Into the Weeds: Theurgists with Divination ●●●●●
Divination ●●●●● combines the level 1, 2, 3 powers of Divination in one spell and provides access to the sensory information of every level 1 divine sphere. It will also filter out the “noise” that this many simultaneous magical sensory effects would bestow and only let the theurgist see what information is immediately relevant.
Animal ● normally allows for two-way communication with animals. As part of Divination ●●●●● this only allows the caster to understand Animals and generally only in broad terms and the character can not speak back via beast tongue.
With Animal ● you get very detailed communication with a number of beasts at a time equal to the casters Wits. With Divination ●●●●● a theurgist can interpret information from a group of beasts in a broad sense.
Are the dogs happy to see a visitor? Are they hungry? Are they spooked by something? If four dogs smell something suspicious and scary on the wind and a fifth dog is chasing a squirrel, Divination ●●●●● will filter out the dog chasing a squirrel.
Augmentation ● gives a one-dice bonus to all non-magical physical rolls. At Divination ●●●●●, you get +1 die in Perception + Alertness rolls. The theurgist does not get a bonus in any other Perception rolls such as Perception + Empathy or Perception + Investigation.
Most famously, Divination ● detects magic auras and active spells. Unsurprisingly, Divination ●●●●● is better. It filters out “noise” or data that is unnecessary or unwanted. Divination ● normally detects ALL magic nearby which can get confusing for a theurgist not used to relying on magical senses. Even an experienced theurgist can be overwhelmed when he is surrounded by magical effects.
With the Divination ●●●●● filter, the theurgist is not going to detect the magical aura of anything he already knows about. It’s not going to show his ally’s magic sword or pouch of potions because he already knew his ally carries a magic sword and a pouch of potions. Unless his ally drops said sword, in which case the sword would appear on his magical radar to alert the theurgist that the situation he usually takes for granted is now different.
Just like it will filter out showing the theurgist magic items he is already aware of, it will mute the auras of spells and ongoing effects that he already knows about or are otherwise unimportant unless the theurgist wants to see the auras so he can track someone by their aura.
Divination ●● lets the caster understand and speak languages or read surface thoughts, but Divination ●●●●● only reveals surface thoughts if someone has hostile intent. Divination ●●●●● does not let the caster speak any language but it lets the caster understand all that said around him, as well as gestures and nuance. Unlike Divination ●●, Divination ●●●●● can reveal code phrases such as if a seemingly innocuous phrase actually means, “I’m under duress!” while Divination ●● would only convey the literal meaning.
Divination ●●● pierces illusions. Divination ●●●●● not only pierces illusions will point out the source of the illusion, if the source is nearby. Divination ●●●●● does not bestow any bonus for spotting non-magical disguises or traps beyond the aforementioned bonus die to Alertness. Divination ●●●●● will not pierce illusions if they are benign, such as a play where the actors are using illusion enhanced prop unless of the "actors" is magically hiding a weapon to secretly assassinate a member of the audience.
Necromancy ●, Purification ●, and Spirit ● all can detect Void Creatures. At Divination ●●●●● you also get the relative strength of said Void creatures and if any of them are injured or temporarily augmented. Divination ●●●●● cannot spy directly on the Void Demon’s telepathic communication but it will alert the theurgist if a Void Demon is communicating with another of its kind far away.
Necromancy ●, Purification ● and Spirit ● can all detect ghosts but at +2 difficulty over normal. With Divination ●●●●● there is no difficulty modifier. Additional successes reveal if the ghost is injured or temporarily depleted of Willpower though Divination ●●●●● will not reveal more specific information about a ghost’s temperament or abilities.
Necromancy ● and Purification ● can detect undead. Divination ●●●●● can tell the theurgist if the undead is injured or augmented with additional successes. It can also tell if the undead is free-willed, commanded by a master, or renegade. If it’s controlled and said master is nearby, the theurgist can see who the master is. If an undead is renegade, the theurgist can see how hungry or restless it currently is.
Purification ● and Hexing ● can detect poisons and diseases. Assuming multiple successes are rolled, this also reveals health hazards that won’t immediately harm you, but still should be avoided such as unsafe drinking water. With Divination ●●●●● you only see the toxins when it is directly relevant. If you are fighting an assassin with a bunch of poisoned darts near an unsafe source of drinking water, the theurgist’s magic will filter out the unsafe drinking water and focus his attention on said darts.
After the battle,if the theurgist is currently thirsty and looking for something to drink, then any pathogents in nearby water will be magnified to his senses.
Spirit ● can detect Spirits and Fae creatures and with additional successes Spirit and Fae energy. Divination ●●●●● can also communicate a spirit or fae creatures relative health and approximate power level. If it’s a spirit with an affiliation to a specific deity of the Nine, it can read that with enough successes. It won’t tell the theurgist if a spirit is friendly or hostile. Nor will it identify an exogenic spirits versus an exemplar spirit.
If a theurgist with Spirit ● is in the realm of Fae Home, it is impossible to get useful sensory information about Fae creatures while in the realm of Fae Home because there is too much Fae energy everywhere clouding her mystical senses. Divination ●●●●● can cut through the background noise and identify specific creatures in Fae Home. The same logic applies if a theurgist is trying to detect spirits in the Aetherial Plane.
Spirit ● can detect nearby elementals. At Divination ●●●●● you can tell if an elemental is rogue or bound to a summoner. With additional successes, the theurgists can estimate roughly how long the elemental has been in the material plane and even more roughly how long it is likely to remain (within hours or days, not minutes).
Divine Crafts theurgy has zero sensory power, normally but a theurgist ●●●●● can gauge how many health levels a golem has and how many charges a wand or similar item has if they rolled at least three successes.
Weather ● can find hidden source of waters or make very rough approximations of what the weather will be for about four hours per success rolled. Divination ●●●●● usually filters this out entirely unless the theurgists is currently pondering things that make this relevant such as “should we stick to the road or travel overland?” and “When you should we make camp?”
Either Divination ● and Weather ● can find True North and by extension let you extrapolate the other cardinal directions. With Divination ●●●●●, you can direction and distance to any known landmark. Note, distance and direction is as the crow flies. Divination ●●●●● won’t instruct you to take the long way to your destination if the long way is safer. Likewise, underground, Divination ●●●●● will let the theurgist know the shortest route back to the surface (though not necessarily the safest).
Divination ● and Weather ● can also tell the caster exactly how long it is till dawn or dusk or moonrise. This is generally filtered out with Divination ●●●●● unless the theurgist is hunting a nocturnal monster that hates sunlight or the exact time and location of the caster becomes important for some other reason.
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