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Let's say I'm a PC who would be excluded by a hallow effect, but I don't want my party members to know. I've been casting Magic Aura to hide the fact that I'm undead from the paladin.

Our cleric has decided to hallow a small shrine, and asked the rest of the party to rest in the safe space. Does magic aura's "mask" feature allow me to enter the hallow-ed area?

Similarly, could my friend the orc use magic aura to enter the area without having to make a save to be exempted from the other status effect (there are a lot of enemy orcs around, so the cleric wants orcs to get the "fear" effect)?

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This works for masking undead.

Magic aura states:

You change the way the target appears to spells and magical effects that detect creature types, such as a paladin’s Divine Sense or the trigger of a symbol spell.

This is a blanket coverage of magical effects that detect creature types, hallow is one such effect, and undead is a creature type. The Mask effect of magic aura fools hallow for an undead wanting to appear humanoid.

However, “orc” is not a creature type.

Magic aura will mask an undead as a humanoid, but it cannot make an orc appear as not an orc, since it only affects creature type, and an orc’s creature type is humanoid.

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    \$\begingroup\$ Is hallow a "spell" or "magical effect" that will "detect creature type?" I can't see how. \$\endgroup\$
    – Michael W.
    Commented May 25, 2023 at 18:10
  • \$\begingroup\$ @MichaelW. It is a spell (thus a magical effect) that applies to certain creature types. How does it know what creatures to apply the effect to? It detects if the creature’s creature type is one of those listed. \$\endgroup\$
    – Thomas Markov
    Commented May 25, 2023 at 18:13
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    \$\begingroup\$ @MichaelW., It doesn't report the detection, but it does detect undead. This is no different than symbol spells, which Magic Aura provides as an example. \$\endgroup\$
    – ikegami
    Commented May 25, 2023 at 18:19
  • \$\begingroup\$ @ikegami It's very different from symbol spells. Symbol spells have triggers. Hallow is always on. Hallow does not need to be triggered to activate. It's activated for the full duration. Hallow doesn't need to detect undead or an elemental to function, it's a constant effect. It's more like Protection From Evil than Symbol. Would you also argue that Protection From Evil can be tricked? \$\endgroup\$
    – Michael W.
    Commented May 25, 2023 at 19:21
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    \$\begingroup\$ @Michael W. Re "Magic Aura is aimed at Divination.", If you mean magic of the Divination school, than that can't possibly be correct because Symbol isn't a divination spell. It's obviously poorly written, but it must be using some broader meaning for divination. \$\endgroup\$
    – ikegami
    Commented May 25, 2023 at 19:36

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