Figuring out who created undead?

[LucyG92]

A player wants to know who sent a burning skeletal dragon after him. Or, more specifically, who raised it in the first place. Is there any way to do this in Pathfinder? Detection spells or anything?

[DominusMegadeus]

Magic can do anything, you just have to find the right splat book.

[Diachronos]

Carrion Compass is the only spell I can think of to track the controller or animator of an undead creature, but there are a few limitations on it, such as not being able to track the animator/controller more than 5 miles from where you cast the spell... and the spell automatically ending if the undead creature you cast it on is destroyed.

[Fuzzy-Wuzzy]

Commune, if he can narrow it down to a short list of suspects.

[deusvult]

Divination spells are designed for situations just like that presented in the OP.

Depending on the context, you might get use out of a 2nd level Augury to provide clues to "who made this burning skeleton"? You should be able to get use out of the 4th level Divination, but RAW IS LAW types might insist there are issues with usimg that spell on events in the past. Regardless, if you can cast (or purchase the spellcasting services for) Commune, you get to play 20 questions worded as being answerable by yes/no.

[LucyG92]

Well, there aren't any organs to use and he already destroyed it - otherwise, Carrion Compass would have been a good solution.

Augury says it tells you whether an action could be good or bad - I'm not sure how you could make that into something that would help determine the creator of the skeleton?

I think he was hoping there might be some sort of aura you can follow; he had this idea from this text in the Detect Magic spell description:

Quote:

Outsiders and elementals are not magical in themselves, but if they are summoned, the conjuration spell registers.

[Diachronos]

LucyG92 wrote:

I think he was hoping there might be some sort of aura you can follow; he had this idea from this text in the Detect Magic spell description:

Quote:

Outsiders and elementals are not magical in themselves, but if they are summoned, the conjuration spell registers.

The issue there is that animate dead is an instantaneous spell, so the spell's starts to fade immediately after it's cast. The undead creature is effectively sustaining itself rather than being constantly kept active by the spell.

[Saldiven]

Diachronos wrote:

Carrion Compass is the only spell I can think of to track the controller or animator of an undead creature, but there are a few limitations on it, such as not being able to track the animator/controller more than 5 miles from where you cast the spell... and the spell automatically ending if the undead creature you cast it on is destroyed.

How would that work with a Skeleton, I wonder....

"ou animate one of the target’s fetid organs so that it leads you to the undead creature’s most recent controller or the cause of the creature’s undeath. The organ (typically the heart, the brain, or an eyeball)...."

and

"If the undead creature to which the organ belonged is destroyed, the spell ends and the organ falls to the ground."

[ryric]

The player could try the Psychometry occult skill unlock. You can get glimpses of the last owner of an object, which could very well be the animating necromancer:

PRD wrote:

Psychometry (Appraise)

You can read the psychic impressions left on objects or in places by previous owners and events.

Check: Once per day, you can concentrate for 1 minute while in physical contact with an item or location, during which you receive flashes of insight regarding the subject's nature and ownership. After 1 minute, you attempt a DC 15 Appraise check to decipher the visions. You gain one piece of information about the historical significance or the last previous owner—such as a glimpse of the last owner's appearance or its emotional state when it last used the item—determined by the GM. You learn one more piece of information for every 10 by which your check result exceeds the DC, as long as you concentrate for 1 additional minute for each piece of information. If you fail the check by less than 5 or the item has no significant psychic imprint, you don't learn any information. If you fail this check by 5 or more, the item appears to be psychically significant even if it's not, and the information you gain is wildly inaccurate. If you attempt to use psychometry on an item affected by charge object or implant false reading, you automatically learn all information imprinted by the spell. You must also attempt a Will save. If the item is affected by an implant false reading spell, on a success, you realize the information was false, and can determine the true information as well. On a failure, or if the item is affected by a charge object spell, you believe the information is true.

Action: Reading an object requires at least 1 minute of uninterrupted concentration.

Try Again: Yes. Multiple readings on an object or place always give the same results unless its circumstances or ownership have changed, but additional checks might reach further back into an object's history. You don't reroll the saving throw to determine if a psychic imprint is false. You can still use psychometry only once per day.

If the PCs don't have a psychic caster they could always hire one to do it for them.

[Drahliana Moonrunner]

If you watch detective shows, they main reason they catch crooks is because the latter make a mistake.

If the DM wants to have this as part of a story, he'll leave a clue that can be found with a Perception check, that clue will lead them to the next place they can look and find some more clues, after perhaps a battle.