There are many ways to keep a witness from identifying you. You just need to be creative.
Yes DM, this comment right here.
Depending on the edition, speak with dead requires the corpse to have a working jaw, so just destroy that. If you hide the head, someone can just find it.
Can a dead body without a tongue still speak when affected by speak with the dead?
I believe the requirement is jaw not tongue.
Mixing character knowledge with player knowledge
This is all stuff you'd have a reason to know in character when a setting includes something as impactful as the ability to use the dead as a witness. If the victim can be a witness, you need to either fool or silence the victim post-mortem.
In this thread: Some fantasy heroes with suspiciously significant and specific experience getting away with fantasy realm murder. All for the greater good of the fantasy realm, I am sure.
This is also why I have to build all of my key NPC story roles as ready to lift-and-shift to a new NPC in case the planned NPC "has an accident".
This is also why I have to build all of my key NPC story roles as ready to lift-and-shift to a new NPC in case the planned NPC “has an accident”.
I call this the Babylon 5 approach to plot/character design.
Zarthas sees your point!
Yeah, I'm going to have to remember some of these tips people are sharing...
Five questions? Seems arbitrary.
Yes...
Wait, was that a question?
I cast Disintegrate.
I mean... She is speaking to the dead in that scene...
Ouch. Meta-thought headache. My brain was ignoring that fact. It's speak-with-dead all the way down...
There are many ways to keep a witness from identifying you. You just need to be creative.
Yes DM, this comment right here.
Depending on the edition, speak with dead requires the corpse to have a working jaw, so just destroy that. If you hide the head, someone can just find it.
Can a dead body without a tongue still speak when affected by speak with the dead?
I believe the requirement is jaw not tongue.
This is all stuff you'd have a reason to know in character when a setting includes something as impactful as the ability to use the dead as a witness. If the victim can be a witness, you need to either fool or silence the victim post-mortem.