How do YOU detect evil?

[radmod]

Over the years, I've seen DMs throw out the RAW and play detect evil as they feel fits their world. I've even done detect evil one way in one world and another way in a different one, even though both worlds were played at the same time. Note: 'I' in the following arguments do not necessarily indicate the writer of this post.

RAW:
Argument 1: "Evil is evil. Whether you are a monster with the evil subtype, just plain evil monster, evil cleric, or PC whose alignment is evil, your aura is evil. That's why there's a table!"
Argument 2: "No. The 'evil' in the RAW refers to evil descriptors and goes further to spotlight evil outsiders, clerics, etc. If they meant evil to refer to PCs then they would've provided an example."

Non-RAW:
Argument 3: "While I play RAW (argument 1), I adjust it according to intent. A faintly evil guy helping a little ol' lady across the street wont show up as evil - unless, of course, he's doing it so he doesn't get noticed."
Argument 4: "Evil, except for really evil, like outsiders/clerics, means evil intent. So even if a PC is evil then he won't show up unless he's doing something evil."
Argument 5: "Nah, I nerfed detect evil, because I got tired of my players auto-attacking anything that shows up evil. Instead, the 'evil' thing has to actually be doing evil - like killing babies."

I'm sure there are plenty more, but how do YOU do detect evil? Especially if a PC/NPC is evil.

 

[Jhaelen]

Magical detection doesn't care about behaviour. Evil alignment will detect as evil.

In the case of e.g. a merchant detecting as evil because he's a greedy *******, it would obviously be unwise to simply slay him because of it. You may want to check out the Eberron setting for some guidelines.

Now, personally, I feel the game works better if you drop alignments altogether. It's a sacred cow that should have been killed ages ago.

 

[Dandu]

Or, at least, it should matter less from a mechanical perspective.

 

[Persiflage]

I'm actually OK with the whole good/evil thing in D&D. It's inherently unfair and more than a little daft, but I just roll with it as part of the game. It's Law and Chaos that I find insufferably stupid.

Michael Moorcock has a lot to answer for.

In answer to the OP's question, I've used more than one interpretation according to the "flavour" of the campaign world. By and large, at the moment I'm sticking fairly close to Option 2. Creatures that are "always evil" in their description detect as evil. PC and NPC's who are neither evil outsiders nor clerics may or may not detect as evil, depending on how evil they are. Yes, it's a subjective value-judgement, but it works for me

 

[Jhaelen]

Creatures that are "always evil" in their description detect as evil. PC and NPC's who are neither evil outsiders nor clerics may or may not detect as evil, depending on how evil they are. Yes, it's a subjective value-judgement, but it works for me

Well, detect evil as written also informs the caster about the power of the aura. The aura of an archdevil would be stronger than the aura of an evil low-level npc.

 

[Persiflage]

Well yes, quite so, but was I was attempting to say was "Whether or not they detect as Evil at all depends on how Evil they are". In other words, if you're a high-level character who occasionally likes to get drunk and beat people unconscious, but basically spend the rest of your time on pretty neutral activities, you just won't detect as evil regardless of how many hit dice you have.

On the other hand, if a PC or NPC is "evil enough" to be detected at all, I'll resort to the table for how strongly they register.

Hell, I never claimed it was terribly pretty, but radmod asked what we do and at the moment, that's it

 

[Voadam]

Well yes, quite so, but was I was attempting to say was "Whether or not they detect as Evil at all depends on how Evil they are". In other words, if you're a high-level character who occasionally likes to get drunk and beat people unconscious, but basically spend the rest of your time on pretty neutral activities, you just won't detect as evil regardless of how many hit dice you have.

On the other hand, if a PC or NPC is "evil enough" to be detected at all, I'll resort to the table for how strongly they register.

Hell, I never claimed it was terribly pretty, but radmod asked what we do and at the moment, that's it

Its not determined by whether or not their alignment on their character sheet/stat block says evil or not? If they are neutral but occasionally do bad things and you consider them overall neutral and not evil wouldn't you as DM give them a neutral alignment instead of an evil one?

 

[Voadam]

RAW:
Argument 1: "Evil is evil. Whether you are a monster with the evil subtype, just plain evil monster, evil cleric, or PC whose alignment is evil, your aura is evil. That's why there's a table!"
Argument 2: "No. The 'evil' in the RAW refers to evil descriptors and goes further to spotlight evil outsiders, clerics, etc. If they meant evil to refer to PCs then they would've provided an example."

Number 2 seems silly to me as a RAW and not as a house rule, there is no talk of subtypes versus alignment in the spell and outsiders are the only creatures with the evil subtype anyway. "When it says evil creatures it doesn't actually mean creatures with an evil alignment, it means creatures with an Evil subtype."

 

[jefgorbach]

Detect Evil is pretty much a useless effect.

The SRD states “A creature’s general moral and personal attitudes are represented by its alignment” Accordingly, the results of Detect Evil should be sketchy at-best in MOST instances simply because “evil” is a subjective opinion determined by one’s viewpoint/intent.

For instance many people consider eating human flesh to be an evil act however the “Aghori (an ancient Hindu sect) maintain that eating the flesh of the dead provides a mystical guarantee of liberation from samsara–the birth-death-rebirth cycle–in a single lifetime.”(1) making it a “good” act from their viewpoint and thus such a person should not register to the Detect Evil effect, otherwise someone consuming a hamburger would register as “evil” to a cleric/paladin of the PETA faith. Likewise, Jhaelen’s greedy businessman would NOT detect as being evil because he’s simply being a good entrepreneur following the accepted economic principle of supply-and-demand.

Further complicating its use is the fact the majority of subjects have 10 or fewer hit dice so even if they DO consider themselves to be evil, barely register to the Detect Evil effect according to the spell’s guiding table, radiating a “faint” aura which fades within 6-36 seconds of the subject’s death, effectively limiting its usage to determining whether a questionable object’s aura suggests it was enchanted with a 3rd-8th level effect (moderate), a 9th level spell (strong), or is an Artifact/Relic (overwhelming).

(1) The Aghori: Hinduism, Cannibalism, and Immortality

 

[Voadam]

I house ruled alignment in my last games in general. Everybody was neutral as a default. Alignment was for descriptors, evil descriptor spells detected as evil (and that's why undead always detect as evil, the animating force as seen from the evil descriptor animating spells is supernatural evil even if they are individually good vampires or neutral animated skeletons), evil subtype outsiders detect as evil, champions of supernatural darkness detect as evil (clerics of evil gods, blackguards, anti-paladins, unholy warriors, etc.) and items created using evil descriptor spells detect as evil.

This is much more the feel I want for both alignments as cosmic supernatural forces and paladin detecting/hunting powers. Paladins being tasked by supernatural forces of good with hunting down demons, undead, and cultists devoted to evil powers while leaving things like slavers and extortionists and evil nobles as things gods leave to mortals to handle on their own seems right