Will change to detect evil work?

[Tiew]

Hey everybody, I'm fairly inexperienced so not sure if this is a good idea at all, but I thought I'd throw it out.

Basically I don't like the detect alignment spell. Not to knock games where the different characters are just good or just evil, cause I know that can be fun, but I'd really like to try something more complex. I'd like to run a game where PCs and NPCs can be both good an evil in different degrees at the same time.

Anyway, my idea is to replace detect evil with a spell that would give you a brief flash of an important action in the person you use it on's history. I see you maybe getting a quick picture of the person kicking a puppy or giving food to an orphan, something like that. (Insert your own more interesting and plot character or character related incident.) Maybe even roll a die and have a percent chance that you would get a picture of them doing something good or evil based on their general character.

I like this more because it gives insights that could help or mislead, which seems more thematic for divination. I also like it because it might help flesh out characters more, and make them seem more human. To be honest though, I'm not sure if it would work well or not. Any comments would be much appreciated.

Tiew

 

[Fieari]

I think it's a wonderful idea myself. I'm always in favor of making things more magical and less scientific... magic is dealing with things you don't understand! If you understand it, is it really magic?

I don't want to give out spoilers, so I won't name the movie, but anyone who's seen it will recognize my reference by the discription. In a certain movie, this guy can touch people and "feel" something bad that they've done, or are about to do. This sort of thing might work better to replace "Detect Evil" as well... and a similar sort of thing for "Detect Good". These more specific spells might work in addition to your version of "detect alignment"... possibly being preffered because these spells would only choose a good thing or an evil thing, not both.

But I like where you're going with that sort of thing.

 

[lord_banus]

I also dislike the idea of Detecting an alignment. I prefer to use something along the lines of Detect Hostility or Detect Friendliness. Kind of like a simple empathy spell.

 

[DreamChaser]

I think detect [alignment] works just fine with fantasy. The idea that a persons actions create resonance that builds up over time is not a scientific one. I've always thought that the detect spells sense for that. A person with a majority of evil in their aura will be detected by the detect evil spell. That does not mean the person is an insane psychopath that is about to kill you but it does mean that much of what they have done has gone against the greater good and repect for life.

DC

 

[Quip]

I like the idea of just adding a bit of flavor to the spell results, so that you aren't stuck with simply an alignment strength. Detect evil would detect various negative qualities. A seedy merchant, for example, would be described as having a weak aura of greed. A demon would emanate incredible hatred and cruelty.

Detect good can work the same way, detecting kindness, compasion and whatnot, although evil casters would use less appealing words to describe these qualities. Law might include devotion and discipline, and chaos can be independance or randomness.

It makes the spells a bit more handy, but you have to be sure not too give too much information away. It can help a DM direct a story if he does it right, though.

 

[Nifft]

Your idea is a good one.

Here's what I do IMC. Alignment is broken up into Conduct and Sponsorship.

Sponsorship: If a Higher (or Lower, or Just-Over-There) Power grants you power, it is your Sponsor. Acting as a conduit leaves a trace. So, if you get power by worshipping the LG Sun God, you detect as [Good]. If you are a demon-cultist, you detect as [Evil]. All Divine spellcasters have Sponsors.

Conduct: Your actions. These do not affect your descriptor in and of themselves, but could piss off your Sponsor (if you have one) or attract a Sponsor (if your actions are truely spectacular).

Baseline: Humans detect as weakly [Good], just as undead detect as weakly [Evil].

Even if you're a serial bunny-stomper, you're weakly [Good] until you get demonic sponsorship for your bunny-stomping.

-- N

 

[FireLance]

Very flavourful, but may be difficult to implement without an imaginative DM. What happens if you detect evil on an army of orcs? The DM will be hard pressed to describe a sample evil act for each. Perhaps it would work best as a DM tool for NPCs that he is willing to take the trouble to flesh out. Generic bad (or good) guys get generic auras.

 

[jessemock]

Your idea is a good one.

Here's what I do IMC. Alignment is broken up into Conduct and Sponsorship.

Sponsorship: If a Higher (or Lower, or Just-Over-There) Power grants you power, it is your Sponsor. Acting as a conduit leaves a trace. So, if you get power by worshipping the LG Sun God, you detect as [Good]. If you are a demon-cultist, you detect as [Evil]. All Divine spellcasters have Sponsors.

But we House Rule it that the gods permit worshippers of any alignment! What to do?!

I sort of like

Maybe even roll a die and have a percent chance that you would get a picture of them doing something good or evil based on their general character.

but I can see how it could very quickly become quite complicated to determine the percentages here: a guy has a number of not very bad acts in his history, one perfectly atrocious act, and a high number of moderately good ones. What to do?

I think that if you want to develop a D.A. variant (rather than tossing the whole set of spells/abilities), this is a good step, especially because it doesn't involve any power-meter routine (no Hit Dice involved).

 

[Nifft]

But we House Rule it that the gods permit worshippers of any alignment! What to do?!

Your aura = the alignment of your sponsor. Thus, you can detect as Evil even if you're a good person who happens to draw power from the Demon-God of Blah-Blah.

-- N

 

[Ferret]

I prefer the first idea, simply an image that justifies their alignment.