Question about scrying
 

The folklore around scrying often allows one to scry (and hence locate, if you're lucky) a person. The ITL text says scrying allows one to see what is happening "somewhere else", which sounds like choosing a location to scry, not a thing or person, but that's only a weak suggestion.

So, how do y'all interpret this spell? Can a scryer target a person or an object of interest? Or must he choose a location (a fixed spot of Cidri)? If the former, stealing an item from the wrong person is mighty dangerous. If the latter, scrying is pretty weak, just a matter of luck whether you see what you want to see.

I'm tending towards allowing at least persons and maybe things as a target of scrying, but I'd like to hear your opinions. Thanks as always.

Re: Question about scrying
 

I wouldn't make it inherently tied to geography. (Breaks too much source fiction.)

To make it more interesting than just naming any target of desire, I'd dust off the laws of correspondences and contagion. You can scry something only if you can establish a magical connection to it, by having something part of or connected to or symbolic of your goal. Geography happens to be fairly easy, as a map will do. (Precise targeting needs accurate, small-scale maps, harder to obtain with medieval tech.) Scrying people means you have to know them well (not someone you've merely heard about), or have something of theirs in your possession (which is where those toenail clippings and hairs from a hairbrush become valuable). Similarly for objects, it would have to be one of your personal possessions, something you have a piece of, or another close connection -- the scabbard of the ancient sword you're trying to find, say. Or the corpse of someone it killed, if you want to do a more CSI-style game.

Re: Question about scrying
 

Man, that was a quick response.

Excellent suggestions, Anaraxes. I'll have to think how this plays out in my situation.

Re: Question about scrying
 

It seems to me like the sort of detail that can have a large effect on a campaign, once it's established how it works and how common it is. So it may be a good thing it's not clearly defined, and a GM may want to rule on it according to the type of game situations they do or don't want.

Re: Question about scrying
 

Note two things from the spell description:

“He who sees is seen.” -> Personally I'd give the target a 6/IQ roll (subtract dice for Alertness, using Mage Sight at the moment, etc) to notice being scryed and then they can quickly back-scry for that presence they just noticed.

Second: "requiring at least a 4/IQ roll" -> I'd rule that the more tenuous the connection the more dice to add to the roll.

Re: Question about scrying
 

Sure, I agree, Skarg, that details can be up to the GM and this is reasonable. I just was curious if others had considered this before.

Henry, adding dice for a tenuous connection is a good idea. I like the idea of having a chance to notice the scrying too.

Re: Question about scrying
 

Yep. So far, I haven't added Scrying to my old TFT campaign at all. As GM, I like to have an idea of what guilds, governments, and other powerful groups are up to, and what their abilities are, and if I add something like scrying as a typical IQ 13 spell, I think I would not be able (nor want to try) to think about the complexity of who would be scrying who/where/when. And even if I could, I don't think I'd like the results. I want people to be able to hide, evade, and have more privacy and secrecy than the spell suggests to me would exist.

I have considered alternate ways of handling/interpreting/limiting scrying, which I haven't entirely developed yet, involving only being able to scry certain targets (e.g. places where there is some scrying beacon - an enchanted item or place), and/or the use of spirits/astral/magical-beings which are what provide the views.

Re: Question about scrying
 

I'd let it be either/or. Scrying a person shows them in ther immediate surroundings, but does not give knowledge of their position other than what can be seen. Scrying a location might not show everyone who is there.

Re: Question about scrying
 

In my campaign, scrying doesn't do quite so much damage to privacy. The limitations suggested by Anaraxes and Henry make the die roll reasonably difficult, so that a quick glimpse or static image with sound is fairly likely.

I rather like its effect in the current situation, where a wizard is attempting to discover who robbed him. The robbers are on the lam and scrying only gives minor clues to location, but he can identify the baddies.

Re: Question about scrying
 

Phiwum, sounds great. Especially if the 'baddies' are your players' characters!