Detect Evil in Hell?

[Quasqueton]

What does a paladin see when using his detect evil ability while in Hell, Hades, Abyss, Gehenna, etc?

Does the environment itself radiate as evil? How powerful would the aura be? Would it effectively mask lesser auras?

Quasqueton

 

[Merlion]

I'd say thats up to the DM and his planar cosmology. Me, I would say yes to most of your questions...the enviroment would radiate evil it would possible be overwhelming. the choice of wether it obscures lesser auras to me would basicaly be a choice of, do you want the paladin to essentialy lose his ability to tell if characters are evil while in such a plane, or not? Although now I think of it by the rules it probably wouldnt...if you inspect an area long enough you register all auras. now if you say that the plane registers as overwhelming, the paladin may well get stunned or whatever essentialy every time he uses the ability.
Thats just my little take

 

[Celebrim]

You detect overwhelming evil from everything - afterall the stuff around you is literally made from evil. You are on a plane where abstract concepts have material substance.

You must make a saving throw or be stunned, per the rules in the spell.

I have always seen the spell as translating the aura's things radiate into visual que's or similar mundane sensory information (such as touch, or temperature sense). A lesser aura would not stand out as much in an evil environment as it would placed in a neutral or good environment, but it would be detectable with concentration. You would notice it based on its contrast with the environment - spots would look brighter (or darker) when viewed against the background, or would feel more or less cold etc.

 

[Staffan]

I don't have my MOTP available at the moment, but as I recall there are two levels of planar alignment. I'd rule that the weaker one (which would cover places like Acheron or Pandemonium in the standard cosmology) would count as Moderate evil and overshadow lesser evils. The stronger one (e.g. Hades) would probably be Overwhelming, overshadow all other auras, and probably stun the person who thought it was a good idea to detect evil in hell.

 

[Merlion]

Yea a plane can be "mildly" or "strongly" aligned. the thing that annoys me tho is if I remember almost all the planes...even the alignment ones...are at most "mildly" aligned with a few expettions. at the very least the biggies , the ones that represent the eptiome of certain alignments(Hell , the Abyss, Hades, Mechanus, Limbo Elsyium Arborea and Celestia) should be strongly aligned with any and all of their aspects.

 

[drnuncheon]

What does a paladin see when using his detect evil ability while in Hell, Hades, Abyss, Gehenna, etc?

Multiple Choice:

• The evil of the plane drowns out everything else.
• The same thing he sees when he's not using detect evil: a horde of devils ready to chow down on Paladin Crunchies.
• Nothing - his eyes melt halfway through the first round of the spell due to the concentrated evil.
• All of the Above
  [/list=a]

 

[Destil]

Even Baator, the Abyss and They Grey Waists are only mildly aligned as evil.

As for my take on how I'd make it work: a mildly alinged plane ovewehelems any detect alingment spell of the same alingment (detect evil on an evil plane), while stronly aligned planes ovewhelms all alingment detection spells aside from the opposed alingment to the nature of the plane (so detect evil and chaos would fail, but detect good would work). This fits in with the penelties these planes have best, for me.

 

[Merlion]

Even Baator, the Abyss and They Grey Waists are only mildly aligned as evil.

Yea I know. which seems incredibly stupid to me.

 

[orbitalfreak]

I'd say it's the Unholy equivalent to putting on Night-Vision Goggles and staring at the noon-time sun.

Rules-wise, go for overwhelming aura, stun him, and the aura drowns out lesser auras. Maybe let him detect the direction of overwhelming auras from creatures before he's overcome by the intesity of the planar aura.

 

[dcollins]

- There doesn't seem to be anything in the current Manual of the Planes which puts any restriction on detect evil in Hell or any other plane.

- The previous version of the Manual of the Planes (and other AD&D sources) did specify that an aligned plane overwhelmed the use of thse spells. The specific example given (p. 80) was using detect evil on a paladin in the Nine Hells, and having it register nothing but evil all around.