No, you would simply detect nothing. Level 4 and lower characters who aren't paladins/clerics/etc just don't show off anything.
A person who's that evil, pings on the old Paladin radar... case closed.No, not at all. That's your opinion. Your single opinion does not mean case closed. What's evil is also subjective to different people.
Except in game, it isn't. Within the game, evil is a tangible, detectiable thing (obviously due to the spell). It is a literal force of the universe, and some of the other adjacent universes (hell, abyss, abbadon all are literally made of evil).
It is practically like saying "you have a positive charge". It is as much of the game's universe as gravity, magnetism, etc.
Anyway...yeah, for humanoids, they usually don't have auras until level 5. Before then, they test negative.
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Oh? What if that person wants to kill the Paladin, intends to do it, but never gets around to it, or works up the courage.
Maybe, he never kills anyone, ever. Maybe, he just thinks about how he really wants to kill the Paladin, whenever the Paladin is around.
I could have sworn that that was the constant status of any non-Paladin stuck in the orbit of a Paladin.
Also, for the Paladin, remember:
There are certain spells that someone could be subject to that make them ping, temporarily, as Evil, even if they aren't. (Infernal Healing, for example)
Someone with some cursed items, or under certain kinds of curses, or even spell effects, might ping as evil when they aren't.
How about the subject of a magic jar? Caster is evil, but the person who is controlled may have been anything.
Is it an evil act to smite evil and killed the body of someone who was magic jarred?
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A Wizard, walking around healing hurt children, with his wand of Infernal Healing.
A Paladin, wondering why he can't smite the children.
Actually, from what I understand, he could smite the children. And, as long as they are still under the effect of Infernal Healing, he will get the extra smite damage and AC bonus against them.
Of course, this is a trap smite, and could, easily, cause the Paladin to fall, losing all Paladin abilities, which should include any active smites.
Nope, infernal healing causes you to ping on detect only (and make you feel yucky). No actual "bonus vs evil" would trigger.
Although, if they happened to be redeemed Succubus children...
It might be that i have acquired a non-murderhobo perspective over the last year, by playing Kingmaker.
The thing is if a Paladin would start smiting citizens you wouldnt believe how fast he would be branded a "Extremist Criminal" and hunted down to be hanged for murder. He might even die with all his Paladin-abilities still working.
Doesnt matter that the dude he suddenly beheaded in the street was a wifebeater- still unprovoked Murder.
Doesnt matter that the meatmerchant he stabbed to death just outside the citygates, coming home from a supply run, did indeed sell rancid meat that she just had made tasty with Prestidigitation and even people got sick from it - still unprovoked Murder.
Doesnt matter that the LE cleric of Abadar he killed in a bar was a cold-hearted Bastard who refused to hand out food to starving peple, because they were followers of Erastil, and not Abadar, if they couldnt pay - still unprovoked Murder.
Neither of these evil people would have deserved the death penalty. And handing out any sentence is the absolute prerogative of the rulers in their own lands. He should have reported them if he thinks they are up to something. And with some concrete proof, otherwise you open up the gates for slander. They would have been investigated.
You cant have a prospering, orderly society where the citizens feel safe (and do good business to be able to pay more taxes) if you have extremists running around killing people who's moral/political standpoint doesnt please them.
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And this is independent on how relatively easy it is to fool these Level 1 detect abilities. Just let someone you cant stand ping evil and point the smite-happy Paladin in their direction.
It might be that i have acquired a non-murderhobo perspective over the last year, by playing Kingmaker.
The thing is if a Paladin would start smiting citizens you wouldnt believe how fast he would be branded a "Extremist Criminal" and hunted down to be hanged for murder. He might even die with all his Paladin-abilities still working.
Doesnt matter that the dude he suddenly beheaded in the street was a wifebeater- still unprovoked Murder.
Doesnt matter that the meatmerchant he stabbed to death just outside the citygates, coming home from a supply run, did indeed sell rancid meat that she just had made tasty with Prestidigitation and even people got sick from it - still unprovoked Murder.
Doesnt matter that the LE cleric of Abadar he killed in a bar was a cold-hearted Bastard who refused to hand out food to starving peple, because they were followers of Erastil, and not Abadar, if they couldnt pay - still unprovoked Murder.
Neither of these evil people would have deserved the death penalty. And handing out any sentence is the absolute prerogative of the rulers in their own lands. He should have reported them if he thinks they are up to something. And with some concrete proof, otherwise you open up the gates for slander. They would have been investigated.
You cant have a prospering, orderly society where the citizens feel safe (and do good business to be able to pay more taxes) if you have extremists running around killing people who's moral/political standpoint doesnt please them.
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And this is independent on how relatively easy it is to fool these Level 1 detect abilities. Just let someone you cant stand ping evil and point the smite-happy Paladin in their direction.
I like this.
Evil doesn't necessarily mean you are a bad person... I've played evil people who were LOVED in the community, they just secretly stole corpses, animated them and used the skeletons for free labour... went adventuring and straight up committed genocide (on evil races) and countless other things that would be called 'evil'. But they never betrayed their community, gave freely of their wealth, healed the sick... it's nice to have a population base of innocents to hide behind when the 'good' people come knocking. :D
Smite Evil: "If the paladin targets a creature that is not evil, the smite is wasted with no effect."
Infernal Healing on a otherwise "good" creature would ping evil, but a smite would be wasted.
Detect Evil: "1st Round: Presence or absence of evil."
I would say they do not detect the evil of the bad guy since he is not sufficiently evil to have an aura. Unless there was an evil aura within range (either high level, aura class, or subtype), no evil would be detected.
Since the greatest level of detection is at 3 rounds, and it only finds auras, I would say a single round can only say at least one aura is in range or no aura is in range.
Note [2] on the table is "Some characters who are not clerics may radiate an aura of equivalent power. The class description will indicate whether this applies." The bad guy mentioned might fit this category and ping as a concentrated evil generating an aura.
/cevah
Any Paladin who just randomly attacks people with the justification of 'I thought he was evil' should, at the very least, be locked up for being insane.