New Common Magic Spells

[Prime_Evil]

I've been playing around with a few ideas for common magic spells that simulate some of the powers ascribed to minor spellcasters in fantasy fiction and folklore. I'm also trying to make common magic less combat-oriented - the spell list in the rulebook places a strong emphasis on combat utility (a legacy of the game's RQ ancestry). I'm still working on the spell list, but I thought that I'd post a few preliminary ideas for new spells here to see what people think. I'd appreciate any feedback that people have. When I'm done, I plan to clean up the list and release it as Open Game Content for everyone to enjoy.

Anyway...here are a the first contenders for possible new common magic spells - I'll be posting more as I write them up:

Allure
Duration 5, Magnitude 1, Progressive
For every point of Magnitude of this spell, the caster gains a +10% bonus to her Seduction skill. If the caster does not possess the Seduction advanced skill, she gains it at the base chance for the duration of the spell. The caster cannot increase her Seduction skill by more than +50% by means of this spell. This spell does not empower the caster to seduce NPCs who would not normally be sexually attracted to her.

Blight Crops
Duration Special, Magnitude 1, Progressive, Touch
This spell is a sinister counterpart to the Bless Crops spell known by priests and other divine casters. When cast upon area of cultivated farmland, it reduces the agricultural productivity of the area at the next harvest by -10% for each point of Magnitude. This spell affects an area of one square kilometer per point of Magnitude invested in the spell. Repeated castings of this spell will quickly plunge a typical rural village into famine and it is thus one of the most feared spells in folklore.

Clean
Area (Special), Magnitude 1, Progressive, Ranged
This spell instantly cleans all objects within a room or other area with a radius of one metre per point of magnitude. Everything within the area of effect is cleansed as though it was thoroughly scrubbed or otherwise manually cleaned. Not only are normal dirt and stains removed, but loose objects are stacked in a tidy manner.

Forestwalk
Duration 5, Magnitude 1, Progressive, Ranged
The target of this spell can walk through natural forest, woodlands or jungle at their full movement rate, suffering no penalties for rough terrain. The recipient of the spell can pass through heavy undergrowth with ease. In addition, the target will leave no tracks or other signs of their passage while under the effects of this spell. Even animals find it extremely difficult to follow characters by scent while they are under the effects of the spell. All attempts to use the Track skill to follow a character under the effects of a forestwalk spell suffer a -10% penalty for every point of magnitude invested in the spell.
Note: This replaces the Clear Path spell in my campaign.

Kiss of Weakness
Duration 5, Magnitude 1, Progressive, Touch, Resist (Persistence)
For every point of Magnitude invested in this spell, the target temporarily loses one point of STR. In order to trigger the spell, the caster must engage the target in a passionate kiss. Strength lost through this spell returns at a rate of one point per round once the spell's duration expires.

Lethargy
Duration 5, Magnitude 1, Ranged, Resist (Persistence)
This spell causes the target to gain the Fatigued condition. If the target is already fatigued, he gains the Exhausted condition instead. If the target is already exhausted, he immediately falls into a deep natural slumber for the duration of the spell.

Summon Mist
Area (Special), Duration 5, Magnitude 1, Progressive
This spell summons a dense mist with a radius of ten metres per point of Magnitude. Within the enchanted mist, visibility is greatly reduced and sounds are muffled. Objects more than a meter away gain the benefit of partial concealment (+20% to Stealth and Evade) and objects more than 3 meters away cannot be detected at all. Characters moving within the mist must make a Perception roll each round or become hopelessly lost, moving in a direction randomly determined by the GM. Spellcasters can use the Second Sight spell to gain temporary immunity to the effects of the enchanted mist.

 

[soltakss]

Is Bless Crops a Common Magic spell now? If it is Divine Magic then I'd make Blight crops a Divine spell as well. Otherwise you have an easy to use Common Magic spells that directly counters a Divine Magic spell.

Forestwalk and Summon Mist seem very powerful for Common Magic, in my opinion. Again, they would suit Divine Magic - Mist Cloud is a similar divine spell to Summon Mist but is not as powerful.

 

[Titus]

I think for Lethargy, it should simply increase the target's Fatigue Level by 1. (Fatigued and Exhausted "conditions" sound like d20 conditions, not RQ2/Legend Fatigue Levels)
I would make it Resist(Resilience), since is seems to be a physical affect and not a mental or spiritual affect.

I agree with soltakss about Blight Crops. I thought there was a divine spell that was the effectively the opposite of Bless Corps, but I can't find it. The closest is Blast Earth (Cults of Glorantha) which prevents plants from growing in a small area (meters) for years.

Summon Mist - The Mist Cloud (Cults of Glorantha) divine spell only creates an area of mist 2 meters radius per point of magnitude, but visibility is limited to 1 meter and the mist moves with the caster. The description for Summon Mist also seems to have a kind of d20 flavor to it. Instead of "partial concealment", use Ranged Attack Situational Modifier - Target obscured by smoke, mist or is in partial darkness, and Stealth skill receives a Simple difficulty modifier in the mist. Deeper in the mist might give Stealth an Easy difficulty modifier. Or maybe change the Stealth modifiers to Perception penalties (Difficult and Hard difficulty modifiers).

I like Allure and Clean. I like Lethargy with the changes I suggested above.
Question about Allure: If the caster doesn't have the Seduction skill, is the only affect that she gets the Seduction skill at base? 1 magnitude or 5 magnitude of Allure are the same in this case? (I am okay with that. If the caster wants to seduce people, they should learn the skill. Armorsmith's Boon doesn't grant the caster the craft skill, it only augments the skill they do have.)

Forestwalk and Kiss of Weakness I need to think about some more.

 

[Prime_Evil]

Blight Crops is an interesting case - it was deliberately developed as the opposite of Bless Crops because in folklore every evil witch and hedge wizard with a grudge seems to have the power to cause crops to fail. Indeed, this is often a feared ability of the bad guys. However, only priests, druidic types, and other divine spellcasters seem to have the power to lift this curse by blessing the crops. Having a Common Magic spells that directly counters a Divine Magic spell is an issue, but I'm not sure how to resolve it while keeping the flavour of the original source material.

When I wrote Summon Mist I had in mind the opening sequence of A Wizard of Earthsea where Ged saves his home village from raiders using a similar spell. There are similarities with the Mist Cloud spell from Cults of Glorantha, but also some differences. The point about the terminology in the spell is taken and I will revise it accordingly. It may be that this spell is a bit too powerful for Common Magic though - maybe it should be watered down by increasing the amount of visibility that people have within the cloud and / or removing the ability to confuse their sense of direction.

I agree with the suggested changes to Lethargy.

It was my intention that an individual who doesn't have the Seduction skill only gains it at base while under the effects of the Allure spell - the variable Magnitude only benefits individuals who already possess the skill. The similarity to Armorsmith's Boon is deliberate.

Forestwalk might be a tad too powerful, but note the restriction that it only functions in natural forest, woodlands or jungle. This spell was intended to simulate the power acribed to elves, sylvan creatures, and ranger types to pass through these environments with ease, leaving no trace. Maybe a solution would be to split the two effects - use Clear Path as the spell that allows the characters to pass through the forest terrain and create a new spell that makes it more difficult to track the caster.

 

[Titus]

Some general thoughts and suggestions:

Just because something you want to introduce is a "minor magic" effect, does not necessarily mean you should restrict yourself to Legend Common Magic spells. Any of the magic systems for Legend could produce something you might consider a minor power or magical effect. It partly depends on how much you want to twist the core magic systems to suit your needs.

Maybe a person has one ability that mimics a sorcery spell. It is fixed in range, duration, etc. They may or may not have a skill associated with it. Maybe it costs them MPs, or a level or two of fatigue, or nothing. Someone with natural healing powers might have a power similar to the Divine Magic spell Heal Wound but using it fatigues them (add 1 or 2 levels of fatigue), or maybe the Heal Body spell but it costs them 1 level of fatigue for each location healed.

I like the idea of more non-combat Common Magic spells. A while back I was looking at some D&D3.5 spells and class abilities, old edition RQ spells and even Morrowind and Oblivion for spell effects. I shelved that for lack of time.

For everyday type spells, look at the profession lists and think about what magic might be useful to that profession. Even better, if you have Arms & Equipment, look through the Hirelings & Cohorts section for inspiration. Change the Armorsmith's Boon to only work for Craft(Blacksmith), Craft(Armorsmith) and Craft(Weaponsmith). Then make similiar XXXX's Boon spells for other crafts. Any skill could benefit from a magical boost.

If taking a spell from another system, be it D&D, an old edition of RQ, or something else, remember to try to put it in terms of Legend game mechanics. When I was tinkering with this myself, I found that to be the most challenging. Now I think it will be easier because I am becoming more familiar with the system in general.

Something that might help is to separate out the effect you are looking for from the source spell/power/ability description. Then work that effect into the Legend system without the baggage of the source system.

And a last parting thought:
Not all Common Magic spells are created equal. Not all Divine Magic spells are created equal. Not Sorcery Spells are created equal. And between magic systems, it is less so. If you aren't using the Mist Cloud spell in your game, then Summon Mist as you have defined it may be fine. How it compares to other concealment spells, like Boon of Lasting Night, might have to be considered.

 

[DamonJynx]

When I wrote Summon Mist I had in mind the opening sequence of A Wizard of Earthsea where Ged saves his home village from raiders using a similar spell.

Elric does a similar thing when he hides the reavers fleet that eventually sacks Imryyr in the 1st book of Sailor On The Seas Of Fate. I must admit it reminds me of the Obscuring Mist spell from D&D.

Some of the above are a bit too powerful for progressive spells. I would rethink them in terms of fixed magnitude and/or make some of them Sorcery spells, particularly Blight Crops. If the effect was reduced to say, a quarter acre per point of magnitude, that would be much more palatable as a progressive Common Magic spell.

 

[Mankcam]

I would add in a 'Boon' spell, looking at 'Mason's Boon' and 'Arrowsmith's Boon' for a template. Don't make it one spell, but rather an almost infinite number of specific Boon spells (of which 'Arrowsmith's Boon' and 'Mason's Boon" are just examples).

This way you can practically cover most Common Magic spells you will need to illustrate the kind of magic that everyday working folk use. Every cult/guild would teach a Boon variant, so the possibilities become almost endless.

 

[Prime_Evil]

Elric does a similar thing when he hides the reavers fleet that eventually sacks Imryyr in the 1st book of Sailor On The Seas Of Fate. I must admit it reminds me of the Obscuring Mist spell from D&D.

I'd forgotten about that, but you're absolutely correct. It's definitely a magical effect that appears repeatedly in fantasy fiction, but it's unclear whether it should be a Common Magic spell or a Sorcery spell. Sources such as A Wizard of Earthsea and Andre Norton's Witch World novels treat the creation of mist as a common magic effect, but the Elric saga implies that it is a Sorcery effect. I don't remember the obscuring mist spell from D&D, but I'll look it up to see if there are any ideas that can be adapted.

Some of the above are a bit too powerful for progressive spells. I would rethink them in terms of fixed magnitude and/or make some of them Sorcery spells, particularly Blight Crops. If the effect was reduced to say, a quarter acre per point of magnitude, that would be much more palatable as a progressive Common Magic spell.

I agree that a reduction in the area of effect might make sense - and it makes the spell far less powerful than the corresponding Bless Crops divine magic spell.

Incidentally, I am OK with the idea that common magic spells that are not combat-oriented should be a bit more powerful than those common magic spells that are designed for combat utility - at the moment, the benchmark seems to be related to how useful a given spell is to Adventurers in combat encounters. While I accept that there will be some common magic spells useful to adventurers, I want to make common magic more useful in day-to-day life - which means that its should be slightly more potent in mundane situations.

I would add in a 'Boon' spell, looking at 'Mason's Boon' and 'Arrowsmith's Boon' for a template. Don't make it one spell, but rather an almost infinite number of specific Boon spells (of which 'Arrowsmith's Boon' and 'Mason's Boon" are just examples).

This way you can practically cover most Common Magic spells you will need to illustrate the kind of magic that everyday working folk use. Every cult/guild would teach a Boon variant, so the possibilities become almost endless.

I agree with this 100%. Keep in mind that most medieval guilds did have trade secrets that were not shared with outsiders. In a fantasy setting, it makes sense that some of these trade secrets would be magical in nature. Would it make sense to eliminate 'Mason's Boon' and 'Armoursith's Boon' entirely in order to replace them with a generic Artisan's Boon? Perhaps learning this spell would require membership in a suitable guild or craft association, plus possession of the required craft skill at competent level (25% or above)? There could be some interesting variants of this spell in this case - imagine the possibilities of Artisan's Boon (Torturer)! I find myself thinking of Gene Wolfe's Severian or Doctor Jest from the MIchael Moorcock's Elric series....

I'd like to thank everyone for their feedback so far - it's very useful! If anybody else would like to contribute some ideas for new spells, please feel free to share them too...

 

[Mankcam]

You're definitely on the right path with 'Boon' or 'Artisan's Boon' etc. I was thinking of everyday magic, so "Brewer's Boon' or ''Weaver's Boon' etc is the kinda thing. I think, however, that a torturer may use something a bit more specific, like a slow release Wrack spell or something. I'ld probably stick with the fairly common folk trades, otherwise 'Boon' could make many other spells almost obsolete. It's a very simple dynamic that can be adapted to endless situations, so you can fiddle with it however you like. It's a simple solution to cover most mundane Common Magic spells, I can't believe the 'official' rules don't have it written up that way actually, as it almost defines Common Magic for me.

All the same, 'Torturer's Boon' does have possibilities...

Yep, you're on the right track in regards to cult/guild membership etc. If trade skills are trade secrets, then trade magic certainly would be as well. Having base skills for magic sounds good too, particularly for crafting magic and such.

It's not such a bad idea to have that pertaining to all Common Magic actually, perhaps having a prerequisite craft, skill, combat ability etc at a minimum of 20% sounds good; alternatively perhaps the character needs the prerequistie skill to be known at 20-30% per Magnitude able to be performed with that Common Magic spell. In many cultures being highly skilled was viewed akin to magic (such as working metal, or killing with unnerving swiftness), or magic was viewed as an extension of a mundane skill.

You could easily have the above approach with Common Magic, and perhaps the Higher Magic (Sorcery, Divine, etc) is more potent and magical because of the lack of skill prerequisites. For example, a Common Magic spell to assist a warrior first requires the warrior to have an understanding of combat itself, whereas a Sorcerer could cast a spell which allows a bumbling latrine cleaner to fight like a berserker champion.

Just throwing some ideas about here...

 

[Prime_Evil]

I like the idea that Common Magic is largely about enhancing skills that the caster already possesses, whereas Sorcery grants entirely new abilities. However, about half of the canonical Common Magic spells in the core rulebook violate this approach. I suspect that this is largely an artefact of the game's history, but also partly because "Skill in a Can" spells get boring after a while! Designers want to create spells that have an interesting flavour and say something about the implied setting of the game - and that is often a good thing. The fundamental problem is that if you make common magic spells too generic, they become bland. But if you try to make them unique, you often make them overpowered.

Controlling the availability of spells through trade guilds and other professional associations is a good idea though - there might be a body of simple spells that is widely known and for everything else you need to sign up to some organization. Perhaps it would be possible to think of these as the secular equivalent to divine magic cults?

I still like Torturer's Boon though - it's got potential! After all, who needs Wrack when there is a true artiste of pain available...

 

[Mankcam]

I still like Torturer's Boon though - it's got potential! After all, who needs Wrack when there is a true artiste of pain available...

true heh heh

 

[Prime_Evil]

Based upon feedback so far, here’s a second draft of the spells – some of them have been substantially rewritten and a couple have been split into two or more separate effects. I’ve temporarily dropped the Summon Mist spell while I re-think it, but I've added a couple of new spells into the mix.

Allure
Duration 5, Magnitude 1, Progressive
For every point of Magnitude of this spell, the caster gains a +10% bonus to her Seduction skill. The caster cannot increase her Seduction skill by more than +50% by means of this spell. If the caster does not possess the Seduction advanced skill, she gains it at the base chance for the duration of the spell. However, such a caster cannot use the variable magnitude of the spell to increase her aptitude with the skill above the base chance. This spell does not empower the caster to seduce NPCs who would not normally be sexually attracted to her.

Artisan’s Boon
Instant, Magnitude 1, Progressive, Trigger
This spell actually consists of several different spells, each of which enables the caster to enhance his aptitude with a specific Craft skill. For example, Artisan’s Boon (Blacksmith) temporarily enhances the caster’s skill with metalwork and Artisan’s Boon (Mason) temporarily enhances the caster’s skill with stonework. There are numerous individual variants of this spell, but the GM may wish to disallow certain variants in her campaign.

In all cases, the spell grants the caster a +10% bonus per point of Magnitude to his next Craft Skill Test involving the relevant skill. The caster must have some training in the relevant skill to benefit from this spell – this spell does not grant practical knowledge to individuals who do not possess it, but rather enhances the training that is already present. Assume that the caster must have a skill level of competent (25% or above) in the appropriate Craft skill to benefit from this spell.

In many fantasy settings, individual variants of the Artisan’s Boon spell are closely guarded trade secrets of craft guilds. They represent secret techniques only taught to individuals who have made a solemn commitment to the guild – adventurers must achieve Rank 2 or higher in the appropriate guild before they become eligible to learn the Artisan’s Boon spell taught by that guild. Although most versions of the spell are very mundane, exotic variants are not unknown – for example, a setting might feature a Torturer’s Guild that teaches Artisan’s Boon (Torturer) or an Assassin’s Guild that teaches Artisan’s Boon (Poisoner).

Blight Crops
Duration Special, Magnitude 1, Progressive, Touch
When cast upon area of cultivated farmland, this spell reduces the agricultural productivity of the area by -10% for each point of Magnitude (up to a maximum of -70%). The blight lasts until the current crop would normally be harvested. This spell affects an area of one hectare (approx 2.5 acres) per point of Magnitude. The Bless Crops divine spell automatically dispels the blight and renders the area of effect immune to further castings of this spell for a full year.

Clean
Area (Special), Magnitude 1, Progressive, Ranged
This spell instantly cleans all objects within a room or other area with a radius of one metre per point of magnitude. Everything within the area of effect is cleansed as though it was thoroughly scrubbed or otherwise manually cleaned. Not only are normal dirt and stains removed, but loose objects are stacked in a tidy manner.

Forestwalk
Duration 5, Magnitude 1, Progressive, Ranged
The target of this spell can walk through natural forest, woodlands or jungle at their double their normal movement rate, suffering no penalties for rough terrain. The recipient of the spell can even pass through heavy undergrowth with ease. In many campaign settings, this spell is only available to elves and other sylvan creatures.

Kiss of Weakness
Duration 5, Magnitude 1, Progressive, Touch, Resist (Persistence)
For every point of Magnitude invested in this spell, the target temporarily loses one point of STR (up to a maximum of five points of STR). In order to trigger the spell, the caster must engage the target in a passionate kiss. Strength lost through this spell returns at a rate of one point per round once the spell's duration expires.

Lethargy
Duration 5, Magnitude 1, Ranged, Resist (Resilience)
This spell increases the target's Fatigue Level by 1. If the target is exhausted, he falls into a deep natural slumber for the duration of the spell. The target can be awakened by normal means during this period, but possesses the Debilitated Fatigue Level until the spell expires (–50% to all skill tests, movement is halved, and –6 penalty to Strike Rank).

Siren’s Song
Duration 5, Magnitude 2, Ranged, Resist (Persistence)
By making a successful Sing skill test immediately after casting this spell, the caster can enthral a single target for as long as she keeps singing - or until the spell expires (whichever occurs first). While enthralled, the target will listen intently to the caster’s song to the exclusion of other activities and will attempt to follow the caster wherever she goes. If attacked, the target will defend himself and will try to fend off his opponents in order to keep following the caster. The caster will also attempt to evade any obvious dangers encountered whilst following the caster, but suffers a -20% penalty to Perception rolls required to notice subtle hazards. The target may attempt to resist attempts by his comrades to restrain him from following the singer, but will avoid using lethal force if there is any alternative. Note that if the caster fails the Sing skill required to activate the spell, it automatically fails to enthrall the target (but the Magic Points are spent as normal).

Traceless
Duration 5, Magnitude 1, Progressive, Ranged
The target of this spell will leave minimal tracks or other signs of their passage when passing through natural surroundings. Attempts to use the Track skill to follow a character under the effects of this spell suffer a -10% penalty for each point of magnitude, up to a maximum penalty of -50%. Even animals will find it difficult to follow the target by scent. Note that this spell is only effective when used outdoors in a natural setting – it does not provide any benefit indoors or in urban areas.

 

[pachristian]

I like this list. Lethargy is particularly good, and Siren's Song and Kiss of Weakness are very good for a Swords and Sorcery setting (which I use).

Forestwalk seems a little powerful: Maybe it should be progressive, and add +1 meter of movement per point of magnitude: I've done a fair amount of cross-country backpacking - rough terrain really slows your movement down.

I think Blight Crops probably ought to be a divine spell. Most witches in European tales seem to have made a Pact with the devil - which could also be interpreted as they are an initiate in an outlawed cult.

 

[Prime_Evil]

I'm definitely lean towards creating spells suitable for a swords & sorcery campaign as that is my preferred style of play. However, I'm trying to cover a range of different fantasy tropes. Expect to see a few more draft spells with a swords & sorcery flavour soon though!

I like the suggested fix for Forestwalk - consider it adopted

The general consensus seems to be that Blight Crops should be a Divine Magic spell granted to individuals who dabble in demon worship and similar antisocial pursuits, so I'm going to rework it in that way. I'm thinking that divine magic is quite light on spells designed for use by evil priests at the moment, so there's definitely a niche to fill there.

 

[Prime_Evil]

Here's another spell that fills a niche - there is some overlap with the Fly sorcery spell, but this spell is considerably less powerful or versatile:

Levitate Object
Duration 5, Magnitude 1, Progressive, Ranged
The caster can levitate small inanimate objects with the power of his mind. The caster can mentally “lift” an object with one maximum bulk of 1 ENC per point of Magnitude invested in the spell. However, the spell cannot be used to levitate any object with either an ENC or SIZ greater than that the caster’s Common Magic skill divided by 10 (rounded down).

The levitated object can be moved horizontally or vertically at a speed equivalent to a slow walk (roughly 2m per round). The caster must maintain concentration while levitating the object and can take no other actions. Furthermore, the caster must make a Persistence skill test to avoid dropping the object if his concentration is interrupted. Because the levitated object moves slowly, the caster cannot use this spell to hurl objects at an opponent with sufficient force to inflict damage.

Although this spell grants the caster the power to move objects through the air, the caster cannot perform fine manipulation of the object without making a second Common Magic skill roll modified for the difficulty of the task. For example, if a prisoner levitates the key to his cell while the gaoler is asleep, he might need to make a Common Magic roll at -30% to open the lock with it due to the tricky mental manipulation involved.

Note that this spell does not permit the caster to levitate living creatures – it is only effective on inanimate objects.

 

[Prime_Evil]

I've created a draft document containing the spells created so far. It can be found here:

Spells of Legend - New Spells for the Legend Roleplaying Game

 

[pachristian]

And I have downloaded your Spells of Legend.

 

[Bifford]

I've created a draft document containing the spells created so far. It can be found here:

Spells of Legend - New Spells for the Legend Roleplaying Game

Gotta love it when the Legal Notice is almost as long as the rest of the document...!

Keep up the nice work with the spells!

Can you devise a spell that quite literally "sees the colour of the spirit" to be able to tell the targets "alignment" or general personality/wellness.

For example a human's aura depends on their profession - so a warrior would have black tinged with red aura, whereas a healer would be light blue, a merchant some sort of green. But also if someone is ill then the effected part of their body would be a sickly green or grey colour indicating localised illness.... and someone who is "entralled" to anothers will would have lines of grey thread running through their aura and possibly leading off to the other persons aura.

I'd like a spell to show the caster the auras....at basic level just the one target and progressing up to a area view at master level.

Sam.

 

[PhilHibbs]

Can you devise a spell that quite literally "sees the colour of the spirit" to be able to tell the targets "alignment" or general personality/wellness.

For example a human's aura depends on their profession - so a warrior would have black tinged with red aura, whereas a healer would be light blue, a merchant some sort of green. But also if someone is ill then the effected part of their body would be a sickly green or grey colour indicating localised illness.... and someone who is "entralled" to anothers will would have lines of grey thread running through their aura and possibly leading off to the other persons aura.

Such a spell depends on the particular cosmology of the game world - for example, the existence of Detect Evil in a D&D Paladin's ability list implies the existence of absolute, objective, forces of Good and Evil that can be measured almost like a geiger counter. RuneQuest is no tied to such assumptions, two of the settings have Chaos as detectable cosmological forces, but they are different from each other. So, before devising such a spell, you need to either decide what objective factors can be detected magically in your game world's cosmology, or make the spell work relatively and perhaps adaptable to the caster's world view, much the way Detect Enemy is. Ain't I a fun-stopper?

 

[Prime_Evil]

However, it might be possible to have a spell that allows the caster to see the target's aura, allowing the caster to judge their current emotional state. Perhaps such a spell would give the caster a bonus to Insight rolls when attempting to assess the target's moods and intentions?

This would be useful without necessarily assuming the existence of good and evil as absolute cosmological forces - although in campaigns where such concepts exist, it might give the caster important clues about the target's ethical stance.