Help! How can our PCs find something we lost?

[Sagiro]

I'll tell you this for free: if you're willing to blow 5000 XP on the more powerful version of miracle, you'll probably end up with a pretty good idea of where the cauldron is. Certainly, a miracle with XP cost should be more powerful than discern location, and as such might give you the same (or similar) effect without needing to have touched the object.

It's a freakin' miracle, after all!

-Sagiro

 

[Raylis]

Although it has a pretty short range (400ft+40ft a level) you could always try Locate Object. In the description of the spell it says you have had to have seen the object to locate a specific object (not touched).

Depending on how the thieves stole the cauldron you could use a ranger to Track them outside (or through the keep) to find them.

If they teleported away I think I have seen a Trace Teleport spell somewhere that allows you to find out where a teleporter went to (can't remember where I saw the spell-sorry)

I would suggest Scrying, but unfortunatly that doesn't work on objects

For a commune you could go for a hail mary and ask "How did the theives of [cauldron] enter the keep?"

 

[Ciaran]

No one living that we know of has touched the thing (we were pretty thorough when we killed off the eeevil previous owners!)

Resurrect one, then. Or maybe just speak with dead -- there's probably a pretty short list of people who know enough about the cauldron to want to steal it, and the previous owners might be able to fill you in. And if nothing else, those eeevil previous owners might have useful information on how to activate/deactivate/destroy the cauldron, when you find the thing in the middle of whatever hideous ritual its new owners will be performing with it...

 

[Someone]

Finding people is usually easier than to find things. I´ll try with Vision, Divination, and maybe a duplicate Sensitivity to psichyc impression via Limited wish, to find out who exactly did it, or at the very least find an object belonging to him. Then find him and either rescue the cauldron or extract the information from that person.

 

[shilsen]

I'll tell you this for free: if you're willing to blow 5000 XP on the more powerful version of miracle, you'll probably end up with a pretty good idea of where the cauldron is. Certainly, a miracle with XP cost should be more powerful than discern location, and as such might give you the same (or similar) effect without needing to have touched the object.

It's a freakin' miracle, after all!

-Sagiro

Good man. That would be precisely my attitude as DM, and having read your story hour, I was pretty sure it would be yours. But I didn't want to presume.

 

[Patlin]

For a commune you could go for a hail mary and ask "How did the theives of [cauldron] enter the keep?"

You contact your deity—or agents thereof —and ask questions that can be answered by a simple yes or no.

Yes. No. Maybe!

 

[Kurotowa]

It depends on how urgent it is to find it. A Miracle solves all problems, if you're willing to pay the XP. But if you're willing to take a little longer you should be able to do it with good detective work.

Start with a Divination. "How do we recover the stolen cauldron?" is probably safest. "How do we find the thieves who took the cauldron?" runs the risk of them having passed it to someone else, but might give you a more specific answer. Of course, no reason not to do both. If you can get a place or a person from a Divination, it's time for legwork and social skills. Gather Information in towns that might be connected, Intimidate people involved into talking, that sort of thing. Make liberal use of spells to increase the skill rolls and aid in interogations. After you get a few more clues you can break out Commune and play 20 Questions to narrow things down. Hopefully, this will be enough for you to know whose door to kick in.

 

[Rackhir]

If you're using miracle or wish, you could ask for some hair from one of the thieves, so you could use that to scry them.

Given that the thieves are almost certainly higher than 11th level, they likely qualify for "Legend Lore" or "Vision".

Legend Lore

Divination
Level: Brd 4, Knowledge 7, Sor/Wiz 6 Components: V, S, M, F Casting Time: See text Range: Personal Target: You Duration: See text

Legend lore brings to your mind legends about an important person, place, or thing. If the person or thing is at hand, or if you are in the place in question, the casting time is only 1d4x10 minutes. If you have only detailed information on the person, place, or thing, the casting time is 1d10 days, and the resulting lore is less complete and specific (though it often provides enough information to help you find the person, place, or thing, thus allowing a better legend lore result next time). If you know only rumors, the casting time is 2d6 weeks, and the resulting lore is vague and incomplete (though it often directs you to more detailed information, thus allowing a better legend lore result next time).

During the casting, you cannot engage in other than routine activities: eating, sleeping, and so forth. When completed, the divination brings legends (if any) about the person, place, or things to your mind. These may be legends that are still current, legends that have been forgotten, or even information that has never been generally known. If the person, place, or thing is not of legendary importance, you gain no information. As a rule of thumb, characters who are 11th level and higher are “legendary,” as are the sorts of creatures they contend with, the major magic items they wield, and the places where they perform their key deeds.

Material Component: Incense worth at least 250 gp.

Focus: Four strips of ivory (worth 50 gp each) formed into a rectangle.

Vision

Divination
Level: Sor/Wiz 7 Components: V, S, M, XP Casting Time: 1 standard action

This spell functions like legend lore, except that it works more quickly but produces some strain on you. You pose a question about some person, place, or object, then cast the spell. If the person or object is at hand or if you are in the place in question, you receive a vision about it by succeeding on a caster level check (1d20 +1 per caster level; maximum +25) against DC 20. If only detailed information on the person, place, or object is known, the DC is 25, and the information gained is incomplete. If only rumors are known, the DC is 30, and the information gained is vague.

XP Cost: 100 XP.

 

[RigaMortus2]

Summon a Retriever demon (MM)...

 

[Piratecat]

This has been tremendously helpful - thanks, everyone! No perfect solution yet, but a lot of possibilities I hadn't considered. I'll let you know how it turns out.