Detect Magic in scenario 35: Voice in the Void

[Covert Operator]

I feel like the use of Detect Magic in this scenario was a bit cheap. The PCs were able to detect exactly which of the things were a threat

:

They instantly knew that the two devil statues were the ones that would animate, they knew the Chimaera was the magic one. They completely ignored all the other statues/taxidermia.

[kinevon]

Since they are just standing there,. concentrating, for three rounds, in each of those cases, I am not sure how they got away with it.

For the chimaera, given the placements, if they try to detect from the entrance from 1, they have to come into the room to even have a line-of-sight, and therefore line-of-effect, to the chimaera. And, from the door into 4, they have to come into the room to be able to turn the path toward that corner, given cover and obstructions. In either case, the chimaera activates long before the detect magic does more than waste a turn for the caster.

For the devil statues, they are constructs, and don't even animate until the PCs are fairly far into the room. To be honest, given their abilities, I don't think the PCs get much of an advantage knowing that those statues, there, radiate magic. 3 rounds, and a DC 24 Knowledge (arcana) check are not freebies, and then they get only the auras, of Enchantment, Transmutation, and Evocation. Without metagaming, at this point, they are probably looking for a magic object, rather than a construct/creature.

It is the same issue, in many ways, for someone trying to use detect magic to find someone who is under an invisibility spell. First round only says if there is magic in the cone, not how much, how many, or even how strong, just a yes or no to noticing magic. And, honestly, most casters, especially the ones with both detect magic and knowledge (arcana) are not going to be in the front rank, which means that they have to wait until they know the number of sources to know if they are detecting more than their frontliners magic stuff.

Even at 3rd level, there are likely to be things like an emergency potion of CLW, maybe a potion of Magic Weapon, an Ioun torch, magic armor or weapons, minor magical items, etc.

[GM Lamplighter]

Yeah, the limitations of detect magic are key, but a lot of GMs will just forget about them.

First round, all you know is "there is magic" which will almost always be the case since your companions will have something. Second round is number of auras - count up all the magic items in the party, plus any active buff spells... usually the answer is something like "there are 5 moderate and 32 faint magical auras within range, of the following schools..." By this time, any magic trap will have triggered, any magic creatures will have animated, etc. and it is moot.

[Covert Operator]

They would use it through every door before opening it. For the Chimaera, I told them "there's magic in that corner" and they positioned themselves in the surprise round. For the statues, they entered the other way so were right next to the statues. They just knew that it was a threat, and tried to destroy them immediately.
Also the magic-detectors were a melee inquisitor and melee summoner, so they were the front rank. Also it only says that the statues activate when the PCs reach the centre of the room.
I thought that Detect Magic let you pinpoint where the magic is, not just the number of magics. I'm probably wrong

[GM Lamplighter]

Third round lets you pinpoint. Doing it through the door doesn't let you see theough stone, though... So they shouldn't know about the entire room. Why are they attacking magic auras instead of looking for magic items, though?

[Covert Operator]

I dunno why, but for the chimaera, I would rather be on my guard for a taxidermic chimaera with a magic aura than think its a magic item at first. For the statues, everything suspicious had been malicious so far, so they had good reason to suspect (the statues were the last room on the top floor that they searched)

[kinevon]

First round, it just says "Yes" or "No" on whether there is magic in the 60' path of detection.

Also, as the spell notes, it won't work through some things, including rock and stone past a certain depth.

It may, just may, work through a door, but that would limit the path even more than normal.

Second round is just the number of auras, not what kind of magic they are, just the number. And, for the power of the auras, it only includes the power of the most powerful aura, not all of them.

Third round gives numbers and general locations, if in line of sight, they can make a Knowledge (arcana) check on it, but if the door is closed, they cannot do that, other than for things like the weapon he is holding in his hands.

And, as mentioned in the spell, a stronger aura can mask or hide a weaker one behind it:
Magical areas, multiple types of magic, or strong local magical emanations may distort or conceal weaker auras.

Also note: Outsiders and elementals are not magical in themselves, but if they are summoned, the conjuration spell registers. Each round, you can turn to detect magic in a new area. The spell can penetrate barriers, but 1 foot of stone, 1 inch of common metal, a thin sheet of lead, or 3 feet of wood or dirt blocks it.

In general, especially in a basement or underground, you can probably assume a standard wall is going to be at least a foot thick of stone.

In a home game, for a higher level creature's lair, you can pretty much guess that any spellcaster's home is going to have lead sheets embedded in doors and such.

And, of course, we are talking about a museum, here, so there are probably plenty of preservative and divinatory spells that have been used or are in use there. Anyone want to guess how many of the dead bodies used for some of the exhibits are under the effect of Gentle Repose?

[Ascalaphus]

When we played this, the GM added some fluff about a lot of "false positives" on Detect Magic from the Gate. So whenever you used DM there were some odd things going on at the corner of your vision, some inexplicable bits of aura here and there that didn't really seem to do anything specific. Likewise, there were some weird noises and feelings we observed without any trace of magic.

It worked very well to set the mood. But it also blocked cheap tricks :)

[kinevon]

Ascalaphus wrote:

When we played this, the GM added some fluff about a lot of "false positives" on Detect Magic from the Gate. So whenever you used DM there were some odd things going on at the corner of your vision, some inexplicable bits of aura here and there that didn't really seem to do anything specific. Likewise, there were some weird noises and feelings we observed without any trace of magic.

It worked very well to set the mood. But it also blocked cheap tricks :)

Some of that is actually written into the scenario, IIRC.

This is one of several scenarios that would play well at Halloween, with candles, spooky music, and weird sound effects going on..

[Ascalaphus]

We actually did play it at Halloween. It was awesome.

[prong999]

If you think the players are being cheap, you can always dissuade them a little by dragging the process out.

"Ok, you cast detect magic, and begin concentrating... There are magical auras present..."

"Round two, you continue to concentrate, hang on while I determine how many auras are present...."

"There are 1,224 auras present... 112 of those auras are strong... Which one do you want to roll for first?"

[Silbeg]

Also, Undead don't radiate magic in and of themselves. Not sure constructs do, either... so I wouldn't think that it would reveal which statues are animate.

On the other hand, in this scenario, with what is going on, I would not feel bad in saying that the entire level of the Blakros Museum radiates strong Conjuration magic... everwhere. There could be some Divination, too... both of which could be describing the Lovecraftian horror scene that this scenario is.

Then, you could say "You scan, and you see a few dozen auras. It is odd, because they don't seem stable... some are persistent, some come and go in odd ways."

Start throwing them more information than they want, and eventually they'll get it!