Sowelu
2010-03-18, 02:30 AM
I'm used to playing low-magic, low-level games, and I'm GM'ing one where the players have access to higher-level casters than I'm used to.
In this case, I want the party to be able to locate a certain big bad--or at least, I want to know if they'll be able to. The party is level 3, but they've got some cash and a friendly NPC wizard, so they'll be hiring a spell or two next session.
The Scrying (http://www.dandwiki.com/wiki/SRD:Scrying) spell (Sor/Wiz 4) seems like the blatantly obvious solution, but by every reading of the rules that I can come up with, it only lets you see and hear the target--not locate him. What's up with that? I don't get it.
Detect Scrying (http://www.dandwiki.com/wiki/SRD:Detect_Scrying) (Sor/Wiz 4) on the other hand, is very specific that it gives the scrier's direction and distance from you. It's the same level as Scrying. How come the target gets to know where the scrier is, but the scrier doesn't get to know where the target is?
Greater Scrying (Sor/Wiz 7) is nearly identical to Scrying for the most part.
Locate Creature (Sor/Wiz 4) only works at 400 feet + 40 feet/level, which is way too short-range.
Discern Location (Sor/Wiz 8) is WAY, WAY OVERKILL. It cuts right through almost all forms of protection. It's also out of the league of anyone on their continent, and certainly out of their budget.
Divination (Clr 4) would be a good choice if they were going to storm the hypothetical castle within the next week, but it's pretty far away for that, and besides, the party only has a vague idea of where to go--they want specifics.
Contact Other Plane (Sor/Wiz 5) only gives yes/no answers, so that won't help.
My players would be mostly happy with a spell that just gives a location, without all that seeing/hearing stuff, but I can accept that scrying is balanced as a level 4 spell, and locating someone anywhere would probably be unbalanced at level 3, so it's all cool.
Anyway. Is there a spell I've somehow failed to notice? I was pretty sure I scoured the book and the online SRD, but I might have missed something. Or, more simply, am I wrong about the Scrying spell? If it just said it gave the location, it would be totally understandable...but since it doesn't contain that text, I'm having a hard time, here. Surely I could just handwave it and say that it has that effect as well, but what's the explanation? It says it creates a magical sensor; does that sensor automatically let the caster know where it is? What would you do in your campaigns?
In this case, I want the party to be able to locate a certain big bad--or at least, I want to know if they'll be able to. The party is level 3, but they've got some cash and a friendly NPC wizard, so they'll be hiring a spell or two next session.
The Scrying (http://www.dandwiki.com/wiki/SRD:Scrying) spell (Sor/Wiz 4) seems like the blatantly obvious solution, but by every reading of the rules that I can come up with, it only lets you see and hear the target--not locate him. What's up with that? I don't get it.
Detect Scrying (http://www.dandwiki.com/wiki/SRD:Detect_Scrying) (Sor/Wiz 4) on the other hand, is very specific that it gives the scrier's direction and distance from you. It's the same level as Scrying. How come the target gets to know where the scrier is, but the scrier doesn't get to know where the target is?
Greater Scrying (Sor/Wiz 7) is nearly identical to Scrying for the most part.
Locate Creature (Sor/Wiz 4) only works at 400 feet + 40 feet/level, which is way too short-range.
Discern Location (Sor/Wiz 8) is WAY, WAY OVERKILL. It cuts right through almost all forms of protection. It's also out of the league of anyone on their continent, and certainly out of their budget.
Divination (Clr 4) would be a good choice if they were going to storm the hypothetical castle within the next week, but it's pretty far away for that, and besides, the party only has a vague idea of where to go--they want specifics.
Contact Other Plane (Sor/Wiz 5) only gives yes/no answers, so that won't help.
My players would be mostly happy with a spell that just gives a location, without all that seeing/hearing stuff, but I can accept that scrying is balanced as a level 4 spell, and locating someone anywhere would probably be unbalanced at level 3, so it's all cool.
Anyway. Is there a spell I've somehow failed to notice? I was pretty sure I scoured the book and the online SRD, but I might have missed something. Or, more simply, am I wrong about the Scrying spell? If it just said it gave the location, it would be totally understandable...but since it doesn't contain that text, I'm having a hard time, here. Surely I could just handwave it and say that it has that effect as well, but what's the explanation? It says it creates a magical sensor; does that sensor automatically let the caster know where it is? What would you do in your campaigns?