Detect Magic and Line of Effect

[Penthau]

In 1e, there were rules for detect spells that would work through certain amounts of wood, stone, etc. I haven't seen any mention of that in 2e. There don't appear to be any exceptions to Line of Effect for emanations or detect spells. Does that mean that a magic item in a sack or a chest would not be detected by Detect Magic?

[thenobledrake]

The wording for line of effect in the new edition is a little vague in regards to something like a sack blocking it.

"You have line of effect unless a creature is entirely behind a solid physical barrier."

One could read that in such a way that line of effect literally only affects a spell when you are targeting a creature with it, but also it seems like it's talking about a particular thing when it says "a solid physical barrier" that excludes certain things... like the creature you are trying to target being inside a full-coverage suit of armor, or in a sack.

The next section of rules (line of sight) invokes the cover rules when it mentions "solid barrier", so perhaps the intent is to apply those to defining what is or isn't a solid barrier for the purposes of line of effect too?

[Penthau]

Maybe a sack was a bad example. I included it because it keeps you from seeing the item inside of it. But let's just say inside a chest with 1 inch thick wooden sides or behind a thin wooden door in another room. 1e gave examples of what detect spells could penetrate (3 feet of wood in this case), but I haven't seen anything like that in 2e. Does 2e Detect Magic sense through an inch of wood? Right now, it seems like to me the answer would be no.

[Ubertron_X]

Good question and one our group also wants to know...

[Penthau]

I was thinking that this could have huge implications on the way that people search for things in PF2 vs PF1. No more scanning the room to find the magic item behind a hidden panel. No more detect evil through the door to find undead. In my games I am getting rid of the penetrating detection until I hear about it to the contrary. My players are going to miss so much more treasure now.