I have the mechanics down. My real question is this: do you have to know a persons real name for the spell to work or just a name associated with them?

Thanos

If you mean "Detect Individual" then yes, you name them when casting the spell. Street name would work but "the security guard around the corner would not.

But theres a bit of fuzzy logic involved too. If you knew the person as an alias or wrong name, but you [i]knew] that was their name even if it was wrong then it would still pick them up. It's all psychological. IMHO that is.

Like if you just know the guy as "Dude...", you could theorectically come up with Detect Dude spell.

What's wrong with knowing a guy as The Dude?

I was thinking more along the lines of "Dude... where's my car?"

OK. That is wrong.

I require that you've seen him once, not that you know his name. It's simpler and makes more sense to me.