True Seeing

[Hannes]

I do not get True Seeing. It lets you see through POLYMORPHS. Polymorph, like, changes the creature fully, so that its true form is the one he polymorphed into o.o

[Bears With Lasers]

No, its magically altered form is the one it was polymorphed into. Its TRUE form is what it is.

True Seeing is a bit too good, though.

[The_Snark]

It lets you see through Polymorph and such, yeah. The idea is that the wizard has used some sort of magic to turn into a Griffon; that doesn't mean that the wizard's natural form is now a Griffon. When they say natural form, they mean the one you would see in an antimagic field, which is why True Seeing pierces everything but mundane disguises. In the case of polymorphed creatures, you can see what the polymorphed shape is, but you can also see what the shapechanger really is.

True Seeing is a sort of reveal-what's-really-there spell; you'll notice that divine casters get it sooner than arcane casters.

Edit- It's got a material component, which means you have to keep track of it, and short-ish duration, plus a range limitation. Not too bad, although I think there should be a high-level illusion that has a chance of deceiving a True Seeing spell.

[alchemy.freak]

although I think there should be a high-level illusion that has a chance of deceiving a True Seeing spell.

why bother, a few ranks in disguise or a mask, and true seeing wont know who or what you are. A Guy Fawkes mask would work quite nicely

[Dervag]

why bother, a few ranks in disguise or a mask, and true seeing wont know who or what you are. A Guy Fawkes mask would work quite nicelyBut your opponent can penetrate a normal disguise with a Spot check, and they'll probably beat you at it unless you put a lot of ranks into Disguise.

You can do that, of course, but there's an in-game cost for doing it, and there are a lot of classes that don't have many skill points to spare.

[Talya]

No, its magically altered form is the one it was polymorphed into. Its TRUE form is what it is.

True Seeing is a bit too good, though.


Only if your race or equipment grants it as a constant ability, or perhaps useable a few times a day. It is very short duration and uses a relatively expensive component, so it's not like you can keep it up all the time.

[JackMage666]

Silverbrow Human, any class... True seeing can't see past my +20 Disguise Check!

[The Great Skenardo]

But here's a question for you: Suppose a Rakshasa used its Alternate Form ability to appear as a Human, who then used the Disguise skill to make himself look like a particular human. What would True Seeing see? Would it see the Rakshasa? would it see the particular human? would it see a Rakshasa wearing makeup and a wig?

[JackMage666]

Probably a Rakshasha wearing a diguise.. Although, the real trick to this would be to use Disguise to make the Human-disguise before alter self, then use Alter Selft to back up the disguise. Mundane can't see through the magic, and magic can't see through the disguise.