The Deathwatch spell (ported up from 3.5) says:
"Using the powers of necromancy, you can determine the condition of creatures near death within the spell's range. You instantly know whether each creature within the area is dead, fragile[...]"
It sounds like it would be a free action ("instantly know"), but the spell doesn't specify. Since you can already use move action to do a Heal check, I'd say a 1st level spell should be faster than that.
Has anyone ever used this spell in their games? If so, how did you rule?
I'd say it's automatic, or "not an action" in economy terms. This is almost effectively the same as free, ymmv.
I would treat this as "vision" for the duration of the spell. In other words, the caster can see health status as easily as she can see a cup of tea sitting on the table. It isn't even a free action, since those can theoretically be limited at GM discretion.
baradakas wrote: I would treat this as "vision" for the duration of the spell. In other words, the caster can see health status as easily as she can see a cup of tea sitting on the table. It isn't even a free action, since those can theoretically be limited at GM discretion. While I agree this is a reasonable take on RAI, RAW may allow you to also detect invisible creatures (without negating concealment).
Deathwatch wrote: Using the powers of necromancy, you can determine the condition of creatures near death within the spell's range.
Archaeik wrote: baradakas wrote: I would treat this as "vision" for the duration of the spell. In other words, the caster can see health status as easily as she can see a cup of tea sitting on the table. It isn't even a free action, since those can theoretically be limited at GM discretion. While I agree this is a reasonable take on RAI, RAW may allow you to also detect invisible creatures (without negating concealment).
Deathwatch wrote: Using the powers of necromancy, you can determine the condition of creatures near death within the spell's range. Sorry, I didn't mean to equate it to vision, only to compare it to vision. It's just a judgement call on whether you'd see invisible creatures with it. For flavor, I like the necromancy of being able to sense health or closeness to death, even of creatures you can't otherwise see. Since the player can't actually target the "death sensed" creature directly, she'd basically only be able to affect it with AOE. So while it's a little cheesy to allow it, it seems like good flavor with little abuse potential.
Archaeik wrote: baradakas wrote: I would treat this as "vision" for the duration of the spell. In other words, the caster can see health status as easily as she can see a cup of tea sitting on the table. It isn't even a free action, since those can theoretically be limited at GM discretion. While I agree this is a reasonable take on RAI, RAW may allow you to also detect invisible creatures (without negating concealment).
Deathwatch wrote: Using the powers of necromancy, you can determine the condition of creatures near death within the spell's range. Note that PFS has a specific rule that says otherwise, so that won't fly in a PFS game.
Jeff Merola wrote: Archaeik wrote: baradakas wrote: I would treat this as "vision" for the duration of the spell. In other words, the caster can see health status as easily as she can see a cup of tea sitting on the table. It isn't even a free action, since those can theoretically be limited at GM discretion. While I agree this is a reasonable take on RAI, RAW may allow you to also detect invisible creatures (without negating concealment).
Deathwatch wrote: Using the powers of necromancy, you can determine the condition of creatures near death within the spell's range. Note that PFS has a specific rule that says otherwise, so that won't fly in a PFS game. This is all fine and good, but I'd like to point out that you'd need LoS (not just LoE) to any creature detected in this way anyway per the Magic rules, which covers most uses of stealth continuing to function vs the caster.
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