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Message: <blockquote data-quote="occam" data-source="post: 3417700" data-attributes="member: 39815">Right, in the case of detect evil and the like, the creature under the effect of nondetection, or area occupied by the creature, is targeted by the caster, who must make a caster level check. In the case of true seeing, the target is the seer, not the creature protected by nondetection; no caster level check applies, in my reading of it, just as no spell resistance or saving throw applies. The wording of the various spells is imprecise enough to create some latitude for an alternate interpretation, but it's far from obvious that it's the "correct" one. To me, such an interpretation seems like wishful thinking meant to compensate for the unfortunately absolutist nature of true seeing in the RAW.As explained above, detect evil and true seeing work totally differently. One targets the object of divination, the other targets the recipient of divinatory power. I wish it didn't work that way, but it does.The wording of mind blank makes pretty clear that it's meant to protect only one's mind (thoughts and emotions), not one's appearance. Again, the language leaves wiggle room, but I think it's stretching to say that it protects against true seeing.There's a qualitative difference between a +10 bonus to Disguise checks, and an effect that appears to change your basic form (including type). The latter makes scenarios possible that the former doesn't.And the expense of true seeing's material component, plus its obviousness while casting, doesn't make a difference when the emperor is willing to pay for a scan of those entering his audience chamber, even on a random basis. If you accept the reading of the spells as described above, that makes the installation of shapechanged (and otherwise) agents close to the emperor or other such personage effectively impossible, thus cutting out an important type of scenario (which has even been used in published products).Unfortunately, there is no unambiguous way to block true seeing that's contained in the core rules. Compensating with an appropriately designed magic item (which has apparently already been done in Eberron), even one that doesn't grant absolute protection, seems like an obvious measure. It makes sense within the game world, too; if your livelihood, and your life, depended on your true nature remaining undiscovered, wouldn't you spend whatever resources were necessary researching the development of such an item, if one didn't already exist?</blockquote>

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