[3.5] Spells To Investigate Crimes

[Thurbane]

So, just stumbled across the Reveille spell: this spell would be an absolutely invaluable tool for a City Watch or similar. It can even go in an Eternal Wand if no Bards are available to cast it.

Got me thinking, assuming a City Watch has some low-ish level casters in their employ, what spells would be useful in crime solving and investigation? Let's stick with 3rd or lower spells for now, maybe?


Speak With Dead
Detect Thoughts
Zone of Truth
Clairaudience/Clairvoyance
Locate Object

..all thoughts and input welcome.

Cheers - T

[Morof Stonehands]

I know most people tend to stay away from Dragon Magazine, but #323 has alternate detect spells, including Detect Guilt, and Detect Violence. If the setting is strong with faith themes it has Detect Heresy too.

[the_tick_rules]

it's a magic item not a spell but gloves of object reading would be pretty useful and relatively cheap

[Venger]

amplify
animal messenger
appraising touch
augury
blindsight
charm monster/person
detect (whatever)
ebon eyes
guidance of the avatar

[RandomPeasant]

IMO a lot of low-level investigative magic is sort of overrated. speak with dead is pretty good at solving a murder, especially since murder cases the town guard handles probably aren't done by hitmen smart enough to plan around it. But the average crime isn't a murder. locate object is great if you know what you're looking for, but a big chunk of investigation is that you don't know what you're looking for. What really shines at low levels is psionics. object reading gives you everything but the perp's name from any ammunition (and most other stuff) they might've left at the scene of a crime. sensitivity to psychic impressions is like pulling CCTV footage, except there don't need to have been cameras on the scene.

[sleepyphoenixx]

Inquisition is pretty much the ultimate interrogation spell. The target is forced to reply, has to tell the truth and can't try to deliberately mislead.
And any 9th+ level cleric that channels positive energy can cast it spontaneously.

Hindsight is Sensitivity to Psychic Expressions on steroids. It's a 9th level spell for wizards and sorcerers, but it's also a 6th for bards so there's some possible shenanigans to get it early.

Edit: Whoops, missed the "3rd level or below" restriction.

[flappeercraft]

Ok so this is just shy of the 3rd level limit as a 4th level spell, but I had to mention it because otherwise it fits just perfectly. Identify Transgressor from BoVD is my favorite investigation spell.

[daremetoidareyo]

The masa harpa OA thing has that art thou

[Thurbane]

Great suggestions everyone, keep 'em coming!


Ok so this is just shy of the 3rd level limit as a 4th level spell, but I had to mention it because otherwise it fits just perfectly. Identify Transgressor from BoVD is my favorite investigation spell.

What a bizarre spell: it has the evil tag, and you have to be on drugs and in an unhallowed area to cast?!

Why on earth would a spell to find out who has committed a particular act be so unnecessarily eeeevil? :smallbiggrin:

[Seward]

Having somebody with detect magic (or equivalent) running to see if a spell "took" is really helpful

Detect Thoughts combined with the admonition "resisting the spell is considered evidence of guilt". Works fairly well with zone of truth and similar spells. In the case of detect thoughts you don't need the detect magic, if you can't hear the surface thoughts they resisted and you can consider them guilty.

Pathfinder 1e has an Oracle power called "Brain Drain". It hurts (does a bunch of lethal damage, so something like aid is a good idea if the victim is fragile, or at least a way to stabilize them - it works even if they are KO but not if they are dead), but it is detect thoughts with a "you can get the answer to 1 question a round" rider on it. I enjoyed when I ran out of questions asking things like "what made you join a world-destroying cult?" or "What do you really think of your <king/boss/master/wife/boyfriend that are one of the other bad guys>?"

Casting charm person while the suspect is asleep or unconscious, repeat until your detect magic guy sees a new enchantment spell. They don't know they were subject to a spell, then have a person with a bit of diplomacy who speaks their language and maybe has a disguise spell to look like a race friendly to the suspect's race in their cell as a "fellow prisoner" or perhaps as their lawyer to "advocate for them". Said suspect now considers this person their best friend, and is highly likely to confide in that person who will do their very best to help "escape the prison" or "plead to the judge" if you just tell them the whole story first.....

Suggestion "Please describe honestly and completely what you did between 10am and 4pm last Thorsday."
Command "Confess" (granted they can stop after 1 round, but talking is a free action. Savvy enemies might go "I cheated on my 3rd grade algebra test!" or similar minor offenses, this approach might go better with a wand and "resisting is evidence of guilt")

[FauxKnee]

Spell Compendium's expose the dead is pretty niche, but it's handy for investigating corpses. (Grants the benefit of the Eberron feat Investigate.)

[SimonMoon6]

I find Zone of Truth to not really be a useful tool pretty much ever.

First of all, everyone gets a save. And you don't know if they've made a save. So, you don't know if they're telling the truth or telling a lie and there's no way to tell just by using this spell. So, while you might have increased the chance of getting the truth, you still don't know if what you're getting is truth or lies... so what was the point of the spell in the first place?

Second, if they failed the save, they can simply choose not to answer or be evasive. This isn't Wonder Woman's magic lasso here. They don't have to tell you anything... which generally can make this sort of interrogation not work very well.

Yeah, yeah, you can tell that they're being evasive, so you can tell that they've got something to hide... but you still are not going to find out anything about what they're hiding from this spell. It's like when Deanna Troi senses that the aliens have something to hide... well gee, that's helpful... not.

[Telonius]

Discern Location is a good one. Besides the obvious use of locating people or stolen objects, it can be used as a tracking device. (Sovereign Glue a coin to the bottom of a wagon/carriage, etc)

[Lhurgyof]

If there are any psionic characters in the watch, Object Reading is one of the best investigatory abilities in the game!

https://www.d20srd.org/srd/psionic/powers/objectReading.htm

[Seward]

I find Zone of Truth to not really be a useful tool pretty much ever.

First of all, everyone gets a save. And you don't know if they've made a save.

You know if you scan them with detect magic during the transition from outside the zone to inside. If it works, they pick up a magic aura.

Hence the courtroom "resisting the zone of truth is evidence of guilt". Not answering is also evidence of guilt (no 5th amendment here). The suspect can still mess with you by wording responses carefully. Detect thoughts helps with that, you can tell if they're thinking up evasions.

This approach works if PC-vigilantes will do bad things to the suspect if they don't prove their innocence, or in the kind of society that has strict laws and a lot of low level priests around. (again, no presumption of innocence is needed if you can just prove innocence one way or another by magical lie detection that extends to surface thoughts. You might be wrong about what you believe is true, modify memory type spells exist as do weird stuff with illusion and shapechange magic, but what you believe to be true can be proven by just saying it and having pure thoughts)

Theocracy of the Pale (and Dimre) societies run by Pholtan priests (whose deity provides knowledge domain) in Living Greyhawk had courts that were the safest place to be if actually innocent. Not so much if guilty.

And yes, they did exactly that. Zone of Truth, acolyte on standby with detect magic, kn domain priest with detect thoughts or more rarely a trusted wizard with the spell would cast instead, any attempt to resist any spell by making a save is treated as proof of guilt. They didn't do all that for every case but those involving dangerous wealthy people like PC's? Yeah, they did, even if you were known to them and had favors etc. That stuff cuts no weight. These spells were sometimes added to "Court costs" (and always would if a scroll or wand charge was used) depending on the mood of the Judge (see sentencing). Circuit judges would more often rely on consumables, as the local priest might not be up to the job, and sometimes you need two. The judges were always priests of Pholtus but not always high level either, although circuit judges could generally manage a zone of truth and detect thoughts on their own, just having to farm off detect magic to their aid, clerk or similar.

A good lawyer could help with sentencing. You can't usually evade what you did, but the deity is also a deity of law so the letter of the law is enforced. As the deity is a Good deity, no matter how much its priests would prefer it was lawful, the laws tend to have sentencing guidelines, some judge discretion etc (like serving concurrently vs consecutively). Buttering up the Judge doesn't help. Pissing him off made it a lot worse at sentencing time. Having a legal expert in your corner tended to help minimize the damage, or would open up other avenues of recompense (eg, healing or make whole damage plus some kind of pain-and-suffering clause paid for with services/spellcasting could get you out of a lot of the kind of trouble PCs got into if nobody actually died or you didn't disintegrate a priceless work of art/heirloom/Statue of Pholtus or similar.)


Discern Location is a good one. Besides the obvious use of locating people or stolen objects, it can be used as a tracking device. (Sovereign Glue a coin to the bottom of a wagon/carriage, etc)

Yes. Very little blocks this spell, if you have somebody high enough level to access it.

[Thurbane]

Great feedback everyone, keep it coming.

As Venger mentioned, Guidance of the Avatar can give +20 to skill checks: Sense Motive would be very handy.

GotA could also be used for Search, Listen, Spot, Knowledge (local), Gather Info checks...

Is there any other skill booster spells that stack with GotA (i.e. other than Competence)?

[Jervis]

I know most people tend to stay away from Dragon Magazine, but #323 has alternate detect spells, including Detect Guilt, and Detect Violence. If the setting is strong with faith themes it has Detect Heresy too.

2e has a spell called detect bull@&$! if you want something funny


Great feedback everyone, keep it coming.

As Venger mentioned, Guidance of the Avatar can give +20 to skill checks: Sense Motive would be very handy.

GotA could also be used for Search, Listen, Spot, Knowledge (local) Gather Info checks...

If there any other skill booster spells that stack with GotA (i.e. other than Competence)?

Wield skill is a +5 competence bonus so if you don’t have anything better that works well. Other than that you need to get specific on the skill I think to get bonuses.

[Venger]

Great feedback everyone, keep it coming.

As Venger mentioned, Guidance of the Avatar can give +20 to skill checks: Sense Motive would be very handy.

GotA could also be used for Search, Listen, Spot, Knowledge (local), Gather Info checks...

Is there any other skill booster spells that stack with GotA (i.e. other than Competence)?

Improvisation, masochism, and sadism (all luck bonuses).

[Jervis]

Improvisation, masochism, and sadism (all luck bonuses).

Masochism is somewhat notable just because it’s the crux of Omnificer, which is plus infinity to skill checks. So if you don’t mind stepping in lava to crack the case this might be good

[nedz]

Great feedback everyone, keep it coming.

As Venger mentioned, Guidance of the Avatar can give +20 to skill checks: Sense Motive would be very handy.

GotA could also be used for Search, Listen, Spot, Knowledge (local), Gather Info checks...

Is there any other skill booster spells that stack with GotA (i.e. other than Competence)?

Divine Insight - level 2 Cleric divination spell gives +5+CL (max +20) to one skill roll.

[Jervis]

Divine Insight - level 2 Cleric divination spell gives +5+CL (max +20) to one skill roll.

Oh right it was the guidance of the avatar + divine insight combo that was bonkers not wield skill.