Divination • Tracking and Finding Magic

Locate Creature

An antique compass and map symbolise magical pursuit and the direction revealed by Locate Creature
The search begins with a direction, not a path: an antique map and compass. Select to enlarge.

Locate Creature gives the caster a direction to a familiar quarry—or to the nearest creature of a known kind—without revealing a safe route. The magic follows the moving target while it remains within range, but transformation and physical barriers can defeat the search. In 2024 lead can block the spell; in 2014 and the legacy d20 editions running water is the critical obstruction.

Locate Creature at a Glance

5.5e / 20244th-level Divination; Bard, Cleric, Druid, Paladin, Ranger and Wizard; range Self, senses within 1,000 feet; Concentration up to 1 hour; blocked by any thickness of lead
5e / 20144th-level divination; Bard, Cleric, Druid, Paladin, Ranger and Wizard; range Self, senses within 1,000 feet; Concentration up to 1 hour; blocked by running water at least 10 feet wide
Pathfinder 1eDivination; Witch 4, Bard 4, Sorcerer/Wizard 4, plus later classes; Long range (400 ft. + 40 ft./level); duration 10 minutes/level; running water blocks
D&D 3.5eDivination; Bard 4, Sorcerer/Wizard 4; Long range (400 ft. + 40 ft./level); duration 10 minutes/level; running water blocks
BrowseWitch spell lists • Locate Object • Scrying

Table rule: you learn a direction to the target, not its precise coordinates, distance, route, identity or condition. No edition above grants a general creature-detection radar irrespective of familiarity or kind.

Spell Rules by Edition

Locate Creature — 5.5e (2024)

Official SRD 5.2.1 spell. 4th-level Divination available to Bard, Cleric, Druid, Paladin, Ranger and Wizard. 2024 spell rules and edition source.

SpellLevel 4 Divination (Bard, Cleric, Druid, Paladin, Ranger, Wizard)
Casting TimeAction
RangeSelf
ComponentsV, S, M (fur from a bloodhound)
DurationConcentration, up to 1 hour
Saving ThrowNone
EffectDirection to one familiar creature or nearest known kind within 1,000 feet

Describe or name a creature that is familiar to you. You sense the direction to the creature’s location if that creature is within 1,000 feet of you. If the creature is moving, you know the direction of its movement. The spell can locate a specific creature known to you or the nearest creature of a specific kind (such as a human or a unicorn) if you have seen such a creature up close—within 30 feet—at least once. If the creature you described or named is in a different form, such as under the effects of a Flesh to Stone or Polymorph spell, this spell doesn’t locate the creature. This spell can’t locate a creature if any thickness of lead blocks a direct path between you and the creature.

Locate Creature — 5e (2014)

Official SRD 5.1 spell. 4th-level divination available to Bard, Cleric, Druid, Paladin, Ranger and Wizard. 2014 Basic Rules spell listing.

Spell4th-level divination
ClassesBard, Cleric, Druid, Paladin, Ranger, Wizard
Casting Time1 action
RangeSelf
ComponentsV, S, M (a bit of fur from a bloodhound)
DurationConcentration, up to 1 hour
Saving ThrowNone
EffectDirection to one familiar creature or nearest known kind within 1,000 feet

Describe or name a creature that is familiar to you. You sense the direction to the creature’s location, as long as that creature is within 1,000 feet of you. If the creature is moving, you know the direction of its movement. The spell can locate a specific creature known to you, or the nearest creature of a specific kind (such as a human or a unicorn), so long as you have seen such a creature up close—within 30 feet—at least once. If the creature you described or named is in a different form, such as being under the effects of a polymorph spell, this spell doesn’t locate the creature. This spell can’t locate a creature if running water at least 10 feet wide blocks a direct path between you and the creature.

Locate Creature — Pathfinder 1e

Pathfinder keeps Locate Creature as a 4th-level Witch spell in the Advanced Player’s Guide Witch list, alongside the Core Rulebook Bard and Sorcerer/Wizard forms. Pathfinder Core Rulebook spell mechanics.

SchoolDivination
LevelWitch 4; Bard 4; Sorcerer/Wizard 4; other classes by source
ComponentsV, S, M (fur from a bloodhound)
Casting Time1 standard action
RangeLong (400 ft. + 40 ft./level)
AreaCircle centred on you with that radius
Duration10 minutes/level
Saving ThrowNone
Spell ResistanceNo

You sense the direction to a known creature within range and the direction it is moving. You can instead seek the nearest creature of a specific kind if you have seen one of that kind within 30 feet before. Running water blocks the spell, and Mislead, Nondetection and Polymorph can foil it.

Locate Creature — D&D 3.5e

This edition has this spell, but it is not on the standard core Cleric spell list. Class, domain, and subclass access follow the source rules. Edition source.

SchoolDivination
LevelBrd 4, Sor/Wiz 4
ComponentsV, S, M
Casting Time1 standard action
RangeLong (400 ft. + 40 ft./level)
AreaCircle, centered on you, with a radius of 400 ft. + 40 ft./level
Duration10 min./level
Saving ThrowNone
Spell ResistanceNo

Locate Creature’s effect. The spell directs your awareness toward a known or familiar creature within the Long-range radius. You slowly turn until you sense the creature’s direction and you also know which direction it is moving. You can seek a specific creature you know, or the nearest member of a particular kind, provided you have previously seen an example of that kind within 30 feet. You cannot search for any creature of an entire broad type such as all Humanoids or all Animals.

Limits. Running water blocks this legacy spell, which detects creatures rather than objects. Mislead, Nondetection and Polymorph can foil the attempt. No saving throw or spell resistance applies. The material component is a bit of bloodhound fur.

Source cross-reference. The spell functions like Locate Object in its underlying directional-sense framework but replaces the object target with a creature target. Object-specific text such as “creatures cannot be found,” mental images of an item and its forked-twig focus belongs to Locate Object and is not an additional Locate Creature casting requirement.

What Changed?

2024 changes one major obstruction: lead blocks the spell, while the 2014, Pathfinder and 3.5 forms are blocked by running water. Range also changes sharply between fifth edition and the older d20 versions.

Worked Example: A Missing Messenger

A messenger has disappeared after leaving a fortified inn. The witch’s companions know the messenger personally, but they do not know whether the quarry has crossed the river or hidden behind a lead-lined strongroom. The caster must choose a specific familiar person or the nearest creature of a known kind before casting. Locate Creature reports direction only, not a complete route or a precise distance.

5.5e / 2024

A Wizard casts the 4th-level Divination and begins tracking the messenger, who is 900 feet away. The direction is sensed while the Wizard maintains Concentration, up to 1 hour. If a lead-lined vault stands directly between the caster and the target, any thickness of lead blocks that direct path. If the messenger is Polymorphed or transformed by Flesh to Stone, the spell fails to locate that creature in its altered form. Running water does not appear as the specific obstruction in the 2024 text.

5e / 2014

Under the 2014 spell, the same messenger can be sensed within 1,000 feet unless a direct path crosses running water at least 10 feet wide. A 15-foot-wide stream between caster and target blocks the spell. The caster must maintain Concentration for up to an hour; Polymorph can foil detection. Do not substitute the 2024 lead-specific wording for the 2014 running-water rule.

Pathfinder 1e

An 8th-level Witch casts Locate Creature as a 4th-level Witch spell. Its Long-range radius is 400 + 40 × 8 = 720 feet, and it lasts for 80 minutes (10 minutes per caster level), with no saving throw and no spell resistance. A messenger 700 feet away can be sensed, but one 800 feet away is beyond this caster’s range. Running water can block the spell; Mislead, Nondetection and Polymorph can deceive or foil the search.

D&D 3.5e

An 8th-level Bard has the same 720-foot Long range and 80-minute duration. This spell locates a creature, not an object; although it incorporates aspects of Locate Object, the object-only restrictions are not substituted for its creature-targeting procedure. Running water is a specified blocker, and Mislead, Nondetection or Polymorph can foil detection.

Games Master’s Rulings

Visible clue. None is guaranteed: the magic supplies an internal bearing rather than glowing footprints, a map marker or an exact address.

Selection. To find an individual, name or accurately identify a creature familiar to the caster. To seek the nearest member of a kind (such as a unicorn), the caster must have seen one of that kind up close within 30 feet. The legacy d20 spells expressly do not permit arbitrary searches across an entire broad creature type.

Obstruction. Use the edition’s actual obstruction rule. A null reading could mean the creature is out of range, blocked by the relevant barrier, transformed or under suitable protective magic; the spell does not explain which of these happened.

Motion. If the subject moves while the spell operates, the caster senses the direction of its movement, but gains no independent guarantee of speed, altitude, exact distance or route. Pathfinder and 3.5e do not require fifth-edition Concentration.

Counterplay. A target can use suitable spell protections such as Nondetection in legacy play, change form where the edition’s rules permit, or place the appropriate obstruction between itself and the seeker. Dispel Magic and Counterspell follow each game’s own timing and targeting rules.

Quick Resolution Checklist

  • Identify: Is the quarry a familiar individual, or the nearest creature of a previously observed kind?
  • Range: Is it within 1,000 feet in fifth edition or within the caster-level-based Long range in legacy play?
  • Barrier: Does lead obstruct the direct path in 2024, or does qualifying running water block the version in use?
  • Disguise: Is the target transformed or protected by an edition-appropriate divination defence?
  • Result: Reveal only the permitted direction and movement bearing, not an exact location or safe route.

Mythical Context

In the Homeric Hymn to Demeter, the goddess searches the world for Persephone, carrying torches for nine nights without learning where her daughter has gone. Hekate hears the missing girl’s cry but does not see the abductor; the Sun later reveals what occurred. The myth shows why direction, recognition and reliable clues are different from complete knowledge. Even a divine search requires another witness to explain an absence.

Demeter’s search for Persephone — Homeric Hymn and other ancient accounts

Historical Context

Dogs were used to follow scent trails long before modern tracking methods. Medieval bestiary literature praises a hound’s ability to distinguish a branching trail and recover the correct scent when the track divides. The original map-and-compass illustration and the spell’s bloodhound-fur component recall these practical searches, even though an actual hound follows scent and a spell grants a supernatural directional sense.

The Metropolitan Museum of Art — A Medieval Bestiary (1986), entry on dogs and scent-tracking

Related Magic

Locate Object · Scrying · Nondetection

Rules Sources and Licensing

5.5e / 2024: Locate Creature (2024), from SRD 5.2.1. 5e / 2014: 2014 Basic Rules — Locate Creature, with its running-water obstruction. The Wizards of the Coast SRD 5.1 and SRD 5.2.1 materials are licensed under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0, with the source documents credited here.

Pathfinder 1e: Core Rulebook spell mechanics; Advanced Player’s Guide Witch 4 spell list. D&D 3.5e: System Reference Document — Locate Creature. The Pathfinder and 3.5e Open Game Content mechanics are reproduced under the Open Game License v1.0a, retained in full with Section 15 notices below. Artwork and new setting prose, explanations and encounter examples are excluded from this designation.

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Locate Creature — Common Questions

Does the spell reveal distance or a route?

No. It points towards an eligible quarry within range and can indicate the direction of movement. It does not report a distance, provide a route or identify a safe passage through walls and hazards.

Does a lead sheet stop the 2014 version?

The 2014 spell specifically names running water at least 10 feet wide as its obstruction. The revised 2024 spell instead specifically names any thickness of lead. Use the selected rules text rather than silently importing the other version’s blocker.

Can the spell find any humanoid?

The modern spell allows a nearest creature of a particular kind, provided the caster has seen that kind from within 30 feet. The Pathfinder and D&D 3.5e descriptions explicitly distinguish a creature’s particular kind from a broad type such as Humanoid or Animal.

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