answers as simply moving the plot forward; rather, answers should generally provide the players with something meaningful that they can interact with. It helps the GM continue to “play to find out what happens” if they worry less about plot management, and more about helping make the PC’s decisions interesting and important. Let the plot develop out of the players’ interests, rather than pushing them along an intentional course.