You can read the thoughts of specific creatures for the duration of the spell. You can achieve this effect as an action while casting a spell, or for the duration of the spell.
Detect Thoughts
- Level: 2
- Casting time: 1 Action
- Range: Self
- Components: V, S, M (a copper piece)
- Duration: Concentration, up to 1 minute
At this time, the subject must be within 30 feet of you and can be seen by you, and you must focus on it.
If the creature’s intelligence is 3 or lower, or does not understand any language, the creature is not affected.
What you first learned is the surface thoughts of the creature, which is generally what it is thinking of at the moment.
You can use actions to continue to delve into a creature’s mind, or you can use actions to shift your mind’s goal.
If you go deeper, the target must make a perception save. When the exemption fails, you learn about his logical reasoning (if any), emotional state, and some big things in his mind (such as worry, love, and hatred).
When the save is successful, the spell ends. In either case, the target will know that you are spying on his thoughts.
Unless you turn your attention to other creatures, he can use an action to make an intelligence check during his turn and fight against your intelligence check; when the creature wins the confrontation, the spell ends.
Asking the target can guide the target’s thought process, so this spell is particularly effective in interrogation.
You can also use this spell to detect invisible thinking creatures. You can achieve this effect as an action while casting a spell, or for the duration of the spell.
At this point, you can search for ideas within 30 feet. This spell can penetrate most obstacles, but is still blocked by 2 feet thick stone, or 2 inches thick metal, or a thin layer of lead material.
You cannot detect creatures with an intelligence of 3 or lower, or creatures that do not understand any language.
After detecting a creature in this way, you can read its mind as described above for the duration of the spell. You don’t even need to see the creature, but it must be within 30 feet of it.