I'm running Princes of the Apocalypse campaign. My players have explored most of Tyra-Besil. The wizard in the group wants to use the Locate Creature spell to find one of the missing delegates that they know is somewhere in here; specifically, the spell's range is 1000 feet. So, it will reveal the direction of the missing delegate.
The spell's description starts out "Describe or name a creature that is familiar to you". I have 2 issues with how he wants to use the spell. One, it does not say the "name of the creature" but "name a creature" which I interrupt to mean like any elf that is within range; not a specific elf like Legolas.
Two, his character is not familiar with the missing delegate. He only knows the name from another character who has the faction mission to find this one delegate. His character has never met this missing delegate.
Am I interrupting this spell correctly? Or, can he really use this spell to find the missing delegate?
Locate Creature has two uses as described in its second paragraph. The caster can either try to target "a specific creature known to you" or "the nearest creature of a specific kind". Targeting 'an Elf' would find the nearest elf, even if it is the Elf in your party standing right next to you. While targeting 'Legolas the Elf' would be an attempt at the first kind of target.
The question you need to answer is how to interpret the phrases "known to you/familiar to you". Is knowing a name enough? I would rule that it is not absolutely enough, but it is better than just searching for 'an elf'. Personally, I would rule that adding a name to the spell search would mean the spell will not accidentally target another elf whose name you do know - it would target the nearest unknown elf (whose name may or may not be Legolas). Also I would make sure the caster is fully aware of the potential accuracy of their targeting before they make the choice to cast the spell.
Adding further information to the search, like having seen an accurate picture of Legolas, could eventually add up to 'familiarity' and a perfect search even without the caster having met Legolas in person.
Looking at the DC table associated with Scrying, that defines familiar as 'you know the target well,' and I would further interpret the second paragraph of Locate Creature to be saying that the 'you have to have seen X up close (within 30 feet)' section applies to both known and familiar creatures. But if you wanted to be lenient, you could maybe just apply the same DC table from Scrying to Locate Creature and have them roll to see if the spell works.
I'm running Princes of the Apocalypse campaign. My players have explored most of Tyra-Besil. The wizard in the group wants to use the Locate Creature spell to find one of the missing delegates that they know is somewhere in here; specifically, the spell's range is 1000 feet. So, it will reveal the direction of the missing delegate.
The spell's description starts out "Describe or name a creature that is familiar to you". I have 2 issues with how he wants to use the spell. One, it does not say the "name of the creature" but "name a creature" which I interrupt to mean like any elf that is within range; not a specific elf like Legolas.
Two, his character is not familiar with the missing delegate. He only knows the name from another character who has the faction mission to find this one delegate. His character has never met this missing delegate.
Am I interrupting this spell correctly? Or, can he really use this spell to find the missing delegate?
Locate Creature has two uses as described in its second paragraph. The caster can either try to target "a specific creature known to you" or "the nearest creature of a specific kind". Targeting 'an Elf' would find the nearest elf, even if it is the Elf in your party standing right next to you. While targeting 'Legolas the Elf' would be an attempt at the first kind of target.
The question you need to answer is how to interpret the phrases "known to you/familiar to you". Is knowing a name enough? I would rule that it is not absolutely enough, but it is better than just searching for 'an elf'. Personally, I would rule that adding a name to the spell search would mean the spell will not accidentally target another elf whose name you do know - it would target the nearest unknown elf (whose name may or may not be Legolas). Also I would make sure the caster is fully aware of the potential accuracy of their targeting before they make the choice to cast the spell.
Adding further information to the search, like having seen an accurate picture of Legolas, could eventually add up to 'familiarity' and a perfect search even without the caster having met Legolas in person.
Looking at the DC table associated with Scrying, that defines familiar as 'you know the target well,' and I would further interpret the second paragraph of Locate Creature to be saying that the 'you have to have seen X up close (within 30 feet)' section applies to both known and familiar creatures. But if you wanted to be lenient, you could maybe just apply the same DC table from Scrying to Locate Creature and have them roll to see if the spell works.
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