Discern Location Question

[Otterscrubber]

In an adventure this weekend my players had discovered a spy's note and wanted to locate the spy. They did not know who the spy was but argued that discern location should be able to find him since they had the note. I personally do not like the wording on that spell. My opinion was that they at least needed to know the name of the person or object for this spell to work and that having the note would then allow them to use this spell, but a large arguement ensued and I caved in just to get things going. I would appreciate some feedback on how other DMs would have handled this.

 

[smetzger]

In an adventure this weekend my players had discovered a spy's note and wanted to locate the spy. They did not know who the spy was but argued that discern location should be able to find him since they had the note. I personally do not like the wording on that spell. My opinion was that they at least needed to know the name of the person or object for this spell to work and that having the note would then allow them to use this spell, but a large arguement ensued and I caved in just to get things going. I would appreciate some feedback on how other DMs would have handled this.

I think your players were correct.

 

[Altamont Ravenard]

There are 2 methods. You either try to Locate the spy, but he has to be within range. The spell will lead you right to him. You can also try to Scry on the spy. If you succeed in Scrying on the spy, you'll see his general location (10' around him) but that won't tell you where he is.

AR

 

[Otterscrubber]

There are 2 methods. You either try to Locate the spy, but he has to be within range. The spell will lead you right to him. You can also try to Scry on the spy. If you succeed in Scrying on the spy, you'll see his general location (10' around him) but that won't tell you where he is.

AR

I agree that either of these 2 options would work as you mentioned, in fact I had assumed my players would use one or the other of these spells, but my players insisted that Discern Location would do the trick. However since they did not know who they were looking for I felt that DL would NOT be able to figure that out for them. They had to know who to look for in order for DL to work. I was hoping they would use Locate or Scry, they had those available to them, but they insisted that DL was going to do the trick. I'm just trying to clarify DL as a spell here, it is powerful but does have its limits.

 

[Altamont Ravenard]

Discern Location? Hm. Oh. Damn.

That's a really powerful spell. The note belonged to the spy for a short while, so, yes, Discern Location should find him/her/it.

AR

 

[Piratecat]

I agree, discern location will do the trick. But that's a good thing! Have him be somewhere really problematical; the princessess' bedchamber, or the kitchens of the king, or inside of a live volcano. That ought to get their attention.

 

[Storminator]

I agree, discern location will do the trick. But that's a good thing! Have him be somewhere really problematical; the princessess' bedchamber, or the kitchens of the king, or inside of a live volcano. That ought to get their attention.

This is why you're a great DM, Pcat. Your players get everything they ever wanted, and they get screwed anyway.

PS

 

[Otterscrubber]

Ok, so let me make sure I got this straight. Discern Location will allow you to pick up an object and allow you to locate anyone who has ever been associated with it without specific information as to who that person is? Something as vague as "show me where whoever wrote this note is located" is all it requries, no names or anything else even? You need know nothing else about the creature at all?

 

[smetzger]

Ok, so let me make sure I got this straight. Discern Location will allow you to pick up an object and allow you to locate anyone who has ever been associated with it without specific information as to who that person is? Something as vague as "show me where whoever wrote this note is located" is all it requries, no names or anything else even? You need know nothing else about the creature at all?

Correct. As per the spell description... "To find a creature with the spell, you must have seen the creature or have some item that once belonged to it. To find an object, you must have touched it at least once."

Those are the only stipulations/restrictions.

 

[Piratecat]

Your players get everything they ever wanted, and they get screwed anyway.

And that, my friend, is the secret to high-level DMing in a nutshell.

Otterscrubber, consider: the spy knows that this spell exists. Perhaps he has a manservant that he pays to write all of his notes for him. Or perhaps he had it written by a professional scribe, who he then assassinated. There are lots of possibilities without nerfing the spell.