Detect thoughts infinite loop?

[chevyboys]

what happens in 5e if I detect thoughts on someone detecting my thoughts? would I detect my thoughts in their thoughts and vis versa causing an infinite feedback loop? (sort of like pointing a camera at a screen displaying what the camera sees, or putting two mirrors directly across from each other)

what would the effects of that look like?

[UnderwaterAir]

You would detect that they are detecting your thoughts.
They would detect that you are detecting their thoughts.

That's it.

[Phhase]

Hmmm. VERY interesting scenario. As a DM, I would rule that the feedback loop causes the involved parties' psyches to be pulled into a resonating psychic pocket plane that is a 15ft cube room that wraps around between opposing surfaces, and inhabitants can move via thought at normal speed. Attacking each other causes psychic damage. If one takes damage, the other must Wis save against the damage amount to avoid also taking it. You can attempt to "Wake up" by making a Wis save against 10+opposing wisdom bonus, but this provokes an attack of opportunity. Your body remains catatonic in the "real world". For magic targeting purposes/other, you are not technically on another plane. If your body takes damage, you do. If you die in the "dream" you die in real life.

Sort of like that scene from 2001: A Space Odessy.

You would detect that they are detecting your thoughts.
They would detect that you are detecting their thoughts.

That's it.

Bo-ring! Valid, tho.

[Trandir]

what happens in 5e if I detect thoughts on someone detecting my thoughts? would I detect my thoughts in their thoughts and vis versa causing an infinite feedback loop? (sort of like pointing a camera at a screen displaying what the camera sees, or putting two mirrors directly across from each other)

what would the effects of that look like?

Both make an Int save with DC appropriate for the spell. If one or both succed the spells are dispelled.

On a double fail
Brain1.exe and Brain2.exe have stopped working. They are shortly rebooted but the crash corrupted all the files. The 2 are now a single small hive mind that share all the memories of the previous singular entities.

[Dimers]

Brain1.exe and Brain2.exe have stopped working. They are shortly rebooted but the crash corrupted all the files. The 2 are now a single small hive mind that share all the memories of the previous singular entities.

That seems delightfully exploitable, as well as being a head trip people would pay good money for.

[Anymage]

If they just have the base level of awareness from casting the spell, at most I'd include a negligible headache. It's just surface thoughts and they're both aware of everyone else's surface thoughts too, so the "I'm aware that you're aware that I'm aware..." overlap for feedback is minimized.

If they both probe each other? I'd call for each to save against the other's dc. (Intelligence would be more logical for me, but the spell does call for a wisdom save. So I could go either way.) Failure causes the loser to be stunned and lose concentration. Mutual success would cause something weird, but you'd only get the mutual scan situation if one or more players wanted to mess with things just to see what would happen. Ask them what they think would happen for a start, and then weird it up from there.