Smite good!

[BeholderBurger]

I was looking through the fiendish template in the MM and I came to wonder how a creature would use its smite good ability if it has no ability to determine if the attacker is good. How do you lot deal with this?

 

[magnas_veritas]

I was looking through the fiendish template in the MM and I came to wonder how a creature would use its smite good ability if it has no ability to determine if the attacker is good. How do you lot deal with this?

Pick a target, and pray?

Actually, if it's got someone telling it, it doesn't have to worry too much. And if it's intelligent, it might know that the guy with (good deity)'s holy symbol is probably good, and an eligible target for smiting thereof.

Brad

 

[BeholderBurger]

I wanted to have the players happen upon a group of abyssal rats but I thought it might be unfair for me to just target specifically the good guys when there would be no way for the rats to know.

 

[magnas_veritas]

I wanted to have the players happen upon a group of abyssal rats but I thought it might be unfair for me to just target specifically the good guys when there would be no way for the rats to know.

Then have them smite, because it's a use it or lose it thing, and it does them no good if they're dead before they can use their smite good.

Brad

 

[James McMurray]

I always have nonintelligent creatures with a smite ability use it the first chance they get. As magnas_veritas said, its a use it or lose it situation.

Of course, if the rats are trained, they may have been taught to smite certain holy symbols or something along those lines.

 

[BeholderBurger]

Thanks for the help. It must be the way I am asking the question because I dont think you entirely understand what I am asking.
I thought that , to use a Special attack, you needed to first fulfil the criteria i.e. with smite good you would need to know that the creature is good. Now if a creature has the ability but has no way of determining that the enemies alignment is good then how could they ever use such an ability.

How could I use this ability without unrealistically targetting the good players and yet not undermining the only good ability of an abyssal rat.

Thanks for the help though

Anyone else got a point on this?

 

[James McMurray]

You don't have to know a target is good to Smite Good any more than a paladin needs to know a target is evil to smite evil.

Smite Evil: Once per day, a paladin of 2nd level or higher may attempt to smite evil with one normal melee attack. She adds her Charisma modifier (if positive) to the paladin's attack roll and deals 1 extra point of damage per level. If the paladin accidentally smites a creature that is not evil, the smite has no effect but it is still used up for that day. Smite evil is a supernatural ability.

 

[BeholderBurger]

Thanks James

Still it seems as though the abyssal rats are gonna waste a lotta smite. Only one of the party is in fact good.

Cheers

 

[James McMurray]

They're rats. What can you expect?

 

[Destil]

Note that all fiendish creatures have a minimum intelegence score of 3. This is the lowest Int that's comparable to normal human intelegence. Thus even a fiendish rat has a very basic ability to reason and think. So making simple educated guesses (holy symbols) is not unreasonable.