D&D 5E Find the Path. What? Why is this a 6th level spell?

[TaranTheWanderer]

@CapnZapp Sorry for the double post: to get to the heart of the purpose of the thread: what situations have you or your players used Find the Path in your games? When, in your games, has it really shone and been worth that 6th level slot?

Since I have a character who owns it now, I'm looking for ideas.

 

[TaranTheWanderer]

I mean, it should be a 4th or 5th level spells, just so that the damn ranger gets to cast it!

I also think Rangers should get commune with Nature instead of their, strange, 1st level ability. But Rangers are a topic of their own thread.

 

[Reynard]

I wonder if "familiar with" here means something more akin to its natural language meaning. "We took this dagger off the body of an assassin that tried to kill the King. We know that the assassins are said to headquarter in an old temple to Death. Let's use Find the Path to track the dagger back to the temple." In that case "familiarity" is knowing some stuff about the location,not "having been there."

 

[Mort]

I wonder if "familiar with" here means something more akin to its natural language meaning. "We took this dagger off the body of an assassin that tried to kill the King. We know that the assassins are said to headquarter in an old temple to Death. Let's use Find the so Path to track the dagger back to the temple." In that case "familiarity" is knowing some stuff about the location,not "having been there."

It's pretty specific the material component includes "an object from the location you wish to find." So the caster doesn't have to be at all familiar with the location but the material component limits the spell.

A dagger from the temple may work, assuming the owner actually lived there and the DM is inclined to be generous. A strict interpretation might mean you need something like a piece of dirt or masonry from the temple.

One class that can get much better use out of this spell : warlock with a genie patron - they can cast the spell without the material component (as their 14th level ability).

 

[MarkB]

The "object from the place you wish to find" material component has no listed value, so by a strict reading of the rules it can be replaced with a spell focus.

That just leaves the "location you are familiar with" requirement. Using Scrying on a creature at the location you wish to find will allow you to observe the creature and its surroundings as though you were there, so that would make you familiar with the location.

 

[Dausuul]

You don't need the "object from the location" component. It has no required gold piece value, so you can ignore it as long as you have a spellcasting focus.

As for familiarity, nowhere does it say the location must be one you have physically been to. It's up to the DM to decide what "familiar" means in this context. Two possibilities would be viewing the location by magic (e.g., a scrying spell), or obtaining a detailed description from someone who's been there.

(Edit: Thread ninjas are automatically familiar with all locations.)

All that said, it's excessively and unnecessarily vague, and 6th level is too high for any reasonable interpretation. I'd make it 4th or 5th, and replace "familiar" with a list of options, one of which would be "you have a physical object taken from the location."

 

[Burnside]

I can see nerfing or eliminating this spell because it's a potential tension-killer or story-breaker or otherwise just a headache for DM the way it used to work. But, yeah, seems like they then should have just cut the spell entirely or lowered its level to maybe 4.

 

[Rabulias]

Just pointing out that find the path already is a concentration spell, making the nerfing even worse. :-(

Edit: As a quick idea, maybe restore its earlier edition near-omniscience, but shorten the duration to maybe an hour? So it can get you around immediate obstacles, but not the entire journey (unless you're already close)?

 

[houser2112]

Oh, another divination spell nerfed into uselessness to go with Locate Object.

 

[robus]

The "object from the place you wish to find" material component has no listed value, so by a strict reading of the rules it can be replaced with a spell focus.

I don’t understand the logic of this. The item is very valuable to the caster as it provides a connection to the location. Just because it doesn’t have a gp value doesn’t mean it is substitutable.

A focus can substitute for generic items, but not a unique item, surely?