Best ways to non-magically gather information

[kardar233]

Say I want to get information on people protected by Mind Blank, Nondetection or similar and I'm too lazy to jump through binary hoops to get said info through Commune/Contact Other Plane. I was thinking of making an Ice Assassin of some creature with very high Knowledge or Gather Information modifiers, so what creatures would make good targets? I've got access to anything Divine or Sorc/Wiz, so as long as I'm not directly affecting the target I can use things like Guidance of the Avatar to help skill checks or whatever.

Any other good non-magical information gathering techniques?

[motoko's ghost]

Head down to your local bard/tavern:smalltongue:

Either way its going to be tracking down lore and rumours and a lot of legwork

Try seeing if the local underworld already has some sort of information network set up and try to see if you can buy/steal/hang minions off the side of a building till they give you some of it

EDIT: if you're using psionics there is a 9thlv power that beats everything(even mind blank)...well except possibly vecna-blooded.

[Alleran]

Find a bard, find a tavern, find a Loremaster, find an Illithid Savant, find a dragon with the dragon knowledge feat/ability/whatever it is that grants a similar ability (mental blank on what it is, anybody remember?).

[jackattack]

It isn't non-magical, but a homunculus telepathically conveys everything it sees and hears to its master. Just watch out for that 2d10 backlash if it gets caught and killed.

[motoko's ghost]

It isn't non-magical, but a homunculus telepathically conveys everything it sees and hears to its master.

What if we had simulacrums of the indivdual telepathically linked(via permanency or something) and had them do the scouting?

[Zeta Kai]

If the DM wants you to know, you'll know, whether or not it's magic, or even according to the rules. If the DM doesn't want you to know, then even magic probably won't help you.

[motoko's ghost]

If the DM wants you to know, you'll know, whether or not it's magic, or even according to the rules. If the DM doesn't want you to know, then even magic probably won't help you.

"Suddenly Pelor descends from the heavens and proclaims "FOR CRYING OUT LOUD! THE BARON IS EAST OF HERE AND IS EVIL, STOP JUST KILLING KOBOLDS AND COMPLETE YOUR QUEST"
"we ask him for more information"
"SORRY DONT KNOW, BYE!"
"what if I then cast divination?"
"no"
"but-"
"NO""
:smalltongue:

[Zeta Kai]

"Suddenly Pelor descends from the heavens and proclaims "FOR CRYING OUT LOUD! THE BARON IS EAST OF HERE AND IS EVIL, STOP JUST KILLING KOBOLDS AND COMPLETE YOUR QUEST"
"we ask him for more information"
"SORRY DONT KNOW, BYE!"
"what if I then cast divination?"
"no"
"but-"
"NO""
:smalltongue:

It's sad to say, but some games are basically just like that.

[Psyren]

Clairsentience :smalltongue:

[kardar233]

That actually helps a lot. We're using magic/psionics separation so anti-scrying wards won't work, and between (Su) Miracles and my Psionic Artificer cohort I should be able to use a combination of the Internet, Hypercognition and Metafaculty to get my info.

[Slipperychicken]

A high enough sense motive check reveals surface thoughts. Proper applications of Diplomacy/Intimidate/Bluff/bribes should get information from anyone you find. Take the bad guys alive, then interrogate them for leads. Climb the chain of command till you hit the guy you're looking for. Find ways to threaten people's lives or reputations remotely, use those to penetrate secure facilities. If your enemy isn't an organization, then beggars, law-enforcement, criminals, local bartenders tend to have leads. As other people said; if your DM wants you to find it, you will. If he doesn't, you won't.

[The Gilded Duke]

A little obscure, but the specialist hiring rules in DMG 2 (pg. 155) is probably the most efficient way to go. Hiring a Sage to answer a question with a +23 modifier only costs 4 gold. The prices go up from there, but it still is pretty manageable. 506 gp gets you +29. 1,008 gp gets you +35. And lastly 2,009gp gets you a +44 check. For more complicated tasks you can hire them by the day instead.

The notable thing about a specialist hireling with the knowledge skill is that it happens quickly as opposed to gather information which takes 1d4+1 hours.