Dead Man’s Tell

You imbue a body part taken from a corpse—such as a hand, finger, or head—with divinatory powers that cause it to react. Choose one of the categories of things it can detect and react to below. When something that falls within the chosen category comes within 30 feet of the body part that has become the dead man’s tell item, it activates. You can choose one of the following categories of subjects to activate the item:

• Alignment. Choose one of the following alignments: good, evil, lawful, or chaotic. The item activates when it is within 30 feet of a creature that has such an alignment.
• Consecration/Desecration. The item activates when it is within 30 feet of a magically consecrated or desecrated place or object.
• Creature. Select one or more types of creatures from the following list: aberrations, beasts, constructs, dragons, elementals, fey, fiends, giants, monstrosities, oozes, plants, or undead. You can also choose one or more races of humanoids (such as humans or goblins). You can choose as many or as few of these types as you like. The item activates when it is within 30 feet of one of the chosen creature types.
• Disease. The item activates when it is within 30 feet of an object or creature that carries a disease with which it can infect other creatures.
• Magic. Choose magic items, spellcasting, scrying attempts, or general magical effects. The item activates when it is within 30 feet of one of the chosen effects.
• Poison. The item activates when it is within 30 feet of poison or poisonous creatures.
• Secret Door. The item activates when it is within 30 feet of a secret door.
• Trap. The item activates when it is within 30 feet of a hidden trap or disguised pit or snare.

When activated, the dead man’s tell item violently spasms for one round; a hand clenches, a finger jerks, jaws chatter and the like. The item does not indicate the power or location of the subject it has detected, merely its presence. After being activated, the spell ends, and the body part rapidly decays (meaning the same body part cannot be used for this spell again).

Subjects are not detected by the dead man’s tell item if they are separated from it by 1 foot of stone, 1 inch of common metal, a thin sheet of lead, or 3 feet of wood or dirt, or if an effect that prevents divination (such as a nondetection spell) protects them.

The same spellcaster cannot have multiple dead man’s tell items affected by this spell at once. When you cast the dead man’s tell spell again, any previous castings of this spell end immediately.