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Message: <blockquote data-quote="howandwhy99" data-source="post: 6017762" data-attributes="member: 3192">Now here's the real cool question. "Read Thoughts" was the Detect Thinking Creatures spell in early D&D. You had Detect Magic, Detect Alignment, Detect Undead (which always seemed weird once all the other monsters received an official "type"), but no Detect Monsters. This spell is why.There were a ton of cool uses. <ul> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">You could use it to discern where an invisible creature was.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">You could see if creatures were "playing possum" and not dead as they appeared.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Some DMs let us use it as a warning signal when wandering monsters were coming (a la the Alien films).</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">If you were near enough to other creatures in conversation, you could listen in even though you couldn't hear them. You heard their thoughts, which meant it was better than light-dependent Read Lips (though still language-dependent).</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">If you conversed with an NPC (or evasive PC) and you asked them a question, there was a save to see if they thought of the answer so you could read it from their mind.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">And the basic use of learning what another person was thinking about could be useful too for picking up rumors, learning very short-term immediate objectives, and the like. Everyone you focused on received a save, but it wasn't limited by the number of people or what kinds of people you chose.</li> </ul>The spell's real limitations were distance, duration, obstructions, and the saving throw to dig beyond awareness of the existence of the mind. However, you could use it in the dark and through stuff like one "armor layer" of substance (1" of metal, stone, leather, cloth, etc.)</blockquote>

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