Vurim's page

I think you can certainly make the argument that supernatural abilities should register on the "Detect Magic radar," but if they do, it just raises more questions that have no official answer. (What level is the spell? What school does it belong to? Etc.) And reading the spell description literally, detect magic detects magical auras created by functioning spells and magic items and that's it.

Wow! I think that nails it. You got that description you quoted off the "Aura Strength" part of Detect Magic. Shows me that I ought to be doing closer reading. And the "Lingering Aura" paragraph after it mentions those two concerns as well.

I think that very ably explains why it ought not to detect the doppelganger's disguise and why I should not be misled by anything like the spell's name! :-) If anything, maybe it's the supernatural ability description that could do with a little tweaking!

At any rate, mucho thanks, Vegepygmy! Your response comes in very handy when I DM the group later today.

The party I'm DMing is in the middle of Hall of Harsh Reflections and there is a warlock among them. Based on their recent run-in with a doppelganger, they have taken to asking the warlock to detect magic to ferret out any other shapechanger.

Now Detect Magic detects magical auras, and the doppelganger's change shape ability is supernatural which is defined as magical. So does this mean a cantrip type spell is sufficient to uncover the presence of doppelgangers by the third round of concentration?

On the other hand, supernatural abilities are not subject to spell resistance and dispel magic, so I am inclined to group detect magic among them.

However, I would really feel better about it if there was some reference I could cite. Any thoughts on the matter? I'd appreciate it if you could point out a ruling that I might have missed or if you have an opinion on how to best deal with the situation.

Thanks!

So Allustan used his dimension door to enter the keep and help shore up the defenses and repel the lizardfolk while the PCs went for the head of the army and killed the siege's leader and the druid. Then, once the battle was over, there were two tasks that needed doing - rescuing Marzena and getting reinforcements. Since the commander of the Diamond Lake garrison trusts Allustan, he can get the reinforcements,

Nice workaround! If I could go back in time, I'd DM Allustan this way! I think it would have been more consistent with his abilities and with the situation.

And most pcs will see $$$$$'s when they see that egg, or want to destroy it as it is an evil dragon.

The party has a henchman along who could probably make a fuss about leaving an evil-dragon egg behind. It's just that Hishka's stand on Ilthane wasn't presented definitively in the module and so the dominant PCs in the party are of the mind that since an alliance with Hishka has been struck, then it wouldn't do to deprive the tribe of its protector's egg.

Anyway, as it happens, I suspect it'll play out ok in the end. They kind off committed themselves against Ilthane when they went and dispatched her kobold minions anyway. The henchman making that point out about leaving the eggs of evil dragons behind coupled with Hishka showing up and ensuring that the last tie with Ilthane be severed should commit them to the spawnling encounter.

Thanks for the ideas! I also spotted another post dealing specifically with the egg and there are some good ideas there as well.

Thanks for the idea, Demiurge. I could have Hishka follow the party into the egg chamber and demand the egg's destruction as an addition to their agreement. Ilthane was responsible for stirring up the tribe against the humans in the Free City, a foolhardy course of action in the eyes of Hishka. It makes sense that he/she would want to liberate the tribe from such an endangering influence.

All of the endings assume that the PCs break the big black egg, but as far as I can find it doesn't just happen on its own. So since my PCs are carefull they took it way out into the swamp to examine it. Did I just misread where it pops open or something if it is touched?

The party I am DMing was at this point in the adventure when we had to adjourn. I'd be interested in any ideas you might have to influence the PCs into destroying the egg as I am not entirely sure they may be inclined to.

They inspected the black dragon egg but failed to note anything peculiar about it. I'll try maneuvering additional Listen checks that will enable them to have a hint of what's inside it. At this point, they're of the mind that Ilthane was not far from the truth in leading the lizardfolk to believe that the humans from the Free City were responsible as the party thinks that it could have been cult members in the City that brought the worms to the marsh. One character is leaning towards carrying the black egg off and selling it. The kobold guards have all been slain and none questioned (not that that would have helped much). Or they might just leave it be. In either case, it would seem a waste of a particularly good kind of encounter, if they missed the danger posed by the fake egg.

As was suggested, an alliance with Hishka had developed, and a seed of doubt planted as to whether Ilthane was really looking out for the interests of the Twisted Branch tribe. But I'm not sure they are inclined to destroy the egg if they still thought there was a chance Ilthane was acting as a sincere protector.

Of course, there is always the Spawn back at the Keep to present a nice ending to the adventure. If they left the egg behind, then it would simply mean a lot more Spawns in the Mistmarsh, which would add to the growing atmosphere of danger for the Adventure Path.

Still, if you have any suggestions on subtly influencing the party into the spawnling encounter, that would be nice!