Kicking it Old School - Information Gathering Spells in AD&D
One of the most common misunderstandings about old school play is the idea that older editions (and my preferred edition, AD&D) are “all about combat.” This is easily refuted if you look at the rules for the game. Yes, there are a lot of combat rules, but there are a lot of non-combat rules as well. Not only that, but there is a certain myopia about combat related parts of the game.
So for example, people will talk about iconic combat spells like magic missile, fireball, lightning bolt, web, disintegrate, etc. All are, of course, combat spells, and they certainly get used in that context.
But old school play is more about AVOIDING combat where possible. 1e AD&D in particular is NOT a balanced game, you will, on the regular, meet things well outside of your pay scale. Sometimes you can get lucky, but for the most part if you fight everything you come across, particularly at low levels, you will very likely die. That’s assuming your ref doesn’t give you HP kickers, start you off at mid-level, fudge dice, etc, etc.
I used to think that the focus on combat and combat related spells was just the way people preferred to play. And of course, for some people, that’s exactly the case. But for many others, as conversations on social media have shown me, the problem is more that they don’t know what their options are, or they think they HAVE to take combat related spells to contribute to combat, and that makes them only useful in combat, so they seek it out…
Time to break that circle, if you are interested in old-school play of any kind, and you want to play in a more or less BTB game, you need to expand your horizons. I thought I would run through some of the spell options in the game to show how important non-combat spells can be.
But I’m not going to focus on “defensive” spells, as they are still, in essence, combat spells, I’m going to focus on information gathering spells. Gathering information and resource management are two of the most important factors in surviving in old school play. The default setting for AD&D was your death, not your success, so those players who figured out early that information gathering was important were the ones who survived the longest, and, perhaps unsurprisingly, had the most fun.
Once you spend some time looking through these spells you start to realize a few things, first, that clerics are just as important as sources of in game information as they are for healing. Sure, healing is great! But avoiding the fight and the need for healing is even better. Similarly, druids have a massive resource in their ability to speak with animals and plants to gather information. Animals (and plants!) are pretty much everywhere in a fantasy setting, so they represent a huge resource. Also, as clerics and druids get access to ALL the spells of the appropriate level, they get to access information gathering spells more easily than magic-users, who must find the spells in the wild. Once my players began to realize that clerics had access to these awesome spells, and that they didn’t have to find them to use them, interest in the class grew significantly.
Surveillance spells like clairvoyance, spells that allow you to contact powerful extraplanar beings for information, spells that tell you the “lay of the land” like divination, once your players glom on to the fact that these spells are as useful as combat related spells, the tenor of your game will change significantly, as they will gather information and play more strategically. When this happens, player skill can grow, and the game becomes much more than a hackfest.
Now, one small caveat. Although there are a lot of great lower level spells for this, many of these spells are mid to high level, and as such won’t appear on MU and cleric spell lists for low to mid level play. It’s one of the reasons why they aren’t used as often, many campaigns don't make it to high level.
However, as an added bonus, AD&D has a mechanism to help you here, as a low level cleric or magic-user can cast a higher level spell than they can normally cast when it is cast from a scroll. Yes, there are failure and harm percentages, but no risk, no reward! A scroll copy of a high level divination spell can be a game changer for the party. Don’t hesitate to put these spells into play and see how they change the game.
Information Gathering Spells
Clerics/Druids
Detect Evil
Players think that evil is obvious, so they will not really need a spell like this. I know what’s evil, I want a spell to SMITE it!
With a range of 120’ indoors and a duration of 1 turn + ½ turn per level, this is a fantastic spell to locate evil creatures or objects, and if used correctly, can make a huge difference. In a recent dungeon delve the party was searching for a corrupt artifact. As the description in the DMG suggests, detect evil tells you “Basically the degree of evil” of the object or creature. As the artifact they were searching for was by far the most evil thing in the dungeon, the spell allowed them to home in on the artifact and avoid other parts of the adventure that would have been deadly and wasted their resources.
Detect magic is a bit less useful as there are so many sources of magic in the game, and it’s range is much smaller, but it is still useful to identify potential items of magic.
Augury
Augury is hands down one of the best information gathering spells in the game. Cast this before you are about to make a specific decision (do I open this door, do I break the magic seal, do I take the gem from the statue) and you have good odds to find out if the decision will be harmful to you or not. The spell only gives you “yes” or “no” answers, so the phrasing of the question has to be carefully done, and it can give you a false answer (70%+1%/lv chance of success), but for the most part it is a reliable way to have sort of a spider sense about danger in the dungeon. My players use this spell liberally and it has saved them from a host of bad decisions.
Find Traps
It shouldn’t need repeating, but what the heck, this is a very useful spell. Yes, it is restricted in AOE, so you have to scan around for traps, but the duration (3 turns, 30 minutes) means you can use it very effectively to determine the danger spots in a dungeon environment.
Speak with Animals
Too many players use this as a “trained dog” spell, to get an animal to do a simple task for them of some kind, or at least to keep them from attacking. But the far more valuable application of this spell is information gathering. Animals are everywhere in D&D, in cities, crypts, the wilderness, you name it. And they see it all. My players have become quite adept at using this spell to gather information about the areas they are going into. Who passes by regularly, how often do the denizens of the crypt come out? How do I get into this area, are there other dangerous animals around? At 2 rounds per level duration the caster can ask a lot of questions and gather a lot of information about the threats in an area of interest. They can also use the spell to help find targets the party is tracking, or act as “watchmen” for a party camped down for the night.
Locate Object
Players often avoid “specific” spells like this as they think they are too narrow. Locate object only allows you to find an object you already know about, so it seems like a wasted spell. However, there are many clever uses of this spell in an urban environment, or a controlled dungeon environment. So for example, once the caster has become familiar with a target, they can track that target using this spell by “locating” an object on their person that the caster is now familiar with. It can also help to retrieve stolen stuff, or find a specific object the party is out to retrieve.
Speak with The Dead
Another of the most useful information gathering spells in the game. I’m always shocked when refs and players say they haven’t seen it used in their game. Being able to ask questions of dead NPCs can give the players a wealth of information that they otherwise simply could not have. My players use this spell liberally to find out more information about an area or a quest they are on. It’s also quite cool to role play.
Divination
A more powerful version of augury, it is one of the best examples of how magic can help with information gathering and risk avoidance. The spell tells the caster, “... the relative strength of creatures in the area; whether a rich, moderate or poor treasure is there; and the relative chances for incurring the wrath of evil or good supernatural, super powerful beings if the area is invaded or attacked.” This spell essentially tells you where your risks are and if they are worth it. Talk about short circuiting the game! I’ve seen my players avoid SO MUCH DANGER using this spell carefully, note that the AOE is quite large as well, making it even more useful.
Speak with Plants
Players focus on the ability to get plants to do stuff for you, but they are FAR MORE useful for information gathering, there are plants pretty much everywhere in D&D, so this spell gives you the chance to gather information pretty much anywhere as well. I once had a PC drop a small twig into a caravan wagon and at the end of the day he retrieved it and asked questions, so simple, yet so useful.
Commune
What a system hack. You get one question per level, “yes or no”, and the answers will be correct. It’s like having a direct line to the ref’s notes as you play. The spell text warns that the gods don't want to be bothered too often so use the spell carefully, but this is really just the rules realizing that the spell is enormously powerful and shouldn’t be abused.
Find the Path
At a duration of 1 turn per level, this spell is super useful when trying to avoid getting lost in a dangerous environment. The ‘you don’t know where you are so you wander and suffer through attrition” problem is real in early edition D&D, the longer you are wandering around the more encounters you will have, and the more risks you take. Spells like this short circuit the problem.
True Seeing
Another underappreciated banger, this spell sees through illusions, finds trap doors, identifies polymorphed enemies, so many tough encounters are tough as you don’t know what you are facing, one casting of True Seeing cast in a dangerous area is pure gold.
Speak with Monsters
As an information gathering spell this has utility, as many monsters are not normally able to communicate. It also opens up monsters that can’t communicate to one of AD&D’s finest subsystems, the parlay rules. When you can communicate with something you get to have an encounter reaction roll with that creature, and this spell allows you to communicate.
Stone Tell
When there are no monsters, animals, plants or dead bodies around to talk to, this spell has you covered! Speak to the stones themselves to find out what is happening in that dungeon room.
Astral Spell
Because this spell allows you to travel anywhere on the Prime Material plane, you can use it to spy on ANYONE. It’s INSANELY useful as a reconnaissance spell, and in most cases you can gather information almost without risk. Just don’t spend too much time there, as there are wandering monsters everywhere, including the Astral plane....
Locate Animals
Another “how is this useful” kind of spell, when backed up with a bit of information, it can be very helpful. If you know what dangerous animals are in the area (and the druid’s casting this spell can usually figure that out), this spell can help you avoid them. It can also be useful to find the animal you want for an animal friendship spell.
Predict Weather
Another oft ignored spell, at lower levels when weather can be a major factor in the party’s survival, casting this spell is invaluable. My players have taken to using it when going on sea voyages, to great positive effect.
Locate Plants
Again, this one is pretty niche, but when combined with other information gathering spells it is very useful. If you know what the danger is, this spell can help you find it and avoid it.
Commune with Nature
At an AOE of a ½ mile per level of the caster, this spell can tell you mountains of information about an area of interest, and help you navigate the risks with much more success.
Magic-User Spells
Charm Person
Everyone takes this to get protection or to get the charmed creature to perform a service (e.g. get us into the fort), but what people often forget is that this is a MASSIVELY USEFUL spell for gathering information. When cast on someone they regard themselves as a good friend of the caster, so will be likely to share sensitive information, and will be well disposed to questions. This is perhaps the most powerful interrogation spells in the book, and its 1st level. Friends is similarly useful.
Comprehend Languages
In one of the very first adventures I ever ran for my current group they found an inscription they couldn’t read, that caused them all sorts of trouble. Since then they cheer when someone finds this spell. A well placed comprehend languages can be a game changer. It can also read inscriptions on magic items that may be command words (as long as they aren’t magic)
Find Familiar
Everyone wants familiars for the HP, or the chance of maybe getting an exceptional familiar, but what they forget is that a familiar can gather information for the magic-user in an innocuous way, which is worth its weight in gold for reconnaissance. Being able to use your familiar’s senses also helps the MU to gather information.
Identify
This is one of the few information gathering spells I would not recommend as written, it costs too much, has too many risks, and is not reliable enough.
Detect Invisibility
This is one of those spells that tells you which players have been reading the PHB. “It’s too niche, it will rarely come up.” From the spell description,
“When the magic-user casts a detect invisibility spell, he or she is able to clearly see any objects which are invisible, as well as astral, ethereal, hidden, invisible or out of phase creatures.”
This spell is madly useful in combat or in any area with hidden foes. 5 round per level duration, for magic users a 2nd level spell (so castable at 3rd level), 15 minute duration, inside 30’ per level outside 90’ per level range. Don’t leave home without it.
ESP
IT’S A SECOND LEVEL SPELL DAWG. For real. No need for intimidation or charm, just take what you want from their minds. It doesn’t do “deep reading”, but for general information or whatever is happening right now, it’s ace!
Clairaudience and Clairvoyance
These spells are both insanely useful for surveillance, but they require you to know the location that you are surveilling. However, there are NO distance limitations, so this is a great way to monitor something dangerous from a safe distance. I had one party MU/thief get himself invited to a merchant’s home for a party, do nothing other than socialize, then come back later and use this spell as he was now familiar with the location. Boss
Suggestion
Another spell that is often used in combat when it is much more useful for information gathering, someone under a suggestion spell will spill the beans for sure!
Wizard Eye
Getting the “bird’s eye view” of the situation can be the tactical advantage that wins you the fight, this is an often ignored and incredibly helpful spell.
Contact Other Plane
This is a tricky one, as there are odds for insanity, and odds that you won’t get the right information, or the information won’t be known, so it isn’t a slam dunk, but when needed it is SO useful.
Legend Lore
A jazzed up version of Identify, a great way to find out where that cool item is located. When you player asks “can I have a Sword of Awesomeness?” tell them to get a MU to cast this and then go find it. Legend Lore is a great adventure seed spell.
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