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<blockquote data-quote="Norfleet" data-source="post: 1275098" data-attributes="member: 11581">What, exactly, is the argument here? From my reading of this thread, there doesn't seem to be a consistent line of argument here.Are we arguing about the mechanistic legalities of exactly what, by the book, pings and does not ping on Detect Evil? That seems to be what some of these posts discuss, although from what I gather, it appears that everyone has a different interpretation of what does and doesn't occur for the spell/ability in their own campaign.Or are we arguing about whether or not detect-&gt;smite is a valid thing for a paladin to regularly engage in? This argument makes absolutely no sense in light of the above, the fact that nobody can actually agree on what causes detect evil to ping in the first place: Since everyone runs their detect evil differently, it's obvious that whether or not Detect-&gt;Smite is a paladinly act must vary depending on how Detect Evil is treated. If Detect Evil pings only [Evil] creatures, disguised demons and whatnot that are Always Evil, then it would make sense that when Detect Evil pings, you've found one of those, and smiting is in order. On the other hand, if Detect Evil is viewed as pinging on every other Tom, Dick, and Harry, then it's probably not appropriate to go on a Detect-and-Smite rampage. Besides, Paladins are LAWFUL Good. Being &quot;evil&quot; is not really a crime, so it's hardly lawful to go around killing people for something which isn't a crime. If some &quot;evil&quot; orc tribes live nearby, on lands rightly deemed to belong to them by all parties, and never actually attacks or raids anyone else, preferring instead to spend most of their time engaged in squabbles with each other, is a paladin entitled to go and invade their lands, attack them, and kill them merely because they are &quot;evil&quot;? Probably not, unless your campaign classifies orcs in the same category as demons.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Norfleet, post: 1275098, member: 11581"] What, exactly, is the argument here? From my reading of this thread, there doesn't seem to be a consistent line of argument here. Are we arguing about the mechanistic legalities of exactly what, by the book, pings and does not ping on Detect Evil? That seems to be what some of these posts discuss, although from what I gather, it appears that everyone has a different interpretation of what does and doesn't occur for the spell/ability in their own campaign. Or are we arguing about whether or not detect->smite is a valid thing for a paladin to regularly engage in? This argument makes absolutely no sense in light of the above, the fact that nobody can actually agree on what causes detect evil to ping in the first place: Since everyone runs their detect evil differently, it's obvious that whether or not Detect->Smite is a paladinly act must vary depending on how Detect Evil is treated. If Detect Evil pings only [Evil] creatures, disguised demons and whatnot that are Always Evil, then it would make sense that when Detect Evil pings, you've found one of those, and smiting is in order. On the other hand, if Detect Evil is viewed as pinging on every other Tom, Dick, and Harry, then it's probably not appropriate to go on a Detect-and-Smite rampage. Besides, Paladins are LAWFUL Good. Being "evil" is not really a crime, so it's hardly lawful to go around killing people for something which isn't a crime. If some "evil" orc tribes live nearby, on lands rightly deemed to belong to them by all parties, and never actually attacks or raids anyone else, preferring instead to spend most of their time engaged in squabbles with each other, is a paladin entitled to go and invade their lands, attack them, and kill them merely because they are "evil"? Probably not, unless your campaign classifies orcs in the same category as demons. [/QUOTE]

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