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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Elder-Basilisk" data-source="post: 3259335" data-attributes="member: 3146">True, on the other hand, evil clerics who care about hiding their affiliations all have access to that handy 24 hours/casting undetectable alignment spell. Evil clerics who don't use it either:A. Don't need to because they are protected by the laws or are the law (frex, the high cleric of Hextor in the Great Kingdom)orB. Don't need to because they aren't high enough level to radiate even moderate evil yet.Undead? Well, yeah, but most people are ready to smite them whether or not they radiate evil. If they're pretending to be alive and nonvillainous, any undead powerful enough to radiate unusual amounts of evil should have the capability to disguise their alignment. Or maybe they're powerful enough that they don't care.As for the rest, there is one thing that paladins who use the beat-down radar should keep in mind: mid level evil priests, polymorphed evil great wyrms, and Lord Robilar all radiate about the same amount of evil. Woe be to the 12th level paladin who smites Lord Robilar or the great wyrm because they radiate moderate or strong evil. ("Oops, sorry, I thought you were a mid level cultist, I mean, you're obviously not going to die now that I've smitten you, so maybe we could just let bygones be byegones, right?")Detect evil can be a beat-down radar if you want it to be. On the other hand, it can also be a great tool for a DM in developing a world full of shades of grey. The villain who is kidnapping villagers didn't detect as evil when you met him (maybe he was disguising his alignment); the city guard who just finished beating a confession out of a suspect down the hall is evil; one out of the three villagers begging for your assistance against the bandits is evil--who are you gonna trust? And what is detect evil really telling you? One thing's for certain, if it doesn't only detect the villain of the plot, detect evil stops being a beat-down radar. And, by the RAW, there is no reason that detect evil should reliably detect the villain of the plot rather than the greedy wife-beater or scheming gold-digger.</blockquote>

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