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BardicDuelist
2007-11-20, 04:51 PM
I am trying to figure out a way to make a mystery campaign, but I know that these are often easily spoiled by magic. I need some help coming up with the ways at each level that somthing can be found out/found/detected/etc. and a way around this. I prefer NONMAGICAL ways around things, such as lead lining, hiding form Arcane Eyes, etc. So, if you Forumites can be of any helf, I greatly appreciate it.

Also, if it isn't too much to ask, can you please put spell levels/level in which WBL would allow such an item, as I do not know the level of play yet.

Thanks again.

Jannex
2007-11-20, 04:57 PM
If you can manage it, try to include one twist wherein the PCs' relying on magical methods of evidence-gathering leads them down the wrong track... Perhaps, for instance, the perpetrator was clever and used Nystul's Magical Aura to leave misleading clues, or some such. Further, mundane investigation can turn up other details that point in the right direction.

SpikeFightwicky
2007-11-20, 05:59 PM
Here's a list of some of the more ovbious ones in no particular order:

Locate Object (2nd level arcane/domain, 3rd level divine): If the PCs have a vague idea of what they're looking for, and a large area (400ft. + 40ft. per level), they can find it.

Beaten by: Thin sheet of lead, cannot find creatures, cannot find polymorphed objects.

Speak with Dead (3rd level divine - cleric only): The PCs can learn of the Big Bad's sinister plot, or diverse secrets of an erudite cult even if they kill rather than interrogate minions.

Beaten by: Somewhat tough to get around, but the corpse gets a will save (same bonus as it had in life) if the caster's of a different alignment than the creature was, there's a language barrier if the creature doesn't speak any known language (like the corpse in Hellboy), the answer doesn't have to be straight forward (answers can be brief, cryptic and/or repetetive), the more damaged the corpse -> the less complete the answers it will give and a corpse must have a mouth to speak through.

Discern Lies (3rd level cleric, 4th level paladin): You can tell who's lying. It's an easy cop-out against high bluff type NPCs.

Beaten by: Will save negates, 'mind blank' spells and similar effects negate it. If the target is at all savy, he can simply not tell the whole truth or use clever evasions (if an evil cliché vizier hired a mysterious assassin through a guild contact to kill the king, he can answer that it was not him who killed the king, nor does he know the identity of the killer.). Another evasion is to simply answer with another question to throw the interrogator off guard.


Not sure about the WBL, though. Scrolls are really cheap, so any of these could be tried at low-ish levels. Is this the kind of stuff you're looking for?

BardicDuelist
2007-11-20, 07:56 PM
Is this the kind of stuff you're looking for?

Actually, that's exactly what I'm looking for. Thank you.