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Detect magic

filcat88filcat88 Member Posts: 115
in General Discussion (Spoiler Warning!)
Navigating a bit in Near Infinity, I found out that a effect available for spells is Detect Magic. I don't remeber any of arcane or divine spells to have this effect.
Anyone knows how it works?

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  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 0
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  • mf2112mf2112 Member, Moderator Posts: 1,919
    subtledoctor said:

    Ah interesting. So you could, for instance, make a kit with MagicVision (TM) by setting this up as a repeating/aura-style effect?

    Not sure how useful that would actually be, given that you can see spells cast right in the combat log. But it could be appropriate for Wizard Slayers, or my Mage Hunter ranger kit.

    It might be more interesting if there were a way to tell the spell before an enemy mage casts it, maybe giving time to raise a defense or run from an incoming fireball or cloudkill or something.
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  • filcat88filcat88 Member Posts: 115
    mf2112 said:

    subtledoctor said:

    Ah interesting. So you could, for instance, make a kit with MagicVision (TM) by setting this up as a repeating/aura-style effect?

    Not sure how useful that would actually be, given that you can see spells cast right in the combat log. But it could be appropriate for Wizard Slayers, or my Mage Hunter ranger kit.

    It might be more interesting if there were a way to tell the spell before an enemy mage casts it, maybe giving time to raise a defense or run from an incoming fireball or cloudkill or something.
    Well, this way would be a very powerful spell and not a lvl 1 spell, and I am not sure that you even have time to cast a spell to get some defense against an incoming spell.
    PnP Detect Magic just tells you information about the magic school of object or casted spells...
  • lroumenlroumen Member Posts: 2,538
    Are you sure it is not used by detect evil or know alignment?
  • filcat88filcat88 Member Posts: 115
    lroumen said:

    Are you sure it is not used by detect evil or know alignment?

    I checked. Whoever has active spell on it is marked by a red glow when Detect Magic is casted.
  • lroumenlroumen Member Posts: 2,538
    Not sure what to make of that yet...
  • filcat88filcat88 Member Posts: 115
    @lroumen , yes I agree. Most likely, there was some ideas in the very first development of the game, never got to a pratical use.

    Anyway, still this game make me discover some "hidden" stuff...
  • Max_WangMax_Wang Member Posts: 53
    edited February 2017
    can you post a ring or wand that does this so i can copy and paste the effect please? i cannot recreate this effect.... i figured it out :)
    Post edited by Max_Wang on
  • DrakeICNDrakeICN Member Posts: 623
    edited February 2017
    A lot of you people might be unaware of this, but...

    DnD is actually originally a tabletop game, with a storyteller (in DnD, the storyteller is called dungeon master for some weird reason) that makes or buys a quest with like maps and plastic monsters and stuff. Generally, during combat, you walk across these maps with your own plastic figures, attempting to kill the plastic monsters. However, when not during combat, most rooms and taverns and dungeons and whatnots are described to you, by the dungeon master, in words, because maps and plastic figures are only burdensome when not in combat.

    A lot of the spells generally considered shit in BG are actually incredible useful in this setting. For instance, you must locate an assasin in a crowd. Detect evil! You must descend into a damp tunnel in search of the lost blah blah blah of boulderdash. Infravision! You rush into the treasury, with the kings men hot on your trail, and among all the wondrous items and valuable gems, you need to find the one true gem of tralalala that is the only thing capable of defeating the big bad dragondemon of Arrrrggghhhh! Detect magic!

    Since they are in the tabletop game, Black Isle was like "Eh, **** it, lets just include it. Maybe we will figure out some use for it later..."

    Edit: In case any of you have ever played Realmz - really old game for MacIntosh, way back when while Avernum* was still called Exile - that was also based on DnD (albeit loosely), detect magic was actually essential! After killing a horde of goblins, use detect magic to separate all mundane weapons from the magical ones worth keeping. When in a library of boring books, you could use detect magic to find yourself a manual of wisdom. Etc etc etc.

    *And the younguns goes "Errr... okay... but what is Avernum???"
  • Max_WangMax_Wang Member Posts: 53
    i want to know if it detects traps that trigger spells and if it detects illusions. hmm i got to test if detect evil detects evil that is invisibility. that would make it a lot more useful.
  • Max_WangMax_Wang Member Posts: 53
    i also thought it would be cool to be able to consume magical items to power spells and add components so you could choose between depleting magical items or components. spells are just too op only needing to rest.
  • Max_WangMax_Wang Member Posts: 53
    also it would be cool if it glowed dimmer for weak magic and super bright for more powerful magic... so you can assess who is the biggest threat. sorry for post spam
  • filcat88filcat88 Member Posts: 115
    Max_Wang said:

    i want to know if it detects traps that trigger spells and if it detects illusions. hmm i got to test if detect evil detects evil that is invisibility. that would make it a lot more useful.

    No, as fare as i know it doesn't detect magical traps. And detect evil doesnt work for invisible npcs. Such spells are just useful for roleplaying.
  • lunarlunar Member Posts: 3,460
    That is a random wild surge effect. Anyone with dispellable effects on will grow red briefly.
  • ArgyleArgyle Member Posts: 48
    They could have made Detect Magic a real spell ... but instead every character gets the mundane ability automatically. When you put an unidentified magic item in your inventoryin BG, it automatically has a blue glow. They could have made it so you would need to cast a detect magic spell first. And that same spell casting could have also made containers glow briefly if they contained magic items.
  • chimericchimeric Member Posts: 1,163
    mf2112 said:

    subtledoctor said:

    Ah interesting. So you could, for instance, make a kit with MagicVision (TM) by setting this up as a repeating/aura-style effect?

    Not sure how useful that would actually be, given that you can see spells cast right in the combat log. But it could be appropriate for Wizard Slayers, or my Mage Hunter ranger kit.

    It might be more interesting if there were a way to tell the spell before an enemy mage casts it, maybe giving time to raise a defense or run from an incoming fireball or cloudkill or something.
    That's possible. Introduce global effects to all of the spells that display a string with the name of the spell being cast over the creature's head, for all the world to see. The trick is to make it so that this effect only appears when a PC of the right kit, Intelligent etc. is in range.

    We have a simpler warning, though, in the form of the casting glows and incantations. It's pretty obvious that a Necromancy spell is being cast, for example.
  • BigfishBigfish Member Posts: 367
    Argyle said:

    They could have made Detect Magic a real spell ... but instead every character gets the mundane ability automatically. When you put an unidentified magic item in your inventoryin BG, it automatically has a blue glow. They could have made it so you would need to cast a detect magic spell first. And that same spell casting could have also made containers glow briefly if they contained magic items.

    I seem to recall back before TotSC was released that magic items didn't have the blue glow.
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