Exactly what Detect Evil detects....

[Cloudgatherer]

I've seen a lot of references to Detect Evil picking up the evil part of an alignment. IIRC, Detect Evil doesn't work like that... scanning the LE human doesn't show up as evil. Only creatures with the "evil" descriptor, evil clerics, undead (any), and evil spells or magic items show up.

Am I correct in this understanding? I've seen way too many posts that think the paladin's detect evil ability can be used to detect ordinary evil humans, and as far as I know, that doesn't work.

 

[Hypersmurf]

Uh... the spell says it detects "evil creatures" as an aura power of HD/5.

It detects Evil outsiders as an aura power of HD, and the only creatures in the Core Rules with the [Evil] subtype are outsiders, so "evil creatures" (or good, lawful, or chaotic creatures) refers to Alignment, not subtype.

-Hyp.

 

[Hypersmurf]

From the Main FAQ:

The detect evil spell lets you detect the aura of evil creatures but not characters. Are characters counted as creatures with their level as their Hit Dice?
The terms “creature” and “character” are interchangeable. Any subject with an evil alignment has an evil aura. If this subject has a character class, you calculate the aura's strength by dividing the subject's character level by five. If the subject is the cleric of an evil deity, do not divide the subject's cleric levels. For example, an 11th-level barbarian with an evil alignment has an evil aura of moderate strength (11/5=2.2, which indicates a moderate aura). If the character was an 11th level cleric of an evil deity, the character would have an overwhelming evil aura. If the character were a 5th-level barbarian/6th-level cleric, the character would have only a strong evil aura (5/5=1 + 6 = 7 for a strong aura).

-Hyp.

 

[dcollins]

I've seen way too many posts that think the paladin's detect evil ability can be used to detect ordinary evil humans, and as far as I know, that doesn't work.

You're thinking of a 2nd-Edition-only modification to the rules. No other edition has ever worked the way you're presuming.

 

[Staffan]

The way I see it, evil deeds leave a sort of taint on your aura (so do good, lawful and chaotic deeds for that matter). This taint is not as strong as the taint you'd get for actually making pacts with and serving evil deities (clerics, outsiders), but it's there. If you've done enough evil to have an Evil alignment (remember, alignment is an effect not a cause), you will show up on detect evil.

I'm considering having people with "evil aura" of less than 1 (e.g. 1-HD undead and elementals, 1-4 HD regular creatures) not showing up on detect evil, however.

 

[Black Omega]

I don't see why low level humans who are evil should be excluded. It can be fun to let the Paladin meet evil people he can't simply kill. Save perhaps for a coutry that outlawed being evil and made the penalty death.

 

[shilsen]

I don't see why low level humans who are evil should be excluded. It can be fun to let the Paladin meet evil people he can't simply kill. Save perhaps for a coutry that outlawed being evil and made the penalty death.

They shouldn't. Considering humans have neutral as the most common alignment, it's arguable that there are just as many evil people walking around an average D&D human society as good ones. IMC, a paladin detecting evil in any fair-sized group of people will detect a number as evil. And cannot do anything about it, since being evil is not against the law. Keeps the ability in perspective, as well as preventing players from running lawful stupid paladins.

 

[Taloras]

You have to remember something. Detect evil is concentration. You have to concentrate (standard action) to get any info. first round, you know there are evil creatures in the quarter circle your looking at. second round, you know how many there are and how strong. third round, you know where they are. thats 18 seconds scanning a single quarter circle out to 60 feet. I think everyone gives this ability way too much leeway. A paladin doesnt automatically know someone is evil just by looking at them. it takes at least 3 rounds to know which person in an area is evil (unless its the only person). during this time, its a standard action every round to concentrate on the area.

 

[kengar]

The basic question has already been answered so I won't repeat that.

In D&D, alignment is considered an almost tangible thing. Ordinary people have an actual "tint" to their soul that makes them register one way or the other when magically assessed by these kinds of spells/powers.

That said, IMC we never use that. Nonmagical sentient creatures don't show up on Detect Evil/Good/Law/Chaos unless they are somehow magically "affiliated" (like a cleric or paladin/blackguard) with a given alignment. This includes things such as orcs, kobolds, etc. that aren't listed as "Alignment: Always ___" in the MM. None of my players have any problem with this house rule and a couple actually prefer it that way.

However, it IS a house rule, and "unofficial."

 

[Elder-Basilisk]

My thoughts exactly. It's when you start house-ruling detect evil to only detect evil outsiders, evil cultists, etc that you have problems with detect evil turning into Detect Bad Guy.

Generally, when I DM, if a paladin or anyone else detects evil in a crowded area, I roll several d6 (the exact number depends upon the area-- a seedy dive like the Moss Eisley Cantina ("I've got the death sentence in ten systems", etc) would have more evil people than the Rebel Alliance Headquarters for instance) and that's the number of evil people. "Yeah, you see a dozen or so evil aura's within the area of your ability. . . . the second beggar in the alley radiates moderate evil, the man in the butcher's stall radiates weak evil, three of the armored men sitting outside the tavern radiate faint evil, one radiates moderate evil, there are a half dozen lingering auras of faint evil along the streeet as if evil men had passed by, and the little kid working in the vegetable stall radiates weak evil too."

They shouldn't. Considering humans have neutral as the most common alignment, it's arguable that there are just as many evil people walking around an average D&D human society as good ones. IMC, a paladin detecting evil in any fair-sized group of people will detect a number as evil. And cannot do anything about it, since being evil is not against the law. Keeps the ability in perspective, as well as preventing players from running lawful stupid paladins.