Detect Evil on party members

[Ambrus]

It's an odd concept; a completely objective magical effect in which there is no room for ethical or moral ambiguity. The verdict would be absolute and no one could contest it; this person is self centered and bad while that person if virtuous and law abiding.

I've always thought that the greatest use of such a spell (such as know alignement, detect evil or true sight) would be to discern one's own alignment. I mean, wouldn't it be strange to think of yourself as mostly lawful and good only to cast the spell and come to the horrific realization that you are infact chaotic evil? Imagine casting it on yourself and thinking: "But I'm not evil, just pragmatic. I folow most of the laws, the one's that matter at least. I'm not that bad am I? I mean I did kill that one guy, but come on, that rat-bastard *deserved* to die; he *needed* to die. It was like a public service. If I didn't do it, who would have? I donated a silver to that beggar last week! Doesn't charity count for something? How can I be EVIL?!?"

 

[Hammerhead]

Well, where does Detect Evil come from? A divine source. That said, it could very easily simply be the deity's opinion on what's good and evil. Thus, Heironeous could have a different view of evil than Pelor and such.

 

[Vraille Darkfang]

When I play a character with access to Detect Evil. I cast it on other party members at some point. (Stems from when a DM I had brought in a player with a new "character", in reality just an evil NPC that woudl betray us to the Drow, so we wound up naked, shackled & hopping for our lives. He knew we'd never think to cast Detect Evil on a fellow PC, but would suspect an NPC much sooner). Unless the back-story includes "known for long time", my characters treat the fellow PC's like what they are: strangers, and treats them no differently than any NPC till they prove themselves.

As for when I DM:

Yea, at this point, detect evil has become 2nd nature. Ever since when the wizard (after finding a powerful robe) and the rest of the party encounterd a bunch of undead (including wraiths & wights) & they all bowed down in front of the wizard & said "Welcome back master, we exist to serve you".

Yep, give out the Archrobe of the First Lich once & PC's casting Detect Evil on every garment they come across.

Are G-Strings evil by default? How about Corsets & High Heels?

 

[MoonZar]

All divinitation spells works on Players Character, they are still part of the world and don't have ability who can prevent this.

If the guy is evil too bad for him the good priest or paladin of the group will know it and probably ask him to leave.

 

[Ovinomancer]

OK, you've know used Detect Evil to determine that your suspect is, in fact, EEEVVVIILLL!

So what?

Does this actually mean anything? If you're the 'all evil must die because its evil' type, then, sure, problem solved. But if you're trying to decide guilt by evidence, this means nothing. Unless, of course, you folow the Monty Python method of witch hunting. ( A Duck, A Duck)

Evil does not equate to guilty of the crimeyou are currently investigating. Evil does not imply any crime at all, just the propensity for non-good action. In the csae sited in the thread topic, the halfiling being evil would not imply guilt, just that he may not be trustworty. Which for Wulf is plenty enough reason for execution.

My 2 cp.

 

[Hand of Evil]

Had to answer to work...so did not post all.

My soapbox: define evil in your game, if you know what evil is it makes it easier to game.

 

[werk]

Our houserule is that players may not roll dice against other players. This is a rule that I stole from my last DM (for 5 years). It sounded harsh when I first heard it, but works well and prevents hard feelings. It stops any casting of spells, combat, bluffs, theft, anything that could cause problems with group cohesion.

Now, if a player leaves the party, or becomes an NPC (through third party control, etc) then they are fair game. It's non-PVP not non- char vs char.

Last week we had a ranger and a rogue that found were searching a dead lady's saddlebags. The rogue was naturally conducting the search because of skill loading, and discovered an item. He said that he pocketed the item. I asked if he concealed the item from the other character or if it was all laid out and he then later stored it. He said that he concealed it as soon as he found it. So I ask the other player if he trusts the the rogue, and he said yes, so his char did not see the item. If he had said no, I do not trust him, then he would have been allowed to see the rogue pocket the item.

That is a quick example, but you get the idea. I never really get any requests for combat or spells, but I require that the party be around the same alignment, and rarely ever have an evil in the party (usually the result of alignment change).

 

[frankthedm]

It is a dereliction of duty for a Paladin NOT to cast Detect Evil on those he travels with.

 

[Hypersmurf]

Well, where does Detect Evil come from? A divine source. That said, it could very easily simply be the deity's opinion on what's good and evil. Thus, Heironeous could have a different view of evil than Pelor and such.

D&D mechanics don't work that way.

A deity has an alignment. No matter whether that deity thinks he's good, if he's evil, his clerics cannot prepare or cast spells with the [Good] descriptor.

Through the whole D&D system, alignment is an attribute of a creature, not a function of someone else's perception of that creature.

-Hyp.

 

[Whimsical]

In fact, the default planar structure of D&D is defined by alignment. So even the multiverse, including the deities and the planes are defined by alignment. Deities don't define alignment (except for the DM).