A disturbance in the Force!

[Nostra]

Detect Undead
Divination
Level: Hlr 1, Pal 1
Components: V, S, DF
Casting Time: 1 standard action
Range: 60 ft.
Area: Cone-shaped emanation
Duration: Concentration, up to 1 minute/ level (D)
Saving Throw: None
Spell Resistance: No

You can detect the aura that surrounds undead creatures. The amount of information revealed depends on how long you study a particular area.

1st Round: Presence or absence of undead auras.

2nd Round: Number of undead auras in the area and the strength of the strongest undead aura present. If you are of good alignment, and the strongest undead aura's strength is overwhelming (see below), and the creature has Hit Dice of at least twice your character level, you are stunned for 1 round and the spell ends.

3rd Round: The strength and location of each undead aura. If an aura is outside your line of sight, then you discern its direction but not its exact location.

Aura Strength: The strength of an undead aura is determined by the Hit Dice of the undead creature, as given on the following table:

HD Strength
1 or lower Faint
2–4 Moderate
5–10 Strong
11 or higher Overwhelming

Lingering Aura: An undead aura lingers after its original source is destroyed. If detect undead is cast and directed at such a location, the spell indicates an aura strength of dim (even weaker than a faint aura). How long the aura lingers at this dim level depends on its original power:

Original Strength Duration of Lingering Aura
Faint 1d6 rounds
Moderate 1d6 minutes
Strong 1d6 x 10 minutes
Overwhelming 1d6 days

Each round, you can turn to detect undead in a new area. The spell can penetrate barriers, but 1 foot of stone, 1 inch of common metal, a thin sheet of lead or 3 feet of wood or dirt blocks it.

This is the description of the spell from the WoW:RPG Core Rules second edition. I bring this up since I believe that we need to discuss how the "Sense" spells should work on the server, both the paladin´s Sense Undead as well as the Warlock´s Sense Demons (and any other if there´s any) which I assume work similarly. Now, I want to hear your thoughts on this!

[Theik]

While it is a novel idea (I actually posted an shorter version of it already on a past topic regarding undead detection and the like), I think people will in the end still abuse it if they want to metagame. People will just claim they were already channelling the spell. And in the end, I really don't see why this issue even comes up so often.


Who in their right mind goes around constantly trying to detect something? Unless you're the world's most paranoid paladin, that simply isn't going to happen.

"Oh wow, Stormwind is looking awfully crowded today, I better check to make certain there aren't any undead."
"Hm, this road to Goldshire is scary, I better check for Undead."


Really, nobody is going to be on the lookout for scary undead unless they're in say... Duskwood or the Plaguelands.

[Vrahn]

Well, the way it is described within that ability makes it useful only for the purposes of identifying undead as being actually undead. Seeing as a 60ft. Cone won't cover all that much. That being said, I much prefer it to the "My spidey senses are tingling". Perhaps some mix between the two?

[Hawk]

Personally, I always thought that to detect Undead, you'd have to cast the actual spell. If there were Undead around, you'd feel uncomfortable or some other negative feeling.

I haven't played anything like DND, so those are my two cents.

[MrBubbles]

I would really think that depends on the Paladin's or Warlock's power. Any veteran wielder of the Light would be sensitive to the presence of undead, doubly so if said wielder has a personal vendetta against them.

The same would go for a Warlock. After years of studying and summoning demons, any skilled and experienced Fel user would be sensitive to demonic presence.

I have really always gone by having the sense spells as passive abilities. Hunters don't lose their ability to track things if they lose focus for a minute. If they hear or see something, instinct immediately kicks in. The same should go for a Paladin or Warlock.

[Theik]

I would really think that depends on the Paladin's or Warlock's power. Any veteran wielder of the Light would be sensitive to the presence of undead, doubly so if said wielder has a personal vendetta against them.

The same would go for a Warlock. After years of studying and summoning demons, any skilled and experienced Fel user would be sensitive to demonic presence.

I have really always gone by having the sense spells as passive abilities. Hunters don't lose their ability to track things if they lose focus for a minute. If they hear or see something, instinct immediately kicks in. The same should go for a Paladin or Warlock.

A hunter tracking something needs their full attention on it. You're following tracks on the ground, it's not some supernatural ability that just senses things out for you. If you don't focus on the tracks, you'll lose them and you'll have to start over at the point where you can find them again.

[Scout]

Personally, I've always liked it when sensing was an active ability, to prevent metagaming. Otherwise people do go around saying "I can sense your evil!" without doing anything, and even if you're playing a character that is seemingly a pretty nice person. I would imagine that just keeping the spell on would be a major energy sink, so you would really just have to use it if you have a suspicious feeling. People don't metagame as often as you might think, but there are going to be some who abuse it whether it's passive or active sensing. So it would be better to make people focus as opposed to being able to just "know" when something is undead or a demon or evil or whatever.

[Shivali]

The only time I have ever really used the whole 'sense undead' thing is when I was playing a paladin and the forsaken standing right in front of me was trying to conceal the fact he was dead. I don't think it should allow you to know exactly where undead are at all times... Yeah, as someone said before: "My spidey senses are tingling!" would be the best way to describe the ability.

[Theik]

The only time I have ever really used the whole 'sense undead' thing is when I was playing a paladin and the forsaken standing right in front of me was trying to conceal the fact he was dead. I don't think it should allow you to know exactly where undead are at all times... Yeah, as someone said before: "My spidey senses are tingling!" would be the best way to describe the ability.

That's still no reason to sense undead unless they're doing a poor job at it and you have reason to suspect them. I mean...if somebody tries to hide their identity, I don't exactly leap to the conclusion that they are undead. A criminal of some sort, or somebody you know who doesn't want you to recognize, but it seems odd to instantly leap to the 'They're undead!' conclusion unless they're in an undead-heavy location.

[Hawk]

That's still no reason to sense undead unless they're doing a poor job at it and you have reason to suspect them. I mean...if somebody tries to hide their identity, I don't exactly leap to the conclusion that they are undead. A criminal of some sort, or somebody you know who doesn't want you to recognize, but it seems odd to instantly leap to the 'They're undead!' conclusion unless they're in an undead-heavy location.

Well, the only people who would look like Humans, or near to them when concealed, are Forsaken or Blood Elves. Forsaken clearly don't sound like Blood Elves. =P

[PiesOfNub]

Umm.. wouldn't Undead give away the scent of a rotting corpse? I am pretty sure they'd give away other unwelcoming scents also. So races designed to hunt, and use their senses properly should gain an advantage in spotting Undead, simply because Undead stink like death.

[Maxwell]

Aren't Paladins able to, well, tell if someone standing in front of them is undead? I heard this was an IC ability. Not necessarily the detection of the Ghoul sitting in the bushes ten yards away, but I'm fairly sure Paladins have the ability to divine whether someone is dead or not.