Witchcraft/Criminal Casting

Crime and Punishment

Author Keith Baker

Series Campaign Style

Publisher Atlas Games

Publish date 2003

Another question is the role played by magical items. If a nation fears arcane magic, its people probably won’t see much of a difference between using a wand of fire or casting a spell yourself. On the other hand, magic items with subtle effects may go unnoticed. You probably won’t have customs agents checking every sack to see if you’ve got a bag of holding. But dramatic items – like a brilliant energy weapon – may draw unwanted attention. And in extreme cases, the locals may use magehounds to sniff out any object or individual bearing the taint of supernatural forces.

If a nation fears magic enough, it may not have access to spells that detect spells; after all, these are themselves spells. However, there are a few mundane tools that can be used to spot the activity of those nefarious sorcerers. Spell Sense allows a character to recognize the emanations of magic – just the thing for your paranoid witchfinder general. The magehound is a dog with the ability to sniff out spells and magic items. Both should be relatively rare; you shouldn’t be bumping into magehounds on every corner throughout the continent. But if you are dealing with a serious Inquisition, be prepared to have these tricks used against you.

• New Feat – Spell Sense (General)
• New magical beast – Magehound