Does detect magic detect everything???

[kk14]

Thank you all very much.

A few more questions. Why doesn't detect magic use eyes? I thought it did. I don't have book here but doesn't the caster 'see' the auras. wouldn't that make invisibility not visible? this is purely outside of RAW now, as I understand that the 5 ft. square would be identified as having an invisible thing in it.

Surely this makes detect magic almost as good as many higher spells such as 'see invisibility' and 'invisibility purge and 'true seeing'? is it overpowered?

Can a mage concentrate while moving? Does this include hustles and runs?

 

[Hypersmurf]

A few more questions. Why doesn't detect magic use eyes? I thought it did. I don't have book here but doesn't the caster 'see' the auras.

No. You 'detect' the auras. And given that you can detect them through 3 feet of wood, having it visual-based would be tricky.

Surely this makes detect magic almost as good as many higher spells such as 'see invisibility' and 'invisibility purge and 'true seeing'? is it overpowered?

No. Because in round 1, you'd know "There's magic somewhere in the 60 feet in front of me." In round 2, you'd know "There are four auras!" And in round 3, you'd know "Oh god oh god sneak attacks hurt!"

Compare this with See Invisibility, where in round 1, you know "There's an invisible rogue with a dagger standing over there", and you zap him with Scorching Ray.

Can a mage concentrate while moving? Does this include hustles and runs?

Yes, yes, and no; it requires a standard action to concentrate, so you can take a move action, but not the full-round action Run requires.

-Hyp.

 

[starwed]

And in round 3, you'd know "Oh god oh god sneak attacks hurt!"

3 rounds is also the magic number for an assassin's death attack. ^_^

 

[Kmart Kommando]

Yes, yes, and no; it requires a standard action to concentrate, so you can take a move action, but not the full-round action Run requires.

-Hyp.

Actually, it's yes, no, and no. Hustling is double moving, which you can't do any round you are using your standard action to concentrate.

In the game I'm in now, the detect spells have been house-ruled to swift actions to activate, but the concentration part hasn't really come up yet, as none have actually been cast in combat so far.

 

[Hypersmurf]

Hustling is double moving, which you can't do any round you are using your standard action to concentrate.

No, it's not. In combat, you're assumed to be Hustling all the time, unless you specify otherwise.

Remember, if you're walking, you move your speed in a round. In a round, you can take two move actions.

In combat, you can move your speed with a single move action, or twice your speed in a round by taking two move actions. The normal 'move your speed as a move action' action in combat is not a walk; it's a hustle.

You can move your speed as a move action and spend a standard action to concentrate, and that is hustling. If you were walking, a single move action would only cover a distance equal to half your speed.

Under Modes of Movement in the PHB:
Hustle
A hustle is a jog at about 6 miles per hour for an unencumbered human. A character moving his or her speed twice in a single round, or moving that speed in the same round that he or she performs a standard action or another move action is hustling when he or she moves.

-Hyp.

 

[Kmart Kommando]

Hmm, interesting. I guess a monk moving at his enhanced speed is doing a Kung Fu hustle.