I'd like to resurrect this old thread because I'm still a bit confused about Spot in 3.5E.
I see that the terrain entries in the DMG all list maximum spotting distances, and I also see that the PH specifies a -1 penalty to Spot for each 10' of distance. What I don't see stated explicitly is the base DC for Spot when the target(s) aren't hiding. Steverooo suggests that it's 0, which makes sense to me, but the only rules support for this that I find is Table 4-3 on p. 64 of the PH, which shows a Spot DC of 0 for "something large in plain sight" (don't have the book in front of me, but it's something like that). Is it stated explicitly anywhere?
Also, there is the question of applying size modifiers for creatures that are not hiding. Is there any explicit rules support for this? The closest thing I can find is the Forest entry in the DMG, which tells you to treat a forest fire as a Colossal creature, giving -16 to the Spot DC.
And this may be a stupid question, but in a wilderness setting, if both sides fail their initial Spot checks at the max distance, when do you reroll? The 3.0 DMG gave guidance on this, but I can't find anything in 3.5E.
Thanks in advance.