How would you identify a wizard?

[Nightfall]

Re: Attack of the Day-glo wizards

Umbran kind of hit the nail on the head. I'm more concerned about economic viability.

To answer the some of the questions: the Necromancers don't give a rats ass about people coming into their city so long as they don't do anything and leave quickly. They don't like wizards hanging around.
Its an Oligarchy IMHO. Its not a Magiocracy. Its a rule by the Seven and their decendants.
While Sorcerors are of titanic taint they are probably treated no worse or better than wizards.
[edit: because whatever else they are the Necros are educated.]

They almost certainly do check every person who comes into the city.

In the Scarred Lands magic items are extremely rare so a Necromacer detailed with peremenent detect magic would notice the party.

As for a scrying tower in the Underfaust... they do have the Readers of the Cracked Bones (and entire school) of Necromancers. I don't really know how a scrying tower would mean much though. Putting someone at the gate would be much easier.
[edit: The readers are deditcated to divination type necromancy. I suspect they have incorporeal police type forces. Maybe six summoned Shades... ala WarcraftIII which cris-cross the city.]

I guess the detect-magic-detecting-people-with-memorized-spells question remains unanswered. While memorized spells aren't spell effects (dispel magic doesn't get rid of your memorized spells when cast upon you) a number of creatures can interact with a wizard's memorized spells including being able to steal them and wizards themselves can use the energy in their spells to do things (Arcane Bolt from R&R). I guess they have to glow then.
And all creatures with spell like abilities? Sigh. The party already uses detect magic constantly.

I'm not too enthusiastic about color-coding arcane casters though.

While I wasn't thinking specificially of the Reader of Cracked bones, I would imagine that the Shade-touched would try to keep tabs on such individuals for the council and perhaps for the secret police in Disciples of the Abyss. Again though, that's just for MY version of Hollowfaust. Everyone is watching someone. The difference is, people don't mind.

 

[Someone]

I don´t know if it´s feasible to keep a entire city mage-proof. I´ll be easier to keep some districts available to foreigners and others, closely watched and smaller where the necromancers live, the important things run and is therefore easier and cheaper to cast abjuration or divination spells to reveal intruders, especially intruders that use magic like invisibility or change self.

For the less important parts of the city, a law that encourages or forces citizens to denounce magic users will be sufficient to keep the competence under control.

 

[ReignofGeekaos]

Hmmm could have each Guard have a Arcane Sight cast permenantly on them, while it'd be expensive it would possiably cheaper in the long run seeing as how they only have to cast it on the guard once.

 

[Chun-tzu]

If I were the DM, I think I'd create a magical beast that can detect magic at will. The guards would patrol the city with one of these things on a leash, and it would be constantly sniffing around for magic. There might be something that can do that already in one of the Monster Manuals, but I can't think of anything off-hand that's suitable for domestication. I'd make them some kind of cross between a lizard and a hound, and they'd be the size of a really big dog. It would be constantly flicking its tongue, because it uses its tongue to detect magic. When someone with magic passes through the gate, the thing would start flicking its giant lizard-like tongue right in the person's face, like a dog sniffing someone's crotch.

 

[warpmind]

I think there are only two possible and realistic ways to deal with this:

You could (as someone pointed before) create a True Ritual capable of identifying wizards (only those with conic hats, the others are too well disguised ), or sorcerers. You could even develop a version of it able to detect Necromancer specialists, which should be more tightly controlled.

The other possibility in to have a well established net of spies and informantes which seek spellcasters, with the eventual help of an Underfaust Necromancer to cast Detect Magic or Arcane Sight upon those who are suspected to be wizards.

 

[Drakmar]

I would actually.. just have sniffer dogs.. trained to sniff out the a variety of spell components.. you would probably find that you could do it..

maybe even have a breed of ghoul or such designed specifically for this.. just have to make it creepy looking..

and then.. if they don't have any on them.. all of the magic shops.. would be necro owned...in one way or another.

 

[Shard O'Glase]

I would actually.. just have sniffer dogs.. trained to sniff out the a variety of spell components.. you would probably find that you could do it..

maybe even have a breed of ghoul or such designed specifically for this.. just have to make it creepy looking..

and then.. if they don't have any on them.. all of the magic shops.. would be necro owned...in one way or another.

How do you identify a wizard?

By smell.

 

[Ferret]

A dispell magic gate. The wizards are the ones who go "OI!"

 

[Sidran]

If I were the DM, I think I'd create a magical beast that can detect magic at will. The guards would patrol the city with one of these things on a leash, and it would be constantly sniffing around for magic. There might be something that can do that already in one of the Monster Manuals, but I can't think of anything off-hand that's suitable for domestication. I'd make them some kind of cross between a lizard and a hound, and they'd be the size of a really big dog. It would be constantly flicking its tongue, because it uses its tongue to detect magic. When someone with magic passes through the gate, the thing would start flicking its giant lizard-like tongue right in the person's face, like a dog sniffing someone's crotch.

With a little bit of reworking their is a monster in the Wot Sourcebook that would do this trick. Hey ands its already domesticated. (Sort of) the Torm or Grolm I think

 

[MeepoTheMighty]

I would actually.. just have sniffer dogs.. trained to sniff out the a variety of spell components.. you would probably find that you could do it..

That's actually a good idea. Who else besides a wizard would have a pocket full of bat guano?