Would true seeing reveal possession?


Rules Questions


Adventure Path Charter Subscriber

A discussion arose in my group as to whether or not the true seeing spell would reveal that a creature was being possessed, such as via a ghost's malevolence ability or a magic jar spell.

As written, I don't think that it does, simply because the text of the spell doesn't seem to say anything about that. The counterargument is that the spell lets you see "the true form of polymorphed, changed, or transmuted things," in addition to everything else it says it does (that, and asserting that possession would fall within the scope of the spell's first sentence, to "see all things as they actually are").

I'm skeptical of that interpretation, but I wanted to know what you guys think.


I'd personally say no. True Seeing is fairly explicit in what it beats, and possession or enchantments like Dominate aren't one of them. The segment you quoted is pretty much meant to cover physical transformations (brought on by magic since it doesn't work on anything mundane) and its a pretty liberal interpretation to have "changed" extend to possession effects.

Sovereign Court

I don't think that true seeing would reveal possession. I'm not entirely sure what the CRB means by "changed," but I feel confident that possession isn't included under that umbrella.


Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Superscriber

The key phrase is actually "true form" which does not entail possession, dominate, etc. (unless there are physical manifestations of the possession, but they'd be real anyway).

Liberty's Edge

Probably some of your group members are old time players that recall whad did the older form of true seeing, but the text in Pathfinder has been changed.
Older versions allowed you to see the aura of the creature observed. That is not possible with the current version.

Community / Forums / Pathfinder / Pathfinder First Edition / Rules Questions / Would true seeing reveal possession? All Messageboards

Want to post a reply? Sign in.
Recent threads in Rules Questions