So, as I've mentioned on other threads, I'm about to run Part 5 of the Carrion Crown adventure path, Ashes at Dawn. I plan to modify the approach of the story, choosing to deceive the players into thinking they're just helping "eccentric nobles" root out a killer who has been killing key members of the upper echelons. Eventually, they will stumble upon the truth, but I see no reason why vampires who've managed to live virtually undetected amongst the living for several centuries would so easily drop that illusion for a bunch of out-of-towners!
Anyway, in order to propagate the illusion of them being "merely eccentric nobles", and not vampires, I am looking for a reliable method for concealing their undead nature. Undetectable Alignment will work perfectly for concealing their EVIL nature, but I can't find a spell that will throw off Detect Undead. I thought I ran across something like this while researching Necromancer Builds; a spell which would grant undead (primarily used for zombies, in that case) the appearance of being alive, while disguising them from Detect Undead, but I can't seem to locate it.
Can anyone advise me on a magical method for a vampire (or any undead) to hide their undead nature from the Detect Undead spell? Even better if it's low enough level to be potion-able!
Most of the time, Detect Undead seems like a worthless spell... until it's not. In this case, it's a seemingly insurmountable obstacle (for me, as GM). I don't want to house rule something in, because that always feels cheap and underhanded. But if there is something in the rules I can use... fantastic.
Of course, a simple Hide from Undead would also be a (ahem) dead... giveaway. But I don't anticipate my party running around Caliphas proper with Hide from Undead in constant effect... especially since they've never used the spell in prior chapters.
FOUND IT! Hahaha! It figures, I looked for it for the last few days, and only when I go to posting a thread about it do I actually find it.
Woot!
Thanks anyway, all!
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The nondetection spell will also work. Though it's 1 level higher than flesh facade, it lasts 1 hour/level instead of 10 min/level.
Do you think it would be reasonably permissible to allow Prestidigitation to create the effect of a minor illusion for one hour? Say... casting a shadow?
Combining Fleshy Facade to look like the living and bypass Detect Undead (rolling the cleric's saving throw in secret, to avoid metagaming), Penumbra (we don't have to be PFS legal) or Protective Penumbra to protect the vampire from the sun for a short time, and Prestidigitation to cast a shadow for 1 hour should be sufficient to maintain the disguise when pressed to do so under the scrutiny of powerful heroes, wouldn't you think?
If Prestidigitation is no good, I guess I can step it up to Silent Image and just have the vamp maintain concentration.
The only giveaway would be anyone using Detect Magic, but I can't thwart everything. Hahaha!
A magic item that provides that constantly could work really well.
Something like a Hat of Disguise, but for undead? I think that's reasonable. Since Fleshy Facade is a 2nd level spell (while Disguise Self is only 1st level), I could limit the item to like "X amount of time per day, spent in 10 minute increments"?
Proved myself wrong again! Magic Aura FTW, though it might be a stretch to cast it in such a way as to make spell effects detect as nonmagical. :P
while it doesn't specifically call it out in the spell description, the "Daywalker" spell from "cohorts and companions seems like it was designed for this purpose.
Deathwatch is the easy way find undead and it's not a divination! It ignores most of the ways to hide an undead, so it can throw a serious wrench into any 'hide the undead' plans. Tieflings with Soul Seer have it at will! :)
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Thanks for the tips! I don't plan to thwart EVERY effort to discern the undead nature of the vampires... If my players are very clever and/or persistent, they should be able to eventually uncover the truth. To do otherwise would be, in my opinion, the sign of a bad GM. The equivalent to metagaming on the part of the game master.
All the tricks, magical or otherwise, I want to pull to blind the players from the truth should be things which a reasonable amount of research on the part of centuries old vampires should be able to reveal, while remaining in the realm of reasonably cost efficient and accessible. For this reason, anything which could LEGALLY be made into a potion (3rd level magic and lower) fit neatly into this category. While Daywalker is a nice spell, it might be reserved for only the upper echelons of this vampire society, as it exceeds my guidelines.
I'm trying to follow this rule with any modifications I make to the adventure -- not doing anything against the PCs which I wouldn't allow them to do themselves. The idea of using a whip, for example, (with all the applicable feats) to "grab" an enemy, and then use the movement of a flying mount to drop their would-be enemy from an extreme height may be bending the rules a bit, but if a player presented it to me, I'd let them do it on the grounds of: A. Creativity/"The Rule of Cool" factor. And B. It's not a far stretch to allow this with a whip, when I could easily see a mounted cowboy dragging a person with a lasso. The "rules" regarding this are vague to non-existent, only siting the rule for moving a grappled enemy using your own movement power. There seem to be no governing rules regarding doing this with the assistance of a powerful mount. For this reason, I'm switching the Dullahan's weapon from a flail to a whip, replacing many of its feats to accommodate the tactic, and using the Nightmare to fly his victims up into the air.