Prying Eyes Spell

[Papa-DRB]

The Prying Eyes spell says the following:

"These eyes move out, scout around, and return as you direct them when casting the spell. Each eye can see 120 feet (normal vision only) in all directions." and "When you create the eyes, you specify instructions you want them to follow in a command of no more than 25 words. Any knowledge you possess is known by the eyes as well."

I am the DM, and am trying to give the wizard player a ruling on how he wants to use the spell. In our last email exchange he says "The part about "knowing" would be knowing the expectation to do d4+level separate places even though in 25 words it might not be possible to say so explicitly. But IIRC in previous exchanges you have indicated to me that you would not interpret the command that way so I started getting "creative" about trying to figure out how to get d4+level scouts instead of essentially only one. A more pertinent example would be "Scout out the next several rooms the party will enter" with the expectation that the caster gets d4+level rooms rather than just one."

So my question is: Do the eyes on follow the exact 25 word command, or using his example, can the command be "scout out the next several rooms the party will enter" (or something like that) and the eyes are smart enough to scout out d4+level rooms, or does he have to specify which rooms, etc.?

-- david
Papa.DRB

[BigNorseWolf]

If the eyes were told to follow "John smith" and the caster knows who john smith is , he shouldn't have to waist words defining john smith.

If the wizard has ranks in architecture and engineering and he's looking for a Corinthian column, the eye can find that.

If the characters have a layout of the place (through scrying or a good map) and they have an itinerary then yes, the eyes should know where to go. If the party has a set search pattern that they always use (turn left, explore all rooms before all cooridoors) then the eyes should know where the caster intends to go.

If the characters have no idea where they're going and there's no search pattern, the eyes would have to use information they have (what the place looks like)and the wizards subjective call as to where to go (which the wizard DOESN"T have) and that would be a no can do.

[MordredofFairy]

Papa-DRB wrote:

The Prying Eyes spell says the following:

"These eyes move out, scout around, and return as you direct them when casting the spell. Each eye can see 120 feet (normal vision only) in all directions." and "When you create the eyes, you specify instructions you want them to follow in a command of no more than 25 words. Any knowledge you possess is known by the eyes as well."

I am the DM, and am trying to give the wizard player a ruling on how he wants to use the spell. In our last email exchange he says "The part about "knowing" would be knowing the expectation to do d4+level separate places even though in 25 words it might not be possible to say so explicitly. But IIRC in previous exchanges you have indicated to me that you would not interpret the command that way so I started getting "creative" about trying to figure out how to get d4+level scouts instead of essentially only one. A more pertinent example would be "Scout out the next several rooms the party will enter" with the expectation that the caster gets d4+level rooms rather than just one."

So my question is: Do the eyes on follow the exact 25 word command, or using his example, can the command be "scout out the next several rooms the party will enter" (or something like that) and the eyes are smart enough to scout out d4+level rooms, or does he have to specify which rooms, etc.?

-- david
Papa.DRB

Scout rooms ahead. One eye

per room shall return and
report. If running out of
rooms, split evenly, hide at
crossroads, reporting when seeing me.

(5 words per line, 25 total).
Done. They will swarm off, every room, one will head back to you. If there are less than 25 rooms(and "the rooms ahead" is a definition known to the wizard, thus by the eyes) left, they'll split and wait, hiding at points of likely heavy traffic for you and reporting enemy movements when you enter their vision.

Really, just get creative with uses. Compare other spells of the level.
Beside, they can still be squatted like flies if you don't WANT to give them intel. Maybe that one eye returning from the "sensitive" room doesn't make it back? All of a sudden, there's a Troll Barbarian the party didn't know about, or an extra room.
Give some utility to the spell, if players are practical enough to find wordings that give it use.

Of course, if the player doesn't create wordings, or faulty ones, then yeah, problem for him.

I have several default spread patterns and wordings for prying eyes, about 6-8 or so. In 3 different languages in which the wording was "shorter" to make. (Reasoning in-game that i can also use other languages than common to give my commands). It's one of those spells that take a little work, and possibly cooperation with the DM, but ONCE you are set, they keep working and working and working, like little flying duracell bunnies with integrated HD-Cameras.

[blashimov]

What would you suggest for an above ground scouting circle? I was trying "Form and maintain even circle of radius ….. ft 60 ft above ground and report dangerous creatures or if eye destroyed." Where I recalculate the radius at each level and based on the d4 roll, but I don't want more than one eye to report the same group of creatures, and I only have 4 words left.

[Diego Rossi]

"Form and maintain even circle, radius ….. ft 60 ft above ground. Lowest numbered eye that has seen them report dangerous creatures or eye destroyed"

It should work if "maintain even circle" is accepted by the GM as "reposition yourselves so that you are evenly distributed between the different positions every time one of you leave the circle".
The only problem would be when the eyes become too few to see each other.

This "If an eye ever gets more than 1 mile away from you, it instantly ceases to exist. However, your link with the eye is such that you won't know if the eye was destroyed because it wandered out of range or because of some other event." suggest me the idea that the caster know when a eye is destroyed.

Another option to use less words "Form and maintain pattern five, Lowest numbered eye that has seen them report dangerous creatures or eye destroyed". If you have defined beforehand what is pattern five (and the other patterns) it should be acceptable. It is part of your knowledge. Military units and football teams use that kind of shorthand for specific predefined formations.