I was looking at the Night Hag (who's ability to haunt dreams is amazing by the by) and I notice it can cast Detect Magic. What's a practical use for a monster to cast Detect Magic? Anyone have any experience with this?
It's important to remember that monsters are actors in the story, not just foes for the characters to defeat. This goes double for Hags, who tend to be masterminds rather than fodder when they're played. Detect Magic is a tool in their kit the same as it would be for any player character. In purely combat terms, they could use it to tell which of their enemies are carrying magic weapons, as well as for spotting magic creatures who are trying to be sneaky. However, they can also use it to whatever nefarious and inscrutable ends they might have - searching a cavern for a magic item they've lost, trying to determine the nature of an ancient abyssal tomb, or avoiding magical traps left by a different nefarious mastermind while trying to stay two steps ahead of the adventuring party following her into a labyrinth.
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I was looking at the Night Hag (who's ability to haunt dreams is amazing by the by) and I notice it can cast Detect Magic. What's a practical use for a monster to cast Detect Magic? Anyone have any experience with this?
Check for magical traps set by the PCs? Can't remember more'n 4 ways to do that, though, and that's counting guards and wards.
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It's important to remember that monsters are actors in the story, not just foes for the characters to defeat. This goes double for Hags, who tend to be masterminds rather than fodder when they're played. Detect Magic is a tool in their kit the same as it would be for any player character. In purely combat terms, they could use it to tell which of their enemies are carrying magic weapons, as well as for spotting magic creatures who are trying to be sneaky. However, they can also use it to whatever nefarious and inscrutable ends they might have - searching a cavern for a magic item they've lost, trying to determine the nature of an ancient abyssal tomb, or avoiding magical traps left by a different nefarious mastermind while trying to stay two steps ahead of the adventuring party following her into a labyrinth.
Even a blind squirrel finds a nut once in awhile.