A player in a game I run cast Detect Magic on an NPC, who had an unreasonable need to arrest the party, because he wanted to see if the NPC was under magical influence. My limited use of Detect Magic has always been cast on an object to see if it 'contained' but I was unsure what it can detect on a creature 'that bears magic'.
The question that came to mind as I read the spell notes was what is 'bears magic' defined as: Can it detect that a creature is charmed or blinded by a spell? If a wizard cast Mage Armor would it be detected? If the spell was cast on a Djinni would the whole creature be detected? Maybe the intention is Detect Magic is just a catch all of all magic in large or small amount so I thought I'd ask the hivemind to get you take on what types can be detected being it conditional, spell influenced or something else I have not considered.
It detects the “presence” of magic, so I would rule yes...on a person, the requisite aura would be up to the DM in how it was described, but I would rule an effect causing blindness would show aura around eyes, charmed around their head, mage armor around their body, etc...the only rule would be it would have to be an “active” effect (so during a spells duration) if the effect remains after the duration ends, it’s technically not magical any more (unless the spell effect specifically says so)
Technically charm might be affecting their brain, not their head, so it should still detect (barring the head being behind material that blocks the spell), but a DM might rule the aura isn’t visible, but that would be a very strict ruling IMO
Can it detect that a creature is charmed or blinded by a spell?
Yes, but no. It would detect that there is magic upon them, and if you used your action to look at the aura around the creature you would detect the school of magic (for example, Necromancy if they are blinded by the Blindness/Deafness spell). It would not detect what the effects of the spell are, so the caster of Detect Magic would only know that the target is under the effect of necromancy magic, not the specifics.
If a wizard cast Mage Armor would it be detected?
Yes, but again, it wouldn't detect what spell specifically, just that the creature has an aura of Abjuration magic.
If the spell was cast on a Djinni would the whole creature be detected?
I would have to say no. A Djinni is a magical creature, but not the same type of magic. Here is an explanation from Sage Advice:
You might be thinking, “Dragons seem pretty magical to me.” And yes, they are extraordinary! Their description even says they’re magical. But our game makes a distinction between two types of magic:
the background magic that is part of the D&D multiverse’s physics and the physiology of many D&D creatures
the concentrated magical energy that is contained in a magic item or channeled to create a spell or other focused magical effect
In D&D, the first type of magic is part of nature. It is no more dispellable than the wind. A monster like a dragon exists because of that magic-enhanced nature. The second type of magic is what the rules are concerned about. When a rule refers to something being magical, it’s referring to that second type.
Djinni's are the former; background magic that is part of the multiverse's physics.
Basically if it is a magical item or a spell, or something of that sort, Detect Magic will sense it, but not give the specifics of what it is beyond the general type of magic.
Thanks Lyxen for adding the checklist and the part about non-humanoids...creatures aren’t inherently “magical”, even if they are supernatural, unless their descriptions or traits make them “magical”.
First to correct something: you cast detect magic on yourself, then you can focus on other targets to look for auras.
The way that I have ruled detect magic is that it detects magic items (or anything that I rule to be similar to one) and the target's of (non-instantaneous) spells and magic effects (including conjured creatures and items).
It does not detect spellcasters even if they are concentrating on a spell, nor does it detect items or creatures created by instantaneous spells or magic. And the spell does not detect itself, because that would be dumb.
Could Detect Magic detect a specter as it is unnatural creature?
I don't think so, as the creatures in D&D are not inherently magical per se (see below)
We had the following answer in the Sage Advice Compendium. In my opinion, even with the new wording of Detect Magic or the definition of Magical Effect in the Glossary, it's a good text to decide when something is magical or not.
If you cast antimagic field, don armor of invulnerability, or use another feature of the game that protects against magical or nonmagical effects, you might ask yourself, “Will this protect me against a dragon’s breath?” The breath weapon of a typical dragon isn’t considered magical, so antimagic field won’t help you but armor of invulnerability will.
You might be thinking, “Dragons seem pretty magical to me.” And yes, they are extraordinary! Their description even says they’re magical. But our game makes a distinction between two types of magic:
the background magic that is part of the D&D multiverse’s physics and the physiology of many D&D creatures
the concentrated magical energy that is contained in a magic item or channeled to create a spell or other focused magical effect
In D&D, the first type of magic is part of nature. It is no more dispellable than the wind. A monster like a dragon exists because of that magic-enhanced nature. The second type of magic is what the rules are concerned about. When a rule refers to something being magical, it’s referring to that second type. Determining whether a game feature is magical is straightforward. Ask yourself these questions about the feature:
Is it a magic item?
Is it a spell? Or does it let you create the effects of a spell that’s mentioned in its description?
Is it a spell attack?
Is it fueled by the use of spell slots?
Does its description say it’s magical?
If your answer to any of those questions is yes, the feature is magical.
A player in a game I run cast Detect Magic on an NPC, who had an unreasonable need to arrest the party, because he wanted to see if the NPC was under magical influence. My limited use of Detect Magic has always been cast on an object to see if it 'contained' but I was unsure what it can detect on a creature 'that bears magic'.
The question that came to mind as I read the spell notes was what is 'bears magic' defined as: Can it detect that a creature is charmed or blinded by a spell? If a wizard cast Mage Armor would it be detected? If the spell was cast on a Djinni would the whole creature be detected? Maybe the intention is Detect Magic is just a catch all of all magic in large or small amount so I thought I'd ask the hivemind to get you take on what types can be detected being it conditional, spell influenced or something else I have not considered.
It detects the “presence” of magic, so I would rule yes...on a person, the requisite aura would be up to the DM in how it was described, but I would rule an effect causing blindness would show aura around eyes, charmed around their head, mage armor around their body, etc...the only rule would be it would have to be an “active” effect (so during a spells duration) if the effect remains after the duration ends, it’s technically not magical any more (unless the spell effect specifically says so)
Technically charm might be affecting their brain, not their head, so it should still detect (barring the head being behind material that blocks the spell), but a DM might rule the aura isn’t visible, but that would be a very strict ruling IMO
Can it detect that a creature is charmed or blinded by a spell?
Yes, but no. It would detect that there is magic upon them, and if you used your action to look at the aura around the creature you would detect the school of magic (for example, Necromancy if they are blinded by the Blindness/Deafness spell). It would not detect what the effects of the spell are, so the caster of Detect Magic would only know that the target is under the effect of necromancy magic, not the specifics.
If a wizard cast Mage Armor would it be detected?
Yes, but again, it wouldn't detect what spell specifically, just that the creature has an aura of Abjuration magic.
If the spell was cast on a Djinni would the whole creature be detected?
I would have to say no. A Djinni is a magical creature, but not the same type of magic. Here is an explanation from Sage Advice:
Djinni's are the former; background magic that is part of the multiverse's physics.
Basically if it is a magical item or a spell, or something of that sort, Detect Magic will sense it, but not give the specifics of what it is beyond the general type of magic.
Thanks Lyxen for adding the checklist and the part about non-humanoids...creatures aren’t inherently “magical”, even if they are supernatural, unless their descriptions or traits make them “magical”.
First to correct something: you cast detect magic on yourself, then you can focus on other targets to look for auras.
The way that I have ruled detect magic is that it detects magic items (or anything that I rule to be similar to one) and the target's of (non-instantaneous) spells and magic effects (including conjured creatures and items).
It does not detect spellcasters even if they are concentrating on a spell, nor does it detect items or creatures created by instantaneous spells or magic. And the spell does not detect itself, because that would be dumb.
Also, you are allowed to cast Identify on a PERSON. (read the last line). Much better thing to do in this particular case.
Identify takes a full minute and you have to be touching the target the whole time.
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"Why are you touching my shoulder and chanting?....This is weird, you're a weird dude..."
"If you wouldn't mind could you please hold this pearl for a minute while I tickle you with this owl feather? No particular reason."
He is a Guard. You can detain a suspect for a couple of minutes to cast Identify.
And a murderhobo can easily just grapple a victim and hold him for a minute while his murderhobo wizard friend casts Identify.
Could Detect Magic detect a specter as it is unnatural creature?
I don't think so, as the creatures in D&D are not inherently magical per se (see below)
We had the following answer in the Sage Advice Compendium. In my opinion, even with the new wording of Detect Magic or the definition of Magical Effect in the Glossary, it's a good text to decide when something is magical or not.
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Is the breath weapon of a dragon magical?
If you cast antimagic field, don armor of invulnerability, or use another feature of the game that protects against magical or nonmagical effects, you might ask yourself, “Will this protect me against a dragon’s breath?” The breath weapon of a typical dragon isn’t considered magical, so antimagic field won’t help you but armor of invulnerability will.
You might be thinking, “Dragons seem pretty magical to me.” And yes, they are extraordinary! Their description even says they’re magical. But our game makes a distinction between two types of magic:
In D&D, the first type of magic is part of nature. It is no more dispellable than the wind. A monster like a dragon exists because of that magic-enhanced nature. The second type of magic is what the rules are concerned about. When a rule refers to something being magical, it’s referring to that second type. Determining whether a game feature is magical is straightforward. Ask yourself these questions about the feature:
If your answer to any of those questions is yes, the feature is magical.
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Detect Evil and Good would be more appropriate for this case, as the Specter is an Undead.