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<blockquote data-quote="Spatzimaus" data-source="post: 2975516" data-attributes="member: 3051">Unfortunately, in my experience that just isn't enough.&nbsp; I'll give an example.In a campaign I was in, the big enemy was... an Aristocrat!&nbsp; A very influential, very rich guy (&quot;Mr. Rourke&quot;) with all sorts of fun skills and Leadership.&nbsp; He was definitely evil, but did all of his really nasty stuff through intermediaries (including a Werepanther Halfling Barbarian/Bard/Ranger/Fighter/Rogue/Assassin/Blackguard/Shadowdancer named &quot;Tattoo&quot;).He had spent a LOT of effort to make a public persona of a philanthropist and such.&nbsp; Of course, as an influential person he had items for mind blank and the like, because someone that important wouldn't want to be the subject of any divinations.Now, what would have happened if any level 1 Paladin could have immediately identified him as evil?&nbsp; Sure, it'd be unlawful for the Paladin to just walk up and smite him, but simply announcing to the world that he was evil would have been enough to ruin his plans.Even if the players won't use it as a ticket to smite, it still trivializes far too many non-combat encounters.&nbsp; Basically, it just tells far too much information for a level 1 spell/ability.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Spatzimaus, post: 2975516, member: 3051"] Unfortunately, in my experience that just isn't enough. I'll give an example. In a campaign I was in, the big enemy was... an Aristocrat! A very influential, very rich guy ("Mr. Rourke") with all sorts of fun skills and Leadership. He was definitely evil, but did all of his really nasty stuff through intermediaries (including a Werepanther Halfling Barbarian/Bard/Ranger/Fighter/Rogue/Assassin/Blackguard/Shadowdancer named "Tattoo"). He had spent a LOT of effort to make a public persona of a philanthropist and such. Of course, as an influential person he had items for [i]mind blank[/i] and the like, because someone that important wouldn't want to be the subject of any divinations. Now, what would have happened if any level 1 Paladin could have immediately identified him as evil? Sure, it'd be unlawful for the Paladin to just walk up and [i]smite[/i] him, but simply announcing to the world that he was evil would have been enough to ruin his plans. Even if the players won't use it as a ticket to [i]smite[/i], it still trivializes far too many non-combat encounters. Basically, it just tells far too much information for a level 1 spell/ability. [/QUOTE]

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