Selective Alarm
Selective Alarm
AbjurationLevel: Artificer* 3, Bard* 3, Hunter* 2, Inquisitor* 3, Ranger* 2, Sorcerer*/Wizard * 3, Summoner* 3
Components: V, S, F/DF (a slender iron rod 1 foot in length)
Casting Time: 1 Standard Action
Range: close (25 ft. + 5 ft./2 levels)
Area: up to 20-ft.-radius emanation, centered on a point in space
Duration: 2 hours/level (D)
Saving Throw: None
Spell Resistance: no
Selective Alarm creates a subtle ward on an area you select. Once the spell effect is in place, it thereafter sounds a mental or audible alarm each time the triggering conditions are met.
The alarm can be set off by whatever triggering conditions you wish, as long as they are based on observable phenomenon. For example, you could cause the selective alarm to trigger when creatures of a certain race (such as orcs, bugbears, or kobolds) enter the area, or whenever a group of four or more creatures enters the area together, or when a metal Object is brought into the area.
You can't choose triggering conditions that rely on unobservable information, such as having it triggered when creatures of a certain alignment enter the area, nor could you have the alarm be triggered by "something worth more than 5,000 gp" entering the area, or even "a weapon" entering the area, because an item's value and classification as a weapon is subjective, and might vary from one person to the next.
You decide at the time of casting whether the alarm will be mental or audible in nature.
Mental Alarm: A mental alarm alerts you (and only you) so long as you remain within 1 mile of the warded area. You note a single mental "ping" that awakens you from normal sleep but does not otherwise disturb concentration. A silence spell has no effect on a mental alarm.
Audible Alarm: An audible alarm produces the sound of a hand bell, and anyone within 60 feet of the warded area can hear it clearly. Reduce the distance by 10 feet for each interposing closed door and by 20 feet for each substantial interposing wall.
In quiet conditions, the ringing can be heard faintly as far as 180 feet away. The sound lasts for 1 round. Creatures within a silence spell cannot hear the ringing. Ethereal or astral creatures do not trigger the alarm.