OGC:Detect Bloodtraces (3.5e Spell)

3e Summary::You use magic to discern information on individuals from their shed blood.

This material is published under the OGL

Detect Bloodtraces

Divination
Level:	Inq 0
Components:	V, S
Casting time:	1 action
Range:	60 ft.
Area:	Quarter circle emanating from you to the extreme of the range
Duration:	Concentration, up to 1 minute/level (D)
Saving Throw:	None
Spell Resistance:	No

This spell is one of the hallmarks of the inquisitor; it is an invaluable tool when investigating a murder or a brawl. Using this spell, you can sense any blood that has been shed in the area within the previous 48 hours. Inquisitors say that spilled blood retains a mystical connection with the creature whose veins it once flowed through. By reading this aura — referred to as a "bloodtrace" — an inquisitor can gain a tremendous amount of information about the creature that was injured.

The effects of the spell depend on how long you study a particular area:

1st round — The presence of spilled blood within the area of effect.

2nd round — The precise location of bloodstains, and the number of different creatures involved.

3rd round — Study the bloodtraces of any blood you have located. This requires the use of the Heal skill; inquisitors who study medicine spend a great deal of time studying the nature of blood. The following checks are possible:

Information	Heal Check DC
Precise time blood was spilled	10
Confirm identity	10
Determine species	15
Detect foreign substances	15
Determine gender	20
Determine age	20
Determine nationality	30

Each check requires 2 full rounds. A failed roll results in no information as opposed to faulty information. You may retry a check if you fail, or take 20 by spending 4 minutes on the check — but keep the duration of the spell in mind. You would have to be at least 5th level to be able to take 20, and then you’d only have time to make a single check before the spell expired.

To clarify the effect of each check:

Precise time blood was spilled is just that — how old is the bloodstain?

Confirm identity allows you to compare the bloodtrace to a bloodstone (see form bloodstone) or another sample of blood and determine if they come from the same creature.

Determine species lets you to identify the type of creature from which the blood came. You must be at least somewhat familiar with the creature in order to identify it; otherwise, you will simply know that it is a species you have not encountered before.

Presence of foreign substances allows you to determine whether there was a significantly level of alcohol, poison, drugs, or any other unusual substance in the blood at the time it was spilled. A successful check will determine the basic nature of the substance (i.e. poison or alcohol). However, in a world where inquisitors are common, poisons may have been developed that are harder to spot by bloodtracing; this would result in an increased DC for the base Heal check. Identifying the precise nature of the substance — such as what type of alcohol it is — requires a successful Craft (alchemy) check (DC 20, modified as the GM sees fit based on the rarity of the substance). You cannot retry a failed Craft (alchemy) check; if you miss the roll, you know the basic nature of the substance but cannot pin down any specifics.

Determine gender, age, and nationality all provide information about the being whose blood is being studied. Nationality is extremely difficult to pin down, and only the most skilled inquisitors can accomplish this task. As with determine species, if you have never encountered a being of a particular nationality before, you will not be able to pinpoint its identity.

Each round, you can turn to examine a new area. The spell can penetrate barriers, but will be blocked by 1 foot of stone, 1 inch of common metal, a thin sheet of lead, or three feet of wood or dirt. Flesh also acts as a barrier; it will not detect blood flowing through the veins of a living creature, or for that matter a vampire.

This spell is the foundation of form bloodstone and follow the bloody trail, two other spells that are described later in this section.

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Crime and Punishment Transcribed Content

Crime and Punishment
Classes	Bounty Hunter (3.5e Class) • God's Eye (3.5e Prestige Class) • Inquisitor (3.5e Prestige Class) • Investigator (3.5e Class) • Justice (3.5e NPC Class) • Lawkeeper (3.5e Prestige Class) • Magehunter (3.5e Prestige Class) • Spellbane (3.5e Prestige Class)
Skills	Basic Local Info (3.5e Knowledge (Local) Skill Use) • Decipher Sentinel Stone or Mark of Justice (3.5e Knowledge (Arcana or Religion) Skill Use) • Determine Legality (3.5e Knowledge (Law) Skill Use) • Forensic Pathology (3.5e Heal Skill Use) • Hide Your Trail (3.5e Survival Skill Use) • Specific Info (3.5e Gather Information Skill Use) • Spot Sense Motive or Spell Use (3.5e Sense Motive Skill Use) • Throw Off Pursuit (3.5e Diplomacy Skill Use) • Torture (3.5e Heal Skill Use) • Torture (3.5e Intimidate Skill Use) • Urban Tracking (3.5e Gather Information Skill Use)
Feats	Bondsman (3.5e Feat) • Careful Listener (3.5e Feat) • Group Tactics (3.5e Feat) • Hard to Fool (3.5e Feat) • Indomitable (3.5e Feat) • Net Master (3.5e Feat) • Slippery Tongue (3.5e Feat) • Spellsense (3.5e Feat) • Suppress Spell Energy (3.5e Feat) • Twist the Knife (3.5e Feat)
Equipment	Ball and Chain (3.5e Equipment) • Flareshot (3.5e Equipment) • Flashstone (3.5e Equipment) • Investigator's Kit (3.5e Equipment) • Iron Hands (3.5e Equipment) • Leather Gag (3.5e Equipment) • Mithral Net (3.5e Equipment) • Mithral Rope (3.5e Equipment) • Mother's Milk (3.5e Equipment) • Poppy's Kiss (3.5e Equipment) • Silk Net (3.5e Equipment) • Strolga (3.5e Equipment) • Thundershot (3.5e Equipment) • Torturer's Lab (3.5e Equipment) • Truth Serum (3.5e Equipment)
Magic Items	Blood Drinking (3.5e Equipment) • Bottled Spirits (3.5e Equipment) • Circle of Thought (3.5e Equipment) • Clinging (3.5e Equipment) • Cloak of Shadows (3.5e Equipment) • Collar of Dreamless Sleep (3.5e Equipment) • Collar of Pain (3.5e Equipment) • Collar of Pain Control Ring (3.5e Equipment) • Death Coins (3.5e Equipment) • Enchanted Manacles (3.5e Equipment) • Figurine of Wondrous Power, Bloodhound (3.5e Equipment) • Gloves of Subtle Casting (3.5e Equipment) • Honor's Seat (3.5e Equipment) • Key Talisman (3.5e Equipment) • Mana Manacles (3.5e Equipment) • Manacles of Ghostly Binding (3.5e Equipment) • Manacles of Maintenance (3.5e Equipment) • Mantle of the Inquisitor (3.5e Equipment) • Message Stones (3.5e Equipment) • Monocle of Aura Comparison (3.5e Equipment) • Orb of Dimensional Stability (3.5e Equipment) • Orb of Silence (3.5e Equipment) • Phantom Blade (3.5e Equipment) • Portable Cell (3.5e Equipment) • Powder of Power (3.5e Equipment) • Ring of Truth (3.5e Equipment) • Robe of Deception (3.5e Equipment) • Rod of Containment (3.5e Equipment) • Sentinel Stone, Greater (3.5e Equipment) • Sentinel Stone (3.5e Equipment) • Silent Passenger (3.5e Equipment) • Sleeper Net (3.5e Equipment) • Spectacles of Speculation (3.5e Equipment) • Spellbane's Bolt, Greater (3.5e Equipment) • Spellbane's Bolt (3.5e Equipment) • Stone of Wit (3.5e Equipment) • Tentacle Rope (3.5e Equipment) • Thought Disruption (3.5e Equipment) • Trackless Boots (3.5e Equipment)
Spells	Agony (3.5e Spell) • Anathema (3.5e Spell) • Animate Net (3.5e Spell) • Aural Disruption (3.5e Spell) • Ban (3.5e Spell) • Blood Spilled Anew (3.5e Spell) • Bumble (3.5e Spell) • Cloak of Silence (3.5e Spell) • Cloud the Guilty Mind (3.5e Spell) • Detect Bloodtraces (3.5e Spell) • Detect Heretic (3.5e Spell) • Detect Magical Residue (3.5e Spell) • Detect Mystical Streams (3.5e Spell) • Direct Conversation (3.5e Spell) • Endure Pain (3.5e Spell) • Excommunicate (3.5e Spell) • Final Vision (3.5e Spell) • Follow the Bloody Trail (3.5e Spell) • Form Bloodstone (3.5e Spell) • Garble (3.5e Spell) • Greater Mark of Justice (3.5e Spell) • Hinder (3.5e Spell) • Indelible Mark (3.5e Spell) • Induced Illiteracy (3.5e Spell) • Light of Truth (3.5e Spell) • Malediction (3.5e Spell) • Mystic Opposition (3.5e Spell) • Mystical Manacles (3.5e Spell) • Mystical Void (3.5e Spell) • Opposing Currents (3.5e Spell) • Painful Truth (3.5e Spell) • Pins and Needles (3.5e Spell) • Read the Guilty Face (3.5e Spell) • Scatterbrain (3.5e Spell) • Scourge (3.5e Spell) • See the Face (3.5e Spell) • Sever from the Source (3.5e Spell) • Sleep of the Unjust (3.5e Spell) • Steal the Painful Memory (3.5e Spell) • Testimony of the Broken Window (3.5e Spell)
Divinity	Justice (3.5e Cleric Domain) • Silver Book (3.5e Deity)
Variant Rules	Judicial Curses (3.5e Variant Rule) • Legal System (3.5e Variant Rule) • Magical Nets (3.5e Variant Rule) • Restraints (3.5e Variant Rule)
Creatures, Templates and NPCs	Bloodhound (3.5e Creature) • Magehound (3.5e Creature)