Mother Lode

This spell is a more powerful version of the detect metal and minerals spell. With this spell, a dwarven cleric can locate a major ore deposit of any metal or mineral. When the spell is cast, the type of deposit to be located must be specified. Only one type of deposit can be divined per casting of the spell. Furthermore, the material component employed in the spell must pertain to the type of deposit sought. For example, a tiny iron anvil is required to find the location of an iron ore deposit, while a diamond must be expended to locate a diamond mine.

Once the spell is cast, there is a 100% chance of finding the deposit if the deposit is within the area of effect of the spell. The DM must decide whether such a deposit is present. Obviously, the rarer the substance, the less chance there is of the deposit being present. A DM who wishes to leave the decision to chance can use the following percentages: 60% chance for finding a desired base metal, 30% chance for a precious metal ore or gemstone deposit, 5% for a very rare substance, and 5% for no substance whatsoever (adjust 20% in favor of the component type, but a 96-00 fails outright). The spell detects the desired deposit in a radius of 10 miles per level of the caster and to a depth of one-half mile per level.

The material components are the cleric's holy symbol and a small amount of the ore to be found. The cost of the material component must be comparable to the value of the deposit to be found. Typical material components will cost 1,000 gp for base metals, 5,000 gp for precious metals or gem-stones, or 10,000 gp for very rare metals such as mithral or adamantite.

Any deposit located should be quite substantial, an amount sufficient to support the needs of a dwarven community for months or even years.