How noticable is a Paladin using "Detect Evil"

[shilsen]

Actually, wouldn't a fiend who was evil have a stronger aura than just a plain person who was evil?

If they had the same HD or close to the same.

Evil human HD/5
Outsider HD

So a 5 HD human would have a faint evil aura while a 5 HD fiend would have a stromg aura. Definatley would be able to tell the difference.

As I said above. But an evil Com10 and a Quasit both have a moderately evil aura. A ghoul has a faint evil aura, weaker than either. Making judgements about creatures and characters on the basis of evil alignment is not smart.

Back to the original question, since spell-like abilities have no components, I don't think a paladin detecting evil should be any more (or less) obvious than a guy staring at you for 18 seconds.

 

[The Souljourner]

Can I repeat, for the last time, that you don't have to stare at the person. You detect evil in a 90 degree arc. You can do it with your eyes closed if you want. Keep in mind, you can do it through *walls*.

So, for all the evil guy in the parliament knows, you're just not being very talkative for 18 seconds. Heck, if you wanted to get really sneaky, bite off a big piece of meat, and chew on it for a while... no one's going to wonder why you're not engaged in stimulating conversation when your mouth is full.

In fact, there's not even any rule about not being able to talk while concentrating. It's a standard action, that's all. It means you can do a move equivalent action every round. Violent motion, violent weather, injury, being grappled.. these things can cause a concentration check or lose your concentration. Doesn't say you can't keep up a conversation, all it says is you can't cast a spell, and casting a spell is a heck of a lot more difficult that discussing the weather. I'd allow a sense motive check to notice that you're not all there, but there doesn't necessarily need to be any obvious outward signs.

-The Souljourner

 

[Artoomis]

Souljuorner:

1. You cannot have your eyes closed to identify a person as evil - you must have line of sight for that. ".... If an aura is outside the character's line of sight, then the character discerns its direction but not its exact location...."

2. At minimum, if you wish to hide the fact that you are concentrating, you'd need to Bluff. You could Bluff by simply closing your eyes, but Sense Motive would certainly apply to show that you were concentrating on something. I'd use Spellcraft to figure out what the concentration was about.

Paladins are NOT about deceipt. Attempting to use deceipt is hard for Paladins - they need to really work at it. Certain prestige calsses are far better at this - or a Rogue/Paladin combo.

 

[WizarDru]

The paladin may close his eyes. However, he still needs to be facing a target:

From the SRD:
Detect Evil: At will, the paladin can detect evil as a spell-like ability. This ability duplicates the effects of the spell detect evil.

Range: Quarter circle emanating from the character to the extreme of the range

So it acts more like a flashlight than a radar, per se. Of course, if he wants to match person to aura, he'll need to open his eyes. In a crowded room, without maintaining concentration, he'll loose them. And while it can go through walls, not as far as you might think, and not stronger walls:

from the SRD:The spell can penetrate barriers, but 1 foot of stone, 1 inch of common metal, a thin sheet of lead, or 3 feet of wood or dirt blocks it.

For example, in "Heart of Nightfang Spire", a Paladin's Detect Evil ability would make finding the baddies pathetically easy...if not for the thick, stone walls blocking his detection ability.

Furthermore, unless the Paladin is not known to be a paladin, people will most likely assume the worst when dealing with him. I would expect a circumstance penalty to reactions if he did this in public and was noticed. Even if all he does is simply concentrate for a moment...if someone talks to him and he suddenly seems distracted, it could be problematic. Of course, he may not even be invited to such functions if he has a reputation of doing such things.

Which isn't to say he shouldn't be allowed to detect evil in such a situation, but it is somewhat rude. It also never hurts that Good and Neutral characters can be antagonists, without being villains. My party just dealt with a LG antagonist recently, for example.

 

[dreaded_beast]

you guys think a paladin needs his hands free to detect evil?

for example, if the paladin was tied up, could he detect evil?

and do you think the designers of the game meant to have detect evil noticeable or unoticeable?

 

[The Souljourner]

Souljuorner:

1. You cannot have your eyes closed to identify a person as evil - you must have line of sight for that. ".... If an aura is outside the character's line of sight, then the character discerns its direction but not its exact location...."

Sure, you have to have line of sight. Doesn't mean you have to be *staring*. There's a difference. Even assuming you have your eyes open, you can feel there's an evil presence just to the left of the king, and by casually looking in that general direction, you could tell it was his advisor. Sense motive? Sure, but it's gonna be a doozy.

2. At minimum, if you wish to hide the fact that you are concentrating, you'd need to Bluff. You could Bluff by simply closing your eyes, but Sense Motive would certainly apply to show that you were concentrating on something. I'd use Spellcraft to figure out what the concentration was about.

I could see a bluff check, but I could also see giving the paladin a huge bonus due to the fact that there doesn't really need to be any outward signs.

As for spellcraft... if there's no outward sign of the spell, I think you'd need epic results to be able to figure out what he was doing.

Paladins are NOT about deceipt. Attempting to use deceipt is hard for Paladins - they need to really work at it. Certain prestige calsses are far better at this - or a Rogue/Paladin combo.

There's a big difference between discretion and deceipt. He's not lying to anyone, he's not even withholding information, he's simply not announcing "Hey everyone, I'm going to detect evil now!"

-The Souljourner

 

[shilsen]

you guys think a paladin needs his hands free to detect evil?

for example, if the paladin was tied up, could he detect evil?

and do you think the designers of the game meant to have detect evil noticeable or unoticeable?

No somatic components, so it doesn't matter if the hands are free or if the paladin is hog-tied, as long as he has line of sight.

As for what the designers of the game intended, no clue.

 

[Guilt Puppy]

So, for all the evil guy in the parliament knows, you're just not being very talkative for 18 seconds. Heck, if you wanted to get really sneaky, bite off a big piece of meat, and chew on it for a while... no one's going to wonder why you're not engaged in stimulating conversation when your mouth is full.

Yes, but he's going to have to make a Concentration check (DC 21) to avoid biting his tongue -- possibly very dangerous if he is low on hit points, say at one. See DMG p.86, table 3-2: "Concentration DCs and Damage for Eating."

That's actually a relatively easy one... I once saw a Barbarian try to fly into a rage while eating. Nearly bit his own head off!

 

[The_lone_gunman]

In my campaign, the paladin has to invoke a quick prayer to his god to use his detect evil abilities. This tones down the annoyance factor. I find it very unpaladin like to detect evil secretly anyway. A good paladin would let the person know that he was doing it, and then not understand why they get offended at it. He would see it as his duty, and assume people would be appreciative to his searching out evil within their midst.

TLG

 

[green slime]

Well, given that ordinary Humans register only at HD/5, this has been reinforced in my campaign. Which I point out to the Paladin IMC on occassion. So mostly he admits, "nah no point".

But it has been used to great effect as well. I think I knocked him flat with an overwhelming evil once as well...

IMC the Concentration is noticable, but does not prevent conversation (the paladin seems kind of uninterested, distracted, distant even).