Detect Magic Spell
Detect Magic reveals nearby magical influence and helps locate its source. Fifth edition uses a 30-foot detection area around the caster; Pathfinder 1e and D&D 3.5e examine a 60-foot cone over successive rounds.
At a Glance
| 5.5e / 2024 | Level 1 Divination; Action or Ritual; Self, senses effects within 30 feet; Magic action reveals visible auras; Concentration, up to 10 minutes. |
|---|---|
| 5e / 2014 | 1st-level Divination (ritual); 1 action; Self, senses magic within 30 feet; an action reveals visible auras; Concentration, up to 10 minutes. |
| Pathfinder 1e | Level 0; standard action; 60-foot cone; information increases over three rounds; Knowledge (arcana) reveals schools; Concentration, up to 1 minute/level. |
| D&D 3.5e | Level 0; standard action; 60-foot cone; information increases over three rounds; Spellcraft reveals schools; Concentration, up to 1 minute/level. |
| Browse | Bard spells · Cleric spells · All spell traditions |
Spell Rules
Detect Magic — 5.5e (2024)
| Spell | Level 1 Divination (Bard, Cleric, Druid, Paladin, Ranger, Sorcerer, Warlock, Wizard) |
|---|---|
| Casting Time | Action or Ritual |
| Range | Self |
| Components | V, S |
| Duration | Concentration, up to 10 minutes |
For the duration, you sense the presence of magical effects within 30 feet of yourself. If you sense such effects, you can take the Magic action to see a faint aura around any visible creature or object in the area that bears the magic, and if an effect was created by a spell, you learn the spell’s school of magic. The spell is blocked by 1 foot of stone, dirt, or wood; 1 inch of metal; or a thin sheet of lead.
Detect Magic — 5e (2014)
| Spell | 1st-level Divination (ritual); Bard, Cleric, Druid, Paladin, Ranger, Sorcerer, Wizard |
|---|---|
| Casting Time | 1 action |
| Range | Self |
| Components | V, S |
| Duration | Concentration, up to 10 minutes |
For the duration, you sense the presence of magic within 30 feet of you. If you sense magic in this way, you can use your action to see a faint aura around any visible creature or object in the area that bears magic, and you learn its school of magic, if any. The spell can penetrate most barriers, but it is blocked by 1 foot of stone, 1 inch of common metal, a thin sheet of lead, or 3 feet of wood or dirt.
Detect Magic — Pathfinder 1e
| School | divination |
|---|---|
| Level | Adept 0, Arcanist 0, Bard 0, Cleric 0, Druid 0, Hunter 0, Inquisitor 0, Magus 0, Medium 0, Mesmerist 0, Occultist 0, Oracle 0, Psychic 0, Shaman 0, Skald 0, Sorcerer 0, Spiritualist 0, Summoner 0, Unchained Summoner 0, Warpriest 0, Witch 0, Wizard 0 |
| Casting Time | 1 standard action |
| Components | V, S |
| Range | 60 ft. |
| Area | cone-shaped emanation |
| Duration | concentration, up to 1 min./level (D) |
| Saving Throw | none |
| Spell Resistance | no |
You detect magical auras. The amount of information revealed depends on how long you study a particular area or subject.
1st Round: Presence or absence of magical auras.
2nd Round: Number of different magical auras and the power of the most potent aura.
3rd Round: The strength and location of each aura. If the items or creatures bearing the auras are in line of sight, you can make Knowledge (arcana) skill checks to determine the school of magic involved in each. (Make one check per aura: DC 15 + spell level, or 15 + 1/2 caster level for a nonspell effect.) If the aura emanates from a magic item, you can attempt to identify its properties (see Spellcraft).
Magical areas, multiple types of magic, or strong local magical emanations may distort or conceal weaker auras.
Aura Strength: An aura’s power depends on a spell’s functioning spell level or an item’s caster level; see the accompanying table. If an aura falls into more than one category, detect magic indicates the stronger of the two.
Lingering Aura: A magical aura lingers after its original source dissipates (in the case of a spell) or is destroyed (in the case of a magic item). If detect magic is cast and directed at such a location, the spell indicates an aura strength of dim (even weaker than a faint aura). How long the aura lingers at this dim level depends on its original power:
| Original Strength | Duration of Lingering Aura |
|---|---|
| Faint | 1d6 rounds |
| Moderate | 1d6 minutes |
| Strong | 1d6 × 10 minutes |
| Overwhelming | 1d6 days |
Outsiders and elementals are not magical in themselves, but if they are summoned, the conjuration spell registers. Each round, you can turn to detect magic in a new area. The spell can penetrate barriers, but 1 foot of stone, 1 inch of common metal, a thin sheet of lead, or 3 feet of wood or dirt blocks it.
Detect magic can be made permanent with a permanency spell.
| Spell or Object | Aura Power | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Faint | Moderate | Strong | Overwhelming | |
| Functioning spell (spell level) | 3rd or lower | 4th–6th | 7th–9th | 10th+ (deity-level) |
| Magic item (caster level) | 5th or lower | 6th–11th | 12th–20th | 21st+ (artifact) |
Detect Magic — D&D 3.5e
| School | Divination |
|---|---|
| Level | Brd 0, Clr 0, Drd 0, Sor/Wiz 0 |
| Components | V, S |
| Casting Time | 1 standard action |
| Range | 60 ft. |
| Area | Cone-shaped emanation |
| Duration | Concentration, up to 1 min./level (D) |
| Saving Throw | None |
| Spell Resistance | No |
You detect magical auras. The amount of information revealed depends on how long you study a particular area or subject.
1st Round: Presence or absence of magical auras.
2nd Round: Number of different magical auras and the power of the most potent aura.
3rd Round: The strength and location of each aura. If the items or creatures bearing the auras are in line of sight, you can make Spellcraft skill checks to determine the school of magic involved in each. (Make one check per aura; DC 15 + spell level, or 15 + half caster level for a nonspell effect.)
Magical areas, multiple types of magic, or strong local magical emanations may distort or conceal weaker auras.
Aura Strength: An aura’s power depends on a spell’s functioning spell level or an item’s caster level. If an aura falls into more than one category, detect magic indicates the stronger of the two.
| Aura Power | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Spell or Object | Faint | Moderate | Strong | Overwhelming |
| Functioning spell (spell level) | 3rd or lower | 4th–6th | 7th–9th | 10th+ (deity-level) |
| Magic item (caster level) | 5th or lower | 6th–11th | 12th–20th | 21st+ (artifact) |
Lingering Aura: A magical aura lingers after its original source dissipates (in the case of a spell) or is destroyed (in the case of a magic item). If detect magic is cast and directed at such a location, the spell indicates an aura strength of dim (even weaker than a faint aura). How long the aura lingers at this dim level depends on its original power:
| Original Strength | Duration of Lingering Aura |
|---|---|
| Faint | 1d6 rounds |
| Moderate | 1d6 minutes |
| Strong | 1d6x10 minutes |
| Overwhelming | 1d6 days |
Outsiders and elementals are not magical in themselves, but if they are summoned, the conjuration spell registers.
Each round, you can turn to detect magic in a new area. The spell can penetrate barriers, but 1 foot of stone, 1 inch of common metal, a thin sheet of lead, or 3 feet of wood or dirt blocks it.
Detect magic can be made permanent with a permanency spell.
Detection and Further Investigation
Sensing magic is the beginning of an investigation. In fifth edition, revealing an aura requires a visible creature or object and the specified action. An aura does not supply an item’s complete properties or a spell’s name.
| 2024 barriers | 1 foot of stone, dirt or wood; 1 inch of metal; a thin sheet of lead. |
|---|---|
| 2014 barriers | 1 foot of stone; 1 inch of common metal; 3 feet of wood or dirt; a thin sheet of lead. |
| PF1e schools | Knowledge (arcana), after three rounds of study and with the aura’s bearer in line of sight. |
| 3.5e schools | Spellcraft, after three rounds of study and with the aura’s bearer in line of sight. |
In Pathfinder 1e, analysing an item’s properties uses the separate Spellcraft procedure. In D&D 3.5e, the listed school check alone does not identify all properties. Identify offers more specific examination.
Historical and Occult Development
Detect Magic is a modern fantasy-game abstraction rather than a direct transcription of one historical ritual. Its closest parallels lie in practices intended to diagnose hidden influence: reading omens, examining significant objects, recognising protective forces and assigning an unseen cause to illness, misfortune or disturbance.
In ancient Egypt, heka encompassed ritual, protective and practical applications of supernatural power. Mesopotamian ritual specialists likewise combined incantation, diagnosis, medicine and divination; the Metropolitan Museum’s account of Mesopotamian magic in the first millennium BCE provides a useful historical overview.
Later traditions of Highland second sight imagined certain observers perceiving events and presences beyond normal vision. Fantasy roleplaying turns these varied ideas into a repeatable procedure: cast, scan, classify and investigate.
Rules Sources and Licensing
This work includes material taken from the System Reference Document 5.1 (“SRD 5.1”) by Wizards of the Coast LLC and available at https://dnd.wizards.com/resources/systems-reference-document. The SRD 5.1 is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License available at https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/legalcode.
This work includes material from the System Reference Document 5.2.1 (“SRD 5.2.1”) by Wizards of the Coast LLC, available at https://www.dndbeyond.com/srd. The SRD 5.2.1 is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, available at https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/legalcode.
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