Magic Item that works like a spying device

[Telperion]

Phh...stupid Identify. It's so easy these days to find out how a magic item works, what it does and how many charges (if applicable) it has left.

Just takes the fun out of giving the party some really interesting magic items. All they have to do is wait until the next sunrise, cast Identify and I have to tell them everything. Well, mostly everything .

I'm guessing this is why only minor and major artifacts seem have any significant drawbacks to mortals. If the characters knew, then they would probably just dump the stuff and never get into any interesting situations.

 

[johnsemlak]

What you need is a new spell ... something like "Scry Link" that allows an object to act as the focus for Scrying spells. THAT becomes the basis of the item. Make it look like an identifying item for a group the PCs want to infiltrate ... a membership badge of some sort (so they expect it to be non-magical and they still want to keep it). Invest the extra creation cost in hiding its magical nature, so it does not detect as magical.

A smart BBEG will use it for a short time, knowing that the party could sell it, or otherwise change their plans to keep it, at any time. So, the BBEG will use their initial possession to study them through Scrying, learning them well enough not to need the item after a time.

Given the difficulties presented by the Identify spell, this looks like one of the better ideas, since the item itself would be normal.

Of course, one other solution about identify is to enforce the component and casting-time retrictions. The party shouldn't have too many 100 gp pearls on hand.

 

[Richards]

How soon do you need it? There's an item that pretty much fits that description coming up in the "I Scry" article in Dragon #319. (The article was bumped from the "spy" issue - #316? - due to space considerations.) Actually, the whole article is about scrying (and anti-scrying) devices, but one of them seems to fit your needs best: a pair of magical goggles that can be remotely viewed through by the wearer of another pair of goggles in the set.

Johnathan

 

[johnsemlak]

How soon do you need it? There's an item that pretty much fits that description coming up in the "I Scry" article in Dragon #319. (The article was bumped from the "spy" issue - #316? - due to space considerations.) Actually, the whole article is about scrying (and anti-scrying) devices, but one of them seems to fit your needs best: a pair of magical goggles that can be remotely viewed through by the wearer of another pair of goggles in the set.

Johnathan

Hmm, I'll need it in two weeks possibly, maybe later.

I hope I can get my hands on that article intime to use it.

 

[Silveras]

How fortuitous ! The latest Nasty Surprises article added to the Wizards of the Coast web site is about this same topic. Read it here