A Good-aligned Cleric has an aura of Good, strength dependent on class level. Is this aura conferred to his or her weapon, to overcome DR /good? Would it work for only melee weapons, or for ranged weapons as well? My group is about to confront a creature with DR 5/Good, and there is a 5th level Cleric in the group, so I would like opinions on the matter. I could have sworn I saw a reference somewhere that the aura would pass on to melee weapons, but now I can't find it. Thanks for any assistance and comments.
A Good-aligned Cleric has an aura of Good, strength dependent on class level. Is this aura conferred to his or her weapon, to overcome DR /good? Would it work for only melee weapons, or for ranged weapons as well? My group is about to confront a creature with DR 5/Good, and there is a 5th level Cleric in the group, so I would like opinions on the matter. I could have sworn I saw a reference somewhere that the aura would pass on to melee weapons, but now I can't find it. Thanks for any assistance and comments.
As far as I know, the Aura of (Good/Evil/Law/Chaos) is intended for the Detect XXX series of spells and nothing else.
Page 20:
"Aura (Ex): A cleric of a chaotic, evil, good, or lawful deity has a particularly powerful aura corresponding to the deity’s alignment (see the detect evil spell for details)."
Just to point this out: a Paladin has Aura of Good as a feature at 1st level (it works exactly like that of a Cleric). Why giving him a power (Aura of Faith) at 14th level that allows him to overcome DR of enemies within 10ft from him as if using Good-aligned weapons, if the power he gains at 1st level gives him the same effect? (maybe this was the reference you saw...)
However, a 5th-level Cleric has access to Align Weapon (a 2nd-level spell), so your group should have no problems against a creature with DR 5/good (and even if he doesn't pick the spell, a DR of 5 points is not hard to overcome...)
The aura does not pass on to melée weapons. That's what the Align Weapon spell is for.
I had proposed a rules change under which Clerics gain the Good (or other alignment) subtype instead of the Aura. This would pass on.
The aura's are really more of a handicap than anything else. They shout "Come and get me!" and reveal your vulnerability to alignment based magics.