Spells for Finding One's heritage

[TheElfLord]

In my game I have a character who wants to know about his ancestry. He's been told he has demon blood and wants to find out for sure. (Its really Dragon blood) As soon as he gets to a major town, he wants to find a temple and pay to have them divine his heiritage.

What spells would be useful for discovering his ancesotrs and their powers? And where are these spells found?

[Aquaseafoam]

Identify.....?

[RoboticSheeple]

In my game I have a character who wants to know about his ancestry. He's been told he has demon blood and wants to find out for sure. (Its really Dragon blood) As soon as he gets to a major town, he wants to find a temple and pay to have them divine his heiritage.

What spells would be useful for discovering his ancesotrs and their powers? And where are these spells found?

Discern Bloodlines from Races of Destiny should work just fine. It's a first level Wizard Divination spell. Can't say anymore here because it's not OGL content.

[psychoticbarber]

Ask the DM to homebrew something for you? I don't think you should necessarily be limited to combing splatbooks for your spell.

[TheElfLord]

Ask the DM to homebrew something for you? I don't think you should necessarily be limited to combing splatbooks for your spell.

Upon rereading my post I realized I wasn't as clear as I could have been. I am the DM and this is something one of my players wants to do. Rather than homebrew something I would prefer to use an existing spell if one works. If not, I'll homebrew something.


I'll have to check that spell out Robotic.

[Mewtarthio]

First level seems too low. You should set the level of the spell to whatever you believe is right. Bear in mind, the harder it is to figure something out, the more important that thing usually is, so the level of the divination spell should be relative to the importance of such a heritage to your game:

{table=head]Level | Importance of bloodline (approx.)
0 | Miscellaneous fact (such as astrological sign)
1 | Little bit of trivia that makes you feel special (eg "I'm one-quarter Japanese!")
2 | Useful fact (eg A minor organization accepts only candidates of a certain bloodline)
3 | Important fact (eg All the land's nobility must be of a certain bloodline)
4 | Very important fact (The king must be of a certain bloodline)
5 | Imperative fact (The land is held by stewards, but the last scion of a certain bloodline is prophecied to return and reclaim the throne)
6 | Dangerous fact (The land is held by unrightful tyrants, and the last scion of a certain bloodline is prophecied to return and free the land)
7 | Turning point in history (All the lands are divided into individual autonomous reigons, but the last scion of a certain bloodline is prophecied to erase all divisions and unite the world into a single empire)
8 | Earth-shattering revelation (The last scion of a certain bloodline will destroy the world)
9 | The cosmos awaits with bated breath (The bloodline is divine; its scion holds the birthright to a significant portfolio)
Epic | The results will send every creature in the multiverse into the throes of extreme emotion (The bloodline heralds the destruction of time)[/table]

With this as a guide, I'd put it somewhere around 3 or 4.

[psychoticbarber]

@Mewthario

The only problem I see with that is that a person's bloodline could fit into any of those categories. So as a general rule, it's hard to assign a level to a spell when the possible damage done changes depending on who the spell is being cast on.

[Green Bean]

Well, if the character or anscestor is important, casting Legend Lore could work.

[Merlin the Tuna]

The aforementioned Discern Bloodline will probably do it. If not, find a Psion (Seer) to perform Object Reading on any family heirlooms you might have.

[MrNexx]

Legend Lore

Legend lore brings to your mind legends about an important person, place, or thing. If the person or thing is at hand, or if you are in the place in question, the casting time is only 1d4×10 minutes. If you have only detailed information on the person, place, or thing, the casting time is 1d10 days, and the resulting lore is less complete and specific (though it often provides enough information to help you find the person, place, or thing, thus allowing a better legend lore result next time). If you know only rumors, the casting time is 2d6 weeks, and the resulting lore is vague and incomplete (though it often directs you to more detailed information, thus allowing a better legend lore result next time).

During the casting, you cannot engage in other than routine activities: eating, sleeping, and so forth. When completed, the divination brings legends (if any) about the person, place, or things to your mind. These may be legends that are still current, legends that have been forgotten, or even information that has never been generally known. If the person, place, or thing is not of legendary importance, you gain no information. As a rule of thumb, characters who are 11th level and higher are “legendary,” as are the sorts of creatures they contend with, the major magic items they wield, and the places where they perform their key deeds.

Not perfect, but definitely a place to start.

[Mewtarthio]

@Mewthario

The only problem I see with that is that a person's bloodline could fit into any of those categories. So as a general rule, it's hard to assign a level to a spell when the possible damage done changes depending on who the spell is being cast on.

I didn't mean for that to be a guideline to a single, universal detection spell. I just meant that, say, a second-level spell could be used to determine that a half-elf is 75% elf, 20% human, and 5% aberration, while a sixth-level spell could be used to determine that someone is the seventh son of the seventh son of the seventh sun unto the ninth generation of an ancient king who was overthrown.

Also, yeah, it makes no sense that it would be harder to determine a royal bloodline based on whether or not the kingdom still exists. A campaign setting shouldn't have nine detect macguffin spells floating around out there, but they should generally be based off how important said macguffins are. For instance, if a certain bloodline is designed to unite the world, but all kings are assigned by bloodline as well, there shouldn't be a fourth-level detect king spell and a seventh-level detect Chosen One spell: There should be a seventh-level detect king spell that reveals the bloodline, and all other kings would be forced to figure things out on their own. At most, there would be a fourth-level detect king spell that shows the presence of a bloodline and a seventh-level discern bloodline spell that clarifies it.

As a side note, the above examples are just examples, explicitly made as generic and cliched as I can think of. I do not condone using a single, prophesied Chosen One in a collaborative game that involves dice.

[BardicDuelist]

I didn't mean for that to be a guideline to a single, universal detection spell. I just meant that, say, a second-level spell could be used to determine that a half-elf is 75% elf, 20% human, and 5% aberration, {snip}

I am suddenly very interested in half-elves in your campaign world.