Talk:Detect Survivors (3.5e Spell)

Mrer?

(the translation of the title from cat to english: I am having difficulty with a particular aspect of the situation presented, although not abject to it's existance entirely.) By my math, the soonest a caster can get this spell (cleric 5), it detects everything that has 5 hit points and and most things with 15 hit points. This would mean that an entire town would light up as "survivors", regardless of where they were of the conditions surrounding their status, like having only 3 hit points to begin with (for elf villages).

Might I reccommend a condition that the spell distinguish between damaged and healthy creatures? Or, because this spell is "detect survivors", prehaps it allows you to detect all creatures that have taken X damage within Y time limit?--Change=Chaos. Period. SC 20:20, 4 March 2011 (UTC)

This spell is primarily designed to be useful for destroying things like elf villages, as it is made for the Genocide Domain. Elf commoners are weak enough that it's basically impossible by level 5 to injure them without killing them. The survivors of a genocide are usually the ones who hide from the attackers, not the ones who are only shot once. --Foxwarrior 20:51, 4 March 2011 (UTC)

Incidentally, from my stint in Ireland, I've found that most old houses have stone walls at about a foot thick. Not because they needed fortification, but rather because having thicker walls means they are less likely to collapse from bad construction (plus vaguely better insulation). Even assuming that all walls are a half foot thick, like a double brick wall, that still means that someone casting the spell would only see in the building immediately visible - other building, or even building built at an angle, will block the emanation. Seems a bit unhelpful. -- Aelaris 22:21, 4 March 2011 (UTC)

You'll still see them if they have less health than your caster level. Don't worry, those 3 hp commoners aren't safe. --Foxwarrior 22:52, 4 March 2011 (UTC)

Though it would require a mechanics overall, have you considered turning this spell into a wider range but situational spell? Like "if this spell is cast anytime in the hour of something occurring that's killed at least one person, then you divine whose in the area and their status of health". Basically Mass Status without the lasting duration, and based on something happening.

Or, even, ditch the restriction. Make it Mass Instant Status. All creatures in 1 mile show up. You detect how many creatures are in 1 mile, their general health, and on round three you can pinpoint where the dying ones are. That will both justify the oddly high spell level, and have use outside of the genocide domain. Army captains would like to know if their troops are still alive, PC parties want to see who they can save in the burned town, etc. -- Eiji-kun 10:47, 19 June 2011 (UTC)

I suppose level 3 was a bit high for a spell that couldn't detect any enemies worth actually worrying about. I'm just a bit worried that it makes finding the +40 Hide people a little too easy. --Foxwarrior 07:17, 20 June 2011 (UTC)

Then make users make spot checks against those which are actively hiding. Alternatively it just tells you general locations, and you can't get any resolution better than, oh, 100 feet. -- Eiji-kun 07:42, 20 June 2011 (UTC)

Ratings

	Luigifan18 likes this article and rated it 3 of 4.
	I do not want to think about what might have happened if the Nazis had anyone capable of casting this spell.

	Aarnott likes this article and rated it 3 of 4.
	A cool flavorful spell. Seems to be the appropriate level.

Balance?

Seriously... there's no balance point here. I'd hazard a guess that it's "High", but I should put it up for community review first. --Luigifan18 (talk) 03:56, 5 December 2012 (UTC)