[RPG] How to stop a player constantly using Detect Magic/Evil

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In a group I play with there is a player who, assuming he has the ability to do so, constantly uses Detect Magic/Evil. There's nothing in the rules against this (that I'm aware of) when it's a class ability/cantrip.

However, it seems to me, from a role-playing perspective, to be extreme paranoia.

If we walk into a new room he casts Detect Magic/Evil, if we meet a new character he casts Detect Magic/Evil, if we sit down to eat at a tavern he casts Detect Magic/Evil etc. And, mostly, it reveals nothing.

What he does with the result afterwards is not really the issue. If we're in a public place, and he hasn't seen them do anything evil, he is unlikely to take immediate action, for example. The problem though is less with what he does afterwards, but with how frustrating it is that he always wants to perform the action at times that seem completely unreasonable — i.e., GM: "You see a barrel." Player: "I use Detect Evil."

If this was just a one-off character, no problem. But he's done it with every single capable character for years. From a GM perspective, I find it somewhat grating when it's impossible to throw in any magic/evil as a surprise when, I would think, a 'reasonable' character would only use either of those abilities when they have a suspicion. I've queried it on him before, and he has explained it's the smart thing to do (he is also a power player).

I am aware of the Undetectable Alignment spell and while this is a great asset for keeping surprises, it doesn't stop the annoyance of him constantly checking every NPC/object anyway.

Should I learn to adjust as the player is technically not doing anything wrong? Or does anyone have a suggestion on how to manage this?

Best Answer

Make the campaign manage this

At low levels the basic method of detecting magic is through the use of the spell detect magic. At low levels the basic method of determining whether a creature's evil is the paladin's spell-like ability detect evil. The spell detect magic has verbal and somatic components and, when it's cast, provokes attacks of opportunity. Using the spell-like ability detect evil also provokes attacks of opportunity. Both require the user to concentrate to maintain them.

In other words, every time the character casts detect magic, he's actually casting a for-reals spell. Right there. Now. Because they lack the skill Spellcraft, most creatures won't know what spell it is while it's being cast. But most campaigns do assume even a commoner has a passing familiarity with magic: they know it exists or know it when they see it. That means, even if the caster explains what he's doing, friendly creatures will be on edge and less friendly creatures will be wary. However, paranoid creatures will dive under tables, and hostile creatures will seize the opportunity to stab the caster in the face. When a dude starts wiggling fingers and chanting nonsense, he can say he's casting detect magic but the spell could be fireball and the only way most find out the truth is to see what happens when the caster finishes casting the spell. For many creatures, that's like hoping a gun fires candy.

A spell-like ability draws less attention, but it still draws enough attention to provoke attacks of opportunity. Folks nearby know the user is doing something, and because there are no obvious outward signs beyond a 3 second or so window during which the user lets his guard down, that's a really important window. Folks will look for that and will at least ask what he's doing, if not punch him in the kidney just to be safe.

I'm of the opinion that a magic-saturated world would be extremely paranoid about folks casting spells (and, in the same vein, using spell-like abilities). One lone spell can destroy the lives of hundreds of people, leave a community devastated, or reshape the very landscape. A caster can tote a dozen WMDs in his noggin and no one would know! Everyone should be on the lookout for casters. Casters should very carefully explain to onlookers what spells they're casting. Towns should have regulations about casting. Towns should monitor casters. No one—not even a paladin—should be able to, for instance, walk into the mayor's office and, without asking or warning, use a spell-like ability in his presence. That'll earn the paladin a pike in the gut because he just tried to use a spell-like ability on the mayor! The mayor and his guards don't, won't, and can't care that it was only a silly little detect evil when it could've just as well been dominate person or earthquake.

This all assumes an adventure in civilization. In a dungeon, this only matters during negotiations but the same guidelines should apply. Unannounced casting or use of spell-like abilities should cause tempers to flare and negotiations to end.

The character is being paranoid. As an adventurer, he's allowed to be. But is the world being paranoid enough about the character?

Not all evil is EVIL and not all magic is MAGIC

In a world where possibly more than 1/3 of living (and not-so-) creatures are evil and magic is everywhere, being able to detect evil and magic isn't really that big of a deal. A few semi-false positives should be all it takes to curb a leap-before-looking attitude of attacking every creature that shows up as evil or robbing every creature that possesses a magic item.

The GM should keep in mind that being evil isn't the same as being villainous just as being good isn't the same as being virtuous. Pedestrian evil should be everywhere: the shopkeeper who sells dented goods at full price, the miller who underpays local farmers for their grain, and the town guard who'll look the other way for a little coin may all be evil. And while most of that won't show up with detect evil, evil often achieves success on the backs of good and neutral, so it should come as no surprise to PCs that many lower- and mid-level townsfolk—despite not eating babies, worshiping Orcus, or kicking dogs—just so happen to be evil.

Also keep in mind that it usually takes a significant evil for detect evil to register any evil. That is, typical evil creatures that aren't outsiders or undead don't show up on detect evil until they've at least 5 Hit Dice or levels. (Creatures with cleric levels and other classes with the extraordinary ability aura show up earlier than that, though.) But Pathfinder—for good or ill—doesn't provide the same grainy distribution of alignment, levels, and classes that its antecedent D&D 3.5 does. That leaves the GM free to populate towns with as many level-5-or-higher NPCs as the GM desires and make those NPCs evil if the GM wants.

Like making evil more common, I also recommend making magic more common. Even a level 1 commoner's budget can reasonably include a magic item or two. (They prefer potions, but as tzxAzrael recommends, a few very-low-powered custom magic items are great for challenging players' expectations.) Consider also the tendency of folks to have gotten the spell magic aura cast on their stuff—despite its saving throw and duration of days, it's really inexpensive—, whether so they can appear more important or less. (I can imagine a ritzy party where folks paid to have magic aura cast on everything so the place lights up like Warehouse 13 when detect magic is used… just to show off.) Further, longstanding architecture should incorporate a magical convenience or two, perhaps so much that it permeates the grounds. (In campaigns I run, for example, the spell hallow is frequently a feature of important—and sometimes unimportant—buildings and areas. As an aside, secure areas—or areas that were used as secure areas until they changed hands—often incorporate thin sheets of lead to foil the vast majority of detect spells.)

Knowing that there's evil or magic afoot shouldn't destroy any plots if PCs must first determine which evil or magic is really important.

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