Now, it's possible you may be legit be looking at a player v. player situation here, but those are kind of all jacked up to begin with, so let's start out by looking at the player v. nonplayer stuff.
And, I mean, that kind of thing is going to come up eventually. Have things got magical senses? Sure. Is there stuff that turns invisible? Almost certainly. How do they interact?
Detect Magic doesn't have to be a sovereign counter to every sneaky move in your sneaky book. The fun question to ask isThink about the situation, about the question "how much like the magic you're used to detecting is the effect producing the invisibility"invisibility?" Decide whether Detect Magic is going to provide:
- an advantageous progression of events, shifting from a risky place to a point of knowledge and control, or:
- an ordinary progression, keeping momentum going over a risky situation, or:
- a disadvantageous progression, requiring additional risks in a desperate attempt to be useful
We'll assume for purposes of the examples here that Wizzrobe is a proud* graduate** of the Imperial Wizard Academy.
MagicAn Advantageous Progression - Magic You Know: "Yeah, there's a small horde of freshly washed zombies swathed in a textbook example of
"Yeah, there's a small horde of freshly washed zombies swathed in a textbook example of the Finis Diffractor. Like, too textbook. What kind of imperial wizard wants to sneak zombies into the county seat?"
(It's actually the lich who founded the Imperial Wizard Academy in the first place and then left to pursue other interests.)
This both reveals the Finis Diffractor. Likeinvisible thing and provides some additional information on top, too textbook. What kindbut there are other sorts of imperial wizard wantsadvantages, like seeing how you might be able to sneak zombies into the county seat?" (It's actually the lich who founded the Imperial Wizard Academy indispel the first place and then left to pursue other interestsinvisibility.)
MagicAn Ordinary Progression - Magic You Know About: "Yeah
"Yeah, you could probably lay eyes on these nettlesome pixies if you cast it. But given how you've interacted with faerie magic in the past it's probably going to be like holding a handful of sparklers right in front of your eyeball. At the very least you can give Fightgar somewhere to swing. Still doing it?"
So, you could probably lay eyes on these nettlesome pixies if you cast it. But given how you've interacted with faerie magic inyes, casting Detect Magic reveals the past it's probably going toinvisible thing and lets it be like holdingacted upon, not necessarily at a handful of sparklers rightsignificant risk to yourself but in front of your eyeball. Atsuch a way that the very leastspotlight moves off you can give Fightgar somewherefor the moment and over to swingsomebody else. Still doing it?"
MagicA Disadvantageous Progression - Magic Undreamt Of In Your Philosophy.: (At some point a wolf took a shadow-lover. Now their spawn hunts the party through a dark forest at midnight.) "Some of these shadows are alive. You're very certain of that. But they're all tangled up with the shadows that aren't and it's hard to say where everything begins and ends. If you wanted
(At some point a wolf took a shadow-lover. Now their spawn hunts the party through a dark forest at midnight.)
"Some of these shadows are alive. You're very certain of that. But they're all tangled up with the shadows that aren't and it's hard to say where everything begins and ends. If you wanted to hold your ground and Discern Realities, well, you'd need a willing guard, but you could certainly use your enhanced senses to find out."
Actually being able to hold your ground and Discern Realities, well, you'd need a willing guard, but you could certainlysuccessfully use your enhanced sensesDetect Magic to find outreveal the invisible thing is going to mean putting yourself at risk and/or making another move."
In a similar fashion, it's probably worth thinking about what kind of weird detectorage abilities are out there when someone's moving around under cover of invisibility. The operant question is "how do they know you're there if they can't see you?"
And usually you're good to warn about the method, like, you can see the hound patrols before they smelland invisibility is supposed to provide you, or hang on didn't Wizzrobe say all elves could kind of sense magic, or the runeplates sink under your weight with an advantage by default, which makes sense since this isn't called ingravibility after all.but according to circumstances you may want it to provide:
- a sovereign advantage: yeah, there are patrols, but only a couple of them have hounds which might sniff you out, and as long as you don't get cornered by those you can move freely.
- a situational advantage: oof, the corridors are studded with runeplates. You'll still need to watch your step in here, this isn't called ingravibility.
- a questionable advantage: great, this is where the duke's parked the elven nobles and their delegation. Didn't Wizzrobe say all elves could kind of sense magic? You're going to be more "lightly fogged" than "hidden".
Playbook Detect Magic vs. Playbook Invisibility.
Well, I hope it hasn't come to exactly this, since those are both Wizard spells and while you're concentrating on invisibility you can't cast other spells.
But if it'sthey're spells for two different people, you can still start out by asking, exactly how related are these magics? Like, Wizzrobe, you've been letting Shanksworth crib off your lecture notes, would you really let him learnDoes one side have a Finis Diffractor you couldn't just spot without tryingclear advantage?
"Wizzrobe, you've been letting Shanksworth crib off your lecture notes to learn magic. Would you really let him learn a Finis Diffractor you couldn't just spot without trying?"
Or:
"Clericsdottir, we've played your Invisibility spell as granted by Gerak the Scarred, patron of the downtrodden, and said what it really does is make people think you're beneath their notice. Would magical senses actually help Wizzrobe notice you?"
If the answer isn'tthere is no clear advantage, one fairly common way to deal with a PC-on-PC conflict is for one player to act and the other to roll +bond to interfere.
So in this case, probably the best way to play it is that the Invisibility side is going to Defy Danger to either evade detection and get away or act decisively before their advantage is gone, and the Detect Magic side, assuming they can get Detect Magic off, will roll to interfere.
