D&D 5E Making Divine Sense at-will OR last longer?

[el-remmen]

So, I have paladins in both games I am running currently, and Divine Sense is something that gets used a lot - which makes sense to me because it feels like a core aspect of the paladin class and how they can hope to achieve their righteous goals.

That said, making it available only Cha Mod +1 per long rest does not seem like enough to make it helpful if it only lasts for a turn. Maybe if the paladin happens to have an 18 or 20 Cha, they will have access to it enough times a day that it does not matter - but I don't think the usefulness of an ability should assume that any stat is maxed out. So I have been considering changing the ability in one of two ways.

Either,

A) Make it an at-will ability requiring concentration. Since anything behind full cover is not detectable, even the generous 60' radius has its severe limits.

or

B) Keep the limit on times per day but but make it last a full minute (or maybe even 10 minutes!) requiring concentration - allowing a paladin to move around and "get the sense of a place."

I am leaning towards B.

This is just a quick thumbnail sketch of a house rule, so there may be some obvious concern I have not considered. Though one thing I always consider when making house rules (or implementing any core or optional rule, actually) is to make the rule assuming good faith from the players not the type who'd abuse it.

What do you all think? How does Divine Sense play out most often in your own games? What I am I not seeing about making either of these changes?

 

[ezo]

Go with B. It is basically how we changed it.

 

[Stalker0]

If you do go at will, make it a passive ability instead.

Then the dm just tells the Paladin anytime a celestial/fiend gets near. Rather than the constant steam of “is it a fiend, I use divine sense”!

 

[Clint_L]

Hmmm...I think I like that it has a resource cost, as at will or even just automatically being on will definitely alter how quite a few encounters play out. On the other hand, having it work like a Spidey tingle could be fun, especially if it was more generalized (i.e. the player just sort of broadly knows that something is off nearby, but not the exact radius of the effect or anything about the nature of the threat).

Have to think on it. I could probably be persuaded either way.

 

[el-remmen]

If you do go at will, make it a passive ability instead.

Then the dm just tells the Paladin anytime a celestial/fiend gets near. Rather than the constant steam of “is it a fiend, I use divine sense”!

Hmmm, I am just now realizing that this may be a holdover from previous editions, but we play that when you use Divine Sense it is obvious to everyone who sees you that you are calling on your god or whatever to grant you this sight - so - for example - it is gauche to do this at an audience with the king or at a noble ball or other social situations or negotiations requiring trust. So the passive thing won't work for us.

But I get what you're saying about it potentially being annoying if someone does it all the time - but taking actions of this kind all the time does have potential in-game consequences.

 

[mellored]

C: once your out of uses, you can use it again by spending a spell slot.

 

[ichabod]

I have it as a passive ability. It still has the limit of detecting cha mod +1 times (encounters) per long rest. After that it burns out until you take a long rest. You can suppress it as a bonus action and turn it back on as a bonus action.

 

[Maxperson]

If you do go at will, make it a passive ability instead.

Then the dm just tells the Paladin anytime a celestial/fiend gets near. Rather than the constant steam of “is it a fiend, I use divine sense”!

I was thinking of something like this. When it was Detect Evil, it was very useful. Now that it's demons, fey, undead, etc. which often aren't around, I haven't seen the ability get much play. My thought was to make it constant, but give it a DC and have creatures that come within range a save to avoid detection.

 

[Distracted DM]

You could do it how A5E's heralds' works:

DIVINE SENSE​

Choose one of the following sets of enemies: celestials and fiends, fey and elementals, or aberrations and undead. You can always sense when a creature of one of your chosen types is within 30 feet of you, but cannot determine their number, type, or location. As a bonus action, you can briefly enhance your senses to learn the location, number, and type of any creatures of your chosen types within 30 feet of you. When you do so, creatures of those types that are within range make a Wisdom saving throw against your spell save DC, with advantage if the creature’s CR is higher than your herald level. On a failed save, you also learn the creature’s identity. Within the same radius, you also detect any locations that have been consecrated or desecrated, as with the hallow spell.

You can activate this feature a number of times equal to your Charisma modifier, and regain spent uses upon finishing a long rest . Upon finishing a long rest, you may also swap your chosen set of creature types for another.

 

[el-remmen]

You could do it how A5E's heralds' works:

DIVINE SENSE​

Choose one of the following sets of enemies: celestials and fiends, fey and elementals, or aberrations and undead. You can always sense when a creature of one of your chosen types is within 30 feet of you, but cannot determine their number, type, or location. As a bonus action, you can briefly enhance your senses to learn the location, number, and type of any creatures of your chosen types within 30 feet of you. When you do so, creatures of those types that are within range make a Wisdom saving throw against your spell save DC, with advantage if the creature’s CR is higher than your herald level. On a failed save, you also learn the creature’s identity. Within the same radius, you also detect any locations that have been consecrated or desecrated, as with the hallow spell.

You can activate this feature a number of times equal to your Charisma modifier, and regain spent uses upon finishing a long rest . Upon finishing a long rest, you may also swap your chosen set of creature types for another.

Too fidgety for my taste. I don't want to make rolls or worry about CR. But thanks for the suggestion. I really should dig into A5E more - i do have the books.