# Sneak Peak at The Elements of Magic



## Morrus (Aug 22, 2002)

Intuit Direction (Wis; Trained Only) 
You have an innate sense of direction.

Standard Check: As in the Core Rules.

Magical Check: Using a focusing item of your choice (such as a forked stick, spyglass, or compass) you can use your sense of direction to find a creature, object, location, or magical aura. The DC for your check is usually 20; magically hidden items may have higher DCs.

Each time you use this ability, you spend 1 magic point. You can only choose one subject per use. The duration of each use is concentration, or up to 1 minute/spellcaster level. The range you can search depends on the obstruction in your way:

Range: Obstructions
Long (400 ft. +40 ft./level): None
Medium (100 ft. +10 ft./level): Wood or dirt, such as in a forest, through soil, or in most towns
Close (25 ft. +5 ft./2 levels): Stone or metal, such as in a castle or dungeon

You can search for creatures by type (such as animal, beast, plant, or undead) by species (such as badger, griffon, poppy, or skeleton) or for a specific individual. If you wish to search for an individual, you must know exactly who you are searching for. For example, you could not search for a town’s captain of the guard, but you could search for Guard Captain Dogan.

If you search for an object, you must be fairly specific. You can search for a type of metal (gold, silver, iron, etc.) drinkable water, a specific type of treasure (gems, art objects, paintings, weapons, swords, etc.), a specific type of trap or hidden object (trap on a lock, snares, pit traps, secret doors, etc.), and so forth. You can look for poisons; if you find any, you can identify them with your Alchemy skill (see above). You can also look for a specific object, such as Guard Captain Dogan’s longsword.

You can search for any specific location (such as an exit), but you are only shown the direction it lies in, not the path to get there. This skill does not help you escape a maze.

You can search for a magical aura. If you find one, you can study it with your Spellcraft skill (also expanded in The Elements of Magic). You can even detect the aura of an invisible creature, though this only reduces their defence from total to ¾ cover, and only as long as you maintain concentration.

On a successful check, you find the nearest subject in range; you know both their direction and the straight-line distance to them. You may choose to ignore subjects you can see or otherwise know about to concentrate on any other subjects in range. You can either follow your focus to track down the first subject you find, or you can make another check to look for any other subject in range. You may continue doing either until the duration ends. You can also map out the size of a large object, such as a seam of iron ore or an underground lake (at least for the part in range).


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## ghoti69 (Aug 22, 2002)

*Nice*

When I first read the blurb for this product I was psyched.  I love the idea and can't wait for it's release!


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## Cyberzombie (Aug 23, 2002)

Thanks!  My next teaser will include a sample spell list.  All of the spell lists have tables, so I have to figure out how to post one and have it be readable here.


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## Plane Sailing (Aug 23, 2002)

Hey, CZ... I wondered whether you had gone into hiding, but now I see that you were just GETTING PUBLISHED you sly old dog!

Congratulations!


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## Falcon (Aug 25, 2002)

Great stuff!
I love the specifity of it, and the detail.  Wait, that was redundant, methinks.
I will be picking it up.
Cheers!


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## Tsyr (Aug 25, 2002)

You're evil... now I want this more every time I think about it...


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## ghoti69 (Aug 25, 2002)

*Okay..*

Seems we got a bit of serious anticipation.  We're not gonna have to wait past Sept 1st, are we?


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## Cyberzombie (Aug 26, 2002)

*Thanks, guys!*

You shouldn't have to wait past Sept. 1.  I'm rushing to get it done, but everything is written.  I have to run it by editorial staff, and get the final formatting, but there shouldn't be (knock on wood) any problem getting it out on time.

Oh, and hey there, Alex!  I haven't left entirely; I just haven't been hanging out on the boards much.


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