Arcane Sight
Arcane Sight makes magical auras visible at a glance. The caster’s eyes glow blue, and enchantments, active spells, enchanted objects and magically empowered creatures become part of the visible landscape rather than hidden information waiting to be discovered.
It is stronger than Detect Magic because the caster can keep moving and observing without repeatedly concentrating on the surrounding area. Its real value is not simply finding magic, but deciding which magic deserves attention.
Quick Rules Reference
D&D 5.5e / 2024
SpiralWorlds conversion. 3rd-level Divination, 120-foot magical sight, no Concentration, with focused assessment of another spellcaster.
Pathfinder 1e
120-foot aura vision with immediate aura strength, Spellcraft analysis, spellcaster assessment, magic-item identification and Permanency support.
D&D 3.5e
The classic Sorcerer/Wizard spell: 120-foot aura vision, Spellcraft analysis, spellcaster assessment and eligibility for Permanency.
Edition Rules
Arcane Sight
Your eyes glow blue for the duration. You perceive a visible aura around any creature, object or magical effect that you can see within 120 feet of yourself and that currently bears magic.
You do not need to take a separate Magic action merely to reveal these auras. When an aura produced by a spell becomes visible to you, you learn that spell’s school of magic and its spell level.
A non-spell magical effect still appears magical, but Arcane Sight does not automatically reveal the effect’s exact rules, command words, charges, origin, hidden functions or other properties.
Examine a Spellcaster
As a Magic action, choose one creature you can see within 120 feet. You learn whether that creature can currently cast spells and the highest level of spell it can currently cast.
You do not learn the creature’s specific prepared or known spells, class, complete spell list or hidden abilities.
Magic Items
Arcane Sight can reveal that an object is magical and can reveal visible spell effects acting upon it, but this conversion does not identify the item’s complete properties, charges, command words or attunement requirements. Use Identify when those properties are the question.
Line of Sight
Arcane Sight does not give you the ability to see a creature or object that you could not otherwise see. It therefore does not reveal an Invisible creature merely because that creature bears magic, and it does not let you inspect magic through opaque walls or other barriers that block your sight.
Illusions and Concealment
Seeing a magical aura can reveal that magic is present, but it does not automatically explain what the magic is doing. An illusion, disguise or transformed creature does not automatically become transparent merely because Arcane Sight reveals a magical effect associated with it.
Using a Higher-Level Spell Slot
This conversion gains no additional effect from a higher-level spell slot.
Permanency
There is no general Permanency procedure for this 2024-compatible version. Do not import the Pathfinder 1e or D&D 3.5e Permanency rules into this panel.
Arcane Sight
Your eyes glow blue and you can see magical auras within 120 feet. The effect resembles Detect Magic, but Arcane Sight does not require concentration and reveals aura locations and strengths much more quickly.
You know the location and power of every magical aura within your sight. Aura power follows the functioning spell level or magic item’s caster level used by the Pathfinder Detect Magic rules.
| Aura Power | Functioning Spell | Magic Item Caster Level |
|---|---|---|
| Faint | 3rd level or lower | 5th or lower |
| Moderate | 4th–6th level | 6th–11th |
| Strong | 7th–9th level | 12th–20th |
| Overwhelming | 10th level or higher / deity-level magic | 21st or higher / artifact-scale magic |
Determine the School
When an item or creature bearing an aura is in line of sight, you can attempt a Spellcraft check for each individual aura to determine its school of magic.
- Spell aura: DC 15 + spell level.
- Nonspell magical effect: DC 15 + one-half the effect’s caster level.
Examine a Creature
By concentrating on one particular creature within 120 feet as a standard action, you determine whether that creature possesses spellcasting or spell-like abilities.
You also determine whether its spellcasting is arcane or divine. Spell-like abilities register as arcane for this purpose. Finally, you learn the strength of the most powerful spell or spell-like ability that the creature currently has available for use.
Identifying Magic Items
Pathfinder Arcane Sight can be used with the identification procedure associated with Detect Magic to identify the properties of magic items. Artifacts remain excluded from that normal identification procedure.
Permanency
Arcane Sight can be made permanent. Use the Pathfinder version of the relevant Permanency rules and costs rather than importing the D&D 3.5e XP procedure.
Arcane Sight
Your eyes glow blue and magical auras become visible within 120 feet. The effect is similar to Detect Magic, but Arcane Sight requires no concentration and provides aura locations and strengths much more quickly.
You know the location and power of all magical auras within your sight. Aura power depends on a functioning spell’s level or a magic item’s caster level.
| Aura Power | Functioning Spell | Magic Item Caster Level |
|---|---|---|
| Faint | 3rd level or lower | 5th or lower |
| Moderate | 4th–6th level | 6th–11th |
| Strong | 7th–9th level | 12th–20th |
| Overwhelming | 10th level or higher / deity-level magic | 21st or higher / artifact-scale magic |
Determine the School
If a creature or item bearing an aura is in line of sight, you may attempt one Spellcraft check for each aura to determine its school.
- Spell aura: DC 15 + spell level.
- Nonspell magical effect: DC 15 + one-half caster level.
Examine a Creature
Concentrating on a particular creature within 120 feet as a standard action reveals whether that creature possesses spellcasting or spell-like abilities.
You determine whether the spellcasting is arcane or divine. Spell-like abilities register as arcane. You also learn the strength of the most powerful spell or spell-like ability that the creature currently has available.
Magic Items
The D&D 3.5e Arcane Sight spell does not contain Pathfinder’s additional sentence allowing the spell itself to use the Detect Magic item-identification procedure. Do not import that Pathfinder addition into this tab.
Permanency
Arcane Sight can be made permanent through Permanency. Under the D&D 3.5e Permanency table, the caster must be at least 11th level and spends 1,500 XP.
What Changes Between Editions?
| Question | D&D 5.5e / 2024 | Pathfinder 1e | D&D 3.5e |
|---|---|---|---|
| Official Arcane Sight spell? | No — SpiralWorlds conversion | Yes | Yes |
| Effective magical sight | 120 feet | 120 feet | 120 feet |
| Concentration? | No | No | No |
| School information | Automatic for visible spell-created auras | Spellcraft check | Spellcraft check |
| Measures magical power? | Learns spell level for spell-created aura | Aura-strength categories | Aura-strength categories |
| Examines spellcasters? | Yes, with a Magic action | Yes, with a standard action | Yes, with a standard action |
| Identifies magic-item properties? | No | Yes, through its Detect Magic interaction | Not through Arcane Sight itself |
| Permanency? | No general procedure | Yes | Yes; 11th level, 1,500 XP |
Edition boundary: never transfer Pathfinder’s item-identification sentence, Pathfinder Permanency costs or D&D 3.5e XP costs into another rules panel.
What Arcane Sight Actually Reveals
The spell is best understood as magical reconnaissance. A normal room becomes layered with information: the ward on a locked cabinet, the charm carried by an envoy, the spell surrounding a doorway, the enchanted blade under a cloak and the active protection surrounding another magician can all become visible clues.
What matters is that Arcane Sight reveals evidence of magic. It does not turn every supernatural mystery into an answer.
Presence
The most immediate information is simple: something you can see is magical. This alone can change an encounter. An apparently ordinary seal, mirror, document, weapon or person may deserve entirely different treatment once its aura becomes visible.
Location
Arcane Sight distinguishes where visible magical auras are located rather than merely telling the caster that magic exists somewhere nearby.
Power
Legacy editions retain their aura-strength system. The 2024-compatible conversion instead uses spell level when the visible aura comes from a spell, avoiding the importation of legacy caster-level categories into modern rules.
School
Pathfinder 1e and D&D 3.5e retain their Spellcraft checks. The 2024-compatible conversion follows the modern Detect Magic vocabulary and reveals a spell-created effect’s school directly.
What Arcane Sight Does Not Automatically Reveal
Magical vision is not omniscience. A visible aura may tell the caster that something is important without explaining the whole story.
- It does not automatically reveal every property of every magic item.
- It does not automatically expose an Invisible creature that the caster cannot otherwise see.
- It does not see through opaque walls merely because magic exists beyond them.
- It does not automatically reveal a creature’s class.
- It does not normally reveal every spell another caster knows or has prepared.
- It does not automatically defeat every illusion, disguise or aura-manipulation effect.
- It does not turn a magical aura into proof of guilt, hostility or evil intent.
That boundary is important. Arcane Sight provides better questions. Other spells, skills and investigation provide the answers.
Best Uses
Sweep a Dangerous Room
Entering with Arcane Sight already active can reveal enchanted doors, active wards, magical containers, spell effects and suspicious objects without repeatedly stopping to perform a slower magical search.
Find the Important Object
In a treasury, workshop or archive full of mundane objects, the enchanted piece may immediately stand apart from everything around it.
Assess Another Spellcaster
The creature-focused option can tell the party whether a seemingly harmless stranger is carrying substantial magical capability before anyone commits to a dangerous confrontation.
Investigate Magical Security
Arcane Sight is excellent for examining guarded doors, sealed chests, ritual chambers, enchanted correspondence and locations where several magical protections have been layered together.
Tactics
For Players
Cast Arcane Sight before entering the place where information matters. Its advantage over momentary investigation is continuity: once the spell is running, magical evidence can emerge naturally as the character moves through an encounter.
Do not spend actions examining every aura merely because the spell gives you the option. Start with the aura that changes the decision in front of you: the stranger who may be a dangerous spellcaster, the doorway covered in several workings, or the single enchanted object in a room full of mundane treasure.
Pair magical sight with ordinary observation. A faint aura on an iron key, a strong ward on an apparently unimportant cabinet or several magical effects concentrated around one courtier can be more useful than an isolated rules label.
For Games Masters
Arcane Sight should reward investigation without flattening it. Give the caster the information the active edition promises, then allow the player to decide what deserves further attention.
Describe auras consistently enough that players can build intuition, but do not turn them into universal colour codes for effects the spell has not actually identified. A visible magical presence is evidence; the exact meaning still depends on the rules.
Good Combinations
Detect Magic
The cheaper baseline. Use Detect Magic for ordinary inspection and reserve Arcane Sight for situations where range, speed and sustained observation justify a 3rd-level spell.
Identify
Arcane Sight finds the object worth investigating; Identify answers the more detailed question of what a magic item actually does in editions where Arcane Sight does not provide that information itself.
Dispel Magic
Detection and removal make a natural pair. Arcane Sight can help reveal the ongoing magical effect that the party most urgently wants to end.
Permanency
Relevant only to legacy versions that explicitly permit Arcane Sight to become permanent. Use the costs and restrictions belonging to the active edition.
Related Spells and Counters
Detect Magic
The foundational magical-detection spell and the source of several aura concepts used by the legacy Arcane Sight rules.
Identify
The specialist choice when discovering a magic item’s actual properties matters more than surveying the magical environment.
Greater Arcane Sight
The legacy high-level progression of Arcane Sight. It automatically reveals which spells or magical effects are operating on creatures and objects that the caster sees.
Magic Aura
A natural countermeasure because aura-manipulation magic can make magical evidence misleading rather than simply hiding the underlying object.
Nondetection
An important anti-divination spell. Resolve its interaction using the exact wording of the edition being played rather than assuming every form of magical sight is blocked identically.
Dispel Magic
Arcane Sight is an ongoing spell and can itself become a target for appropriate dispelling rules.
Browse the wider Magic library or the Sorcerer/Wizard spell catalogue for further Divination, identification and anti-magic options.
Arcane Sight in 1454
In SpiralWorlds, Arcane Sight is not merely an adventurer’s dungeon spell. It is a professional instrument of magical inspection.
Universities teach aura observation alongside magical theory, natural philosophy and the disciplined use of Divination. Court scholars use the spell when examining gifts, seals, documents and visiting magicians. Guild specialists inspect enchanted merchandise before valuable goods change hands. Civic authorities call upon trained casters when a ward, curse, magical fraud or unexplained supernatural effect becomes a matter of law.
The spell is particularly valuable in the Empire, where neighbouring free cities, principalities, lordships and other territories may regulate magic very differently. An enchantment accepted as ordinary professional practice in one jurisdiction may require registration, licence or investigation in another.
Arcane Sight therefore creates a small but important class of specialists: magical examiners who are paid not to cast the most destructive spell, but to notice what everybody else has missed.
Teaching the Sight
A student does not begin by staring at dangerous relics. Instruction normally starts with known enchanted objects and controlled spell effects. The pupil learns to distinguish overlapping auras, to hold attention on one subject without losing awareness of the room and, above all, to resist the temptation to mistake an aura for an explanation.
Apprentices who cannot make that distinction are dangerous. They see magic everywhere and think they understand everything.
Permanent Arcane Sight
Where legacy Permanency rules are used, a magician who has made Arcane Sight permanent lives in a world permanently crowded with supernatural information. Enchanted jewellery, protective wards, spellcasters, magical architecture and hidden workings cease to be exceptional sights.
That can make such people formidable investigators, but it also changes how they experience markets, courts, workshops and cities in which magic is common.
Historical and Occult Context
Arcane Sight is a fantasy game spell rather than the survival of one historical rite. Its central idea belongs to a much wider tradition of magical and divinatory thought: ordinary appearances conceal properties that trained perception, special knowledge or ritual practice can uncover.
SpiralWorlds turns that broad idea into literal perception. Magical power is not merely inferred from symbols, reputation or strange events. For the duration of the spell, the caster can actually see evidence that magic is present.
That difference matters in the setting. The spell makes the supernatural observable enough to be examined, compared, taught and disputed without making it perfectly understood. Two trained observers may agree that an aura exists and still disagree about what should be done about it.
Adventure Hooks
The Aura That Should Not Exist
A civic examiner discovers an overwhelming magical aura around an object that every surviving inventory insists has been mundane for generations.
The Enchanted Embassy
Almost every member of a visiting delegation carries a different magical aura, but none is openly carrying a weapon or admitting to spellcasting.
The Invisible Difference
Two apparently identical relics are presented to a court. Arcane Sight proves that only one is magical, but every witness swears the other is the genuine object.
The False Reading
A respected magical inspector condemns an accused magician after reading a damning aura. The characters discover evidence that Magic Aura may have been used to manufacture the evidence.
The Permanent Watcher
A wizard with permanent Arcane Sight vanishes after reporting that the same unidentified aura has appeared on several influential people who have never met.
The Silent Chamber
An abandoned laboratory contains no obvious danger, yet every surviving object radiates magic except a single untouched book in the centre of the room.
Arcane Sight FAQ
Does Arcane Sight require Concentration?
No. The Pathfinder 1e and D&D 3.5e spell explicitly improves on Detect Magic by not requiring concentration, and the SpiralWorlds 2024-compatible conversion preserves that defining feature.
Does Arcane Sight reveal Invisible creatures?
Not merely because they are magical. The spell’s aura information concerns subjects within the caster’s sight. If the caster cannot otherwise see the creature, Arcane Sight is not a substitute for magic specifically designed to reveal invisibility.
Can Arcane Sight see through walls?
Arcane Sight works through what the caster can see. It should not be treated as unrestricted X-ray vision through opaque barriers.
Does Arcane Sight identify magic items?
It depends on edition. Pathfinder 1e explicitly allows Arcane Sight to use the Detect Magic item-identification procedure, excluding artifacts. The D&D 3.5e spell itself does not contain that Pathfinder addition. The SpiralWorlds 2024-compatible conversion reveals that an item is magical but does not reveal all of its properties; use Identify.
Does Arcane Sight reveal exactly which spells another caster knows?
No. Normal Arcane Sight assesses magical capability without handing over the creature’s complete spell list. Legacy Greater Arcane Sight provides much more detailed information about active magical effects.
Can Arcane Sight be made permanent?
Yes in the legacy editions where Permanency explicitly permits it. D&D 3.5e requires caster level 11 and 1,500 XP. Pathfinder uses its own Permanency procedure. The 2024-compatible conversion has no general Permanency rule.
Does Arcane Sight automatically defeat Magic Aura?
No universal ruling should be imported across editions. Magic Aura exists precisely to interfere with magical detection. Resolve the interaction from the wording used by the active rules edition.
Sources & Licensing
Rules Sources
- System Reference Document 5.2.1 — current 2024 rules framework and Detect Magic terminology. Arcane Sight itself is presented above as original SpiralWorlds conversion material.
- Pathfinder 1e — Arcane Sight — Pathfinder mechanics, expanded class access and magic-item identification clause.
- D&D 3.5e SRD — Arcane Sight — legacy Sorcerer/Wizard mechanics.
- SpiralWorlds — Detect Magic — related aura and detection mechanics.
- SpiralWorlds — Spellcraft — legacy aura-identification checks.
- SpiralWorlds — Permanency — legacy permanent-spell procedures.
Creative Commons Material
This work includes material from the System Reference Document 5.2.1 (“SRD 5.2.1”) by Wizards of the Coast LLC, available at D&D Beyond. SRD 5.2.1 is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Open Game Content
The Pathfinder 1e and D&D 3.5e game mechanics and rules expressions in their respective mechanics panels are designated Open Game Content.
Original SpiralWorlds setting material, descriptive prose, artwork, presentation, page structure, CSS and other material not derived from Open Game Content are not designated Open Game Content by this notice.
Open Game License v1.0a + applicable Section 15 notices
OPEN GAME LICENSE Version 1.0a
The following text is the property of Wizards of the Coast, Inc. and is Copyright 2000 Wizards of the Coast, Inc (“Wizards”). All Rights Reserved.
1. Definitions: (a) “Contributors” means the copyright and/or trademark owners who have contributed Open Game Content; (b) “Derivative Material” means copyrighted material including derivative works and translations (including into other computer languages), potation, modification, correction, addition, extension, upgrade, improvement, compilation, abridgment or other form in which an existing work may be recast, transformed or adapted; (c) “Distribute” means to reproduce, license, rent, lease, sell, broadcast, publicly display, transmit or otherwise distribute; (d) “Open Game Content” means the game mechanic and includes the methods, procedures, processes and routines to the extent such content does not embody the Product Identity and is an enhancement over the prior art and any additional content clearly identified as Open Game Content by the Contributor, and means any work covered by this License, including translations and derivative works under copyright law, but specifically excludes Product Identity; (e) “Product Identity” means product and product line names, logos and identifying marks including trade dress; artifacts; creatures; characters; stories, storylines, plots, thematic elements, dialogue, incidents, language, artwork, symbols, designs, depictions, likenesses, formats, poses, concepts, themes and graphic, photographic and other visual or audio representations; names and descriptions of characters, spells, enchantments, personalities, teams, personas, likenesses and special abilities; places, locations, environments, creatures, equipment, magical or supernatural abilities or effects, logos, symbols, or graphic designs; and any other trademark or registered trademark clearly identified as Product Identity by the owner of the Product Identity, and which specifically excludes the Open Game Content; (f) “Trademark” means the logos, names, mark, sign, motto, designs that are used by a Contributor to identify itself or its products or the associated products contributed to the Open Game License by the Contributor; (g) “Use”, “Used” or “Using” means to use, Distribute, copy, edit, format, modify, translate and otherwise create Derivative Material of Open Game Content; (h) “You” or “Your” means the licensee in terms of this agreement.
2. The License: This License applies to any Open Game Content that contains a notice indicating that the Open Game Content may only be Used under and in terms of this License. You must affix such a notice to any Open Game Content that you Use. No terms may be added to or subtracted from this License except as described by the License itself. No other terms or conditions may be applied to any Open Game Content distributed using this License.
3. Offer and Acceptance: By Using the Open Game Content You indicate Your acceptance of the terms of this License.
4. Grant and Consideration: In consideration for agreeing to use this License, the Contributors grant You a perpetual, worldwide, royalty-free, non-exclusive license with the exact terms of this License to Use the Open Game Content.
5. Representation of Authority to Contribute: If You are contributing original material as Open Game Content, You represent that Your Contributions are Your original creation and/or You have sufficient rights to grant the rights conveyed by this License.
6. Notice of License Copyright: You must update the COPYRIGHT NOTICE portion of this License to include the exact text of the COPYRIGHT NOTICE of any Open Game Content You are copying, modifying or distributing, and You must add the title, the copyright date, and the copyright holder’s name to the COPYRIGHT NOTICE of any original Open Game Content you Distribute.
7. Use of Product Identity: You agree not to Use any Product Identity, including as an indication as to compatibility, except as expressly licensed in another, independent Agreement with the owner of each element of that Product Identity.
You agree not to indicate compatibility or co-adaptability with any Trademark or Registered Trademark in conjunction with a work containing Open Game Content except as expressly licensed in another, independent Agreement with the owner of such Trademark or Registered Trademark. The use of any Product Identity in Open Game Content does not constitute a challenge to the ownership of that Product Identity.
The owner of any Product Identity used in Open Game Content shall retain all rights, title and interest in and to that Product Identity.
8. Identification: If you distribute Open Game Content You must clearly indicate which portions of the work that you are distributing are Open Game Content.
9. Updating the License: Wizards or its designated Agents may publish updated versions of this License. You may use any authorized version of this License to copy, modify and distribute any Open Game Content originally distributed under any version of this License.
10. Copy of this License: You MUST include a copy of this License with every copy of the Open Game Content You Distribute.
11. Use of Contributor Credits: You may not market or advertise the Open Game Content using the name of any Contributor unless You have written permission from the Contributor to do so.
12. Inability to Comply: If it is impossible for You to comply with any of the terms of this License with respect to some or all of the Open Game Content due to statute, judicial order, or governmental regulation then You may not Use any Open Game Material so affected.
13. Termination: This License will terminate automatically if You fail to comply with all terms herein and fail to cure such breach within 30 days of becoming aware of the breach. All sublicenses shall survive the termination of this License.
14. Reformation: If any provision of this License is held to be unenforceable, such provision shall be reformed only to the extent necessary to make it enforceable.
15. COPYRIGHT NOTICE
Open Game License v 1.0 Copyright 2000, Wizards of the Coast, Inc.
System Reference Document. Copyright 2000, Wizards of the Coast, Inc.; Authors Jonathan Tweet, Monte Cook, Skip Williams, based on original material by E. Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson.
Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Core Rulebook. Copyright 2009, Paizo Publishing, LLC; Author Jason Bulmahn, based on material by Jonathan Tweet, Monte Cook, and Skip Williams.