Who is mantle of faith for?

[jessemock]

I think you guys are missing the main point here. This item is waaaaaay better for a guy who is expecting to fight celestials and such than somebody expecting to fight deamons and devils, since good guys don't really have a way to get through the damage reduction. In short, the item makes very little sense as a "holyish" item, since a devil would get much more milage out of it then an angel.
Ray

Right.

Further, for a game that is supposed to have a sharply defined alignment system, there is no way to distinguish between DR/good and DR/evil, except in the case when one battles a fiend or celestial or other game-mechanically present good or evil, which, as Hong pointed out, is not often.

What gives?

 

[hong]

I think you guys are missing the main point here. This item is waaaaaay better for a guy who is expecting to fight celestials and such than somebody expecting to fight deamons and devils, since good guys don't really have a way to get through the damage reduction. In short, the item makes very little sense as a "holyish" item, since a devil would get much more milage out of it then an angel. The D&D I tend to play tends to hedge out alignments in general, so I can't really tell if this item is jus messed up somehow or what. But I do know if I were a mad overlord I'd think about making a couple of these for my minions so that the next paladin or cleric of an annoying LG order comes a knockin', they've got a hedge against their holy smites.

Ray

Most other things that have powers keyed to alignment (eg holy weapons) also have a downside for opposite alignments. If an evil person picks up a holy sword, they get 2 negative levels. If the mantle of faith really bugs you so much, just make it so that it does the same thing.