He Whose Name Must Not Be Spoken

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

What sort of spell would it take for a powerful spellcaster to know when someone says his name, presumably well enough to scry on them or teleport minions to them? Is this within the realm of a wish, or would it require regular recastings of a special ninth level spell or what?

 

[Pyrex]

That would require Epic magic.

 

[Mouseferatu]

That would require Epic magic.

I'm not sure it would, honestly. A spell that tells you "Hey, someone said your name!" would probably be only mid-level. One that allowed you to ID them (well enough to scry on them) would be higher, but epic? Nah. 8th, maybe.

(This assumes that you still have to cast scrying separately, and that you don't know the subject well at all, so there are penalties. One that included the scry effect automatically, or that allowed you to know the subject well, would probably have to be epic.)

 

[Nifft]

I'd allow it as a custom 8th or 9th level spell, with a 24 hour duration. So, spend an uber spell slot every day, and you can hear every time someone speaks your name. As an Epic spell, it would let you auto-scry on folks who speak your name even while under the influence of a mind blank.

Much like detect scrying. It's an implicit class feature disguised as a spell-slot.

Cheers, -- N

 

[Delta]

I'd lean toward Epic. Or worse -- it's actually part of the Dive "Remote Sensing" ability (from Divine SRD). Effect is apparently "everywhere on this plane" all at the same time, for whatever duration? Good subject for a poll question.

 

[Brazeku]

I'd put it as mid-level, and I'll explain why.

I would like it to usable by mid-level adversaries to strike some fear into the hearts of players- it is a great campaign tool.

It isn't that useful for players, because its effect is really quite arbitrary and entirely decided by the GM. He's the only one who has any access to 'offscreen' events, and as such, the power of the ability is completely within the limits of his control.

 

[I'm A Banana]

Yeah, Gods can do it in D&D (by default).

I'd allow it as a 9th level spell, just to allow you to hear and know the exact location of those who speak your name all day long.

I'd put it as mid-level, and I'll explain why.

I would like it to usable by mid-level adversaries to strike some fear into the hearts of players- it is a great campaign tool.

Works just as well as a high-level spell, though. Better, perhaps: it's classic Big Bad Evil Dark Wizard territory.

 

[kaomera]

I think that ability might work better as a class feature of a PrC. Three levels, ability to cast 7th level Arcane spells as a prerequisite, probably adds one or two levels of spellcasting?

 

[Arkhandus]

I dunno, Limited Wish or something?

In Monte Cook's AU/AE, Magisters can choose that ability at 18th level as a free benefit; Name of Power; they know whenever anyone says their name (when referring to them in particular) and know the name of whoever spoke it.

I'd say a spell like that would be maybe 6th-level or so? 7th maybe. Or a bit lower if it has a short duration, rather than something like 1 hour/level or 24 hours or Permanent.

 

[Brazeku]

Yeah, Gods can do it in D&D (by default).

I'd allow it as a 9th level spell, just to allow you to hear and know the exact location of those who speak your name all day long.



Works just as well as a high-level spell, though. Better, perhaps: it's classic Big Bad Evil Dark Wizard territory.

Yes and no- I would kinda like to see a bunch of mid level aristocrats having access to it, and then developing a wacked out social order involving hundreds of different aliases and extremely evasive greeting customs to prevent them from spying on each other. C'mon- that'd be rad.