In the description of the alignment detection spells it says that a creature with 5 or less hd doesn't have an aura. Does this mean that a 3rd level evil fighter would not be detected with the spell detect evil since he doesn't have an aura? The reason I am asking is that I am playing an inquisitor and wanted to use the spell when entering a diplomatic situation. If low level characters don't have an aura and thus don't register with the detect spells it losses a little of its functionality at low levels.
Yup thats correct.
You can detect low HD undead and evil outsiders, and evil clerics. Thats about it. Otherwise it becomes way too easy to use detect evil as a search/scan tool in a dungeon crawl situation.
And really, for it to pick up evil, it should pick up EVIL and not just some poor street thug type. So you know that if you do detect evil, you've found yourself something thats pretty damn evil.
Right on the money
unless one of the PCs is a cleric or paladin they are not going to give a blip on the old radar at all.
This was b/c someone thought the old paladin detect evil intent was too good and therfore needed to be changed (into something smurfy)....
So your evil fighter, Hitler, and possibly Jack-the-Ripper would not register at all.
I have argued that following the same logic detect magic should not work unless the spell is at least fifth level, leaving 1st through 4th level spells undetectable.......
On the flip-side of that NPCs reactions for the detection of alignment should pretty much make them hostile toward your PC!!!
I think the change is great. And keep in mind that anything with an "aura" will detect no matter what level or HD. There is nothing wrong with a DM saying someone like Jack the Ripper or Hitler has an "aura" at first level.
This does prevent the party paladin or cleric from finding reasons to kill the farmer that short changes his land owner on his taxes and beats his horse. It will also prevent the barmaid or street urchin that picks the occasional pocket from being easily found in a crowd.
Finally, it helps the RP aspect of just interacting with random commoners when you cannot easily tell who are the good guys and who are the bad guys.
Once something has gained enough power, true evil is easily detected.
That reminds me of the time a DM used a detect important people spell.
A wizard was working as a contract killer, he was hunting for our party, and he knew a bar we frequented. So he walking into the bar and dropped a fireball. All of the commoners in the bar died leaving only the singed players left.
Very evil and very effective.
If low level characters don't have an aura and thus don't register with the detect spells it losses a little of its functionality at low levels.
I think it's better that way - it encourages paladins (and paladin players) to think and prevents the biggest idiots from losing their powers as they strike down some poor farmer just because he's a selfish jerk.
Yes, there seem to be people who think that if the detect evil gives them a reading, they can just attack.
At least, this way, if they attack someone they detected, the chances that they kill someone innocent decreases slightly.
So your evil fighter, Hitler, and possibly Jack-the-Ripper would not register at all.
Of course not. Because Hitler was a human in the real world, and there is no detect evil in the real world! :P
Beyond the futility of trying to explain fantasy world magic with real world concepts, I think Hitler would have been higher than level 5, were he a Pathfinder character.
I have argued that following the same logic detect magic should not work unless the spell is at least fifth level, leaving 1st through 4th level spells undetectable.......
By that same logic, detect secret doors should show you how secret the door is. (Feint secrecy, moderate secrecy....).
They might be similar, but they're not the same spell with different parameters like detect good/detect evil.
On the flip-side of that NPCs reactions for the detection of alignment should pretty much make them hostile toward your PC!!!
Only if they know you did it. Since Pathfinder doesn't have a status window that goes "Player 2 casts detect evil on NPC 3", they need to have a clue that something is going on, and what is going on.
At the same time evil alignment or even evil intentions are not punishable without some action on the part of the NPC.
Says who? We aren't (for the most part) dealing with constitutional democracies here. It's fantasy. Evil is real and sometimes even tangible. I can easily see a more radical branch of a good or evil religion actively searching out anyone of the opposite alignment for extermination, and using detect spells to do it. It might not be appropriate for all settings and all campaigns, but it can certainly have its place.