[Kromm]

Originally Posted by Saabre

Has anyone else had a problem with this spell and does anyone have any suggestions?

Before endorsing a couple of other comments, I'll add something that I haven't seen mentioned yet: It's traditional to put some secrets that matter in places that wizards are unlikely to go. It's all well and good for the wizard to cast See Secrets, but that doesn't help the thief who's around a bend or up a small shaft, or the scout who's moving through trap-filled scrub 100 yards ahead. Unless the group never scouts, this is a moderately big deal.

Originally Posted by mlangsdorf

Copious use of small no-mana zones and materials that are immune to magic can help

For instance, DF canonically sells entire greatswords and breastplates of meteoric iron at shops in town, so the stuff must be fairly abundant. A few ounces for a small poisoned needle or a tiny trigger wire ought to be affordable enough for dungeon-building Dark Lords.

Originally Posted by Toadkiller_Dog

I've made a few rulings

At least one of these isn't a house rule, even:

Originally Posted by Toadkiller_Dog

"subject's vision" applies normally. Per rolls (with bonuses and penalties for vision - darkness, Acute Vision, etc.) to spot this stuff unless it's totally obvious.

That's how all vision-based detection spells work. Secrets do not glow in the dark, allowing the wizard to spot them even if he can't see in the dark. They do not announce themselves through solid matter, allowing the wizard to notice them even if he hasn't also cast Earth Vision or Glass Wall. And they do not shoot laser beams from the end of a 100'-long corridor, allowing the wizard to see them even if he couldn't make a Vision roll at -8. In your typical adventure scenario, a good proportion of secrets will be obscured from vision so well that this spell does very little on its own.

Originally Posted by Toadkiller_Dog

To me, the intention behind hanging the curtains doesn't enter into it. If you can't see the secret door because there are curtains in the way, you can't see the secret door.

That is correct. See Secrets improves contrast on stuff you can see, using whatever visual capabilities you have – ordinary Vision roll, Night Vision, Infravision, sense-enhancing spells, whatever – so that the barely recessed outline, seamless join, cleverly camouflaged hole in the carved statue's eye, or whatever stands out when you gaze upon it. It improves your brain's ability to process the signals it's already receiving and trigger a "Wait, what's that?" response. See Secrets does not give you every other vision-enhancing spell for free, or high-tech T-ray vision. Again, this isn't a house rule.

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I'd say that the top tips here are:

1. Instead of having all your secrets rely on quality of fit and cunning patterns for camouflage, have some of them rely on distance, cover (from curtains to stone walls), or obscuration (darkness, fog, vegetation, etc.).
   
   
2. Place some secrets where the person using See Secrets can't or won't go or look.
   
   
3. Use antimagic, from Scryguard on the secret to a secret made of meteoric iron, whenever the person who put the secret there is the sort who would be clued in about magic.