I was noticing one line in smite evil.
Once per day, a paladin can call out to the powers of good to aid her in her struggle against evil. As a swift action, the paladin chooses one target within sight to smite. If this target is evil, the paladin adds her Cha bonus (if any) to her attack rolls and adds her paladin level to all damage rolls made against the target of her smite. If the target of smite evil is an outsider with the evil subtype, an evil-aligned dragon, or an undead creature, the bonus to damage increases to 2 points of damage per level the paladin possesses. Regardless of the target, smite evil attacks automatically bypass any DR the creature might possess.
Does that mean I can smite evil on a golem and bypass its DR? Obviously I wont get the +hit and damage, but the DR bypassing should work if I read that correctly.
I was noticing one line in smite evil.
** spoiler omitted **
Does that mean I can smite evil on a golem and bypass its DR? Obviously I wont get the +hit and damage, but the DR bypassing should work if I read that correctly.
Since golems aren't evil, no. My reading of the very first line you quoted is that the power only works against evil.
Golems are sometimes controlled by evil people, so smiting them can be considered part of the struggle against evil.
Golems are sometimes controlled by evil people, so smiting them can be considered part of the struggle against evil.
while true, thats not how smite works. You can smite the evil controling mage but not the golem.
I still don't see anything that say the target must be evil. Unless you know some special meaning for regardless of target.
I still don't see anything that say the target must be evil. Unless you know some special meaning for regardless of target.
I do believe that the statement was refering, to 'regardless of what defensese the target might have or whether its just evil or an evil outsider/dragon/undead'. You still need a successful smite that meets the criteria of one of the 2 preceeding sentances in order to get the dr bypass.
Rules Quote:
"Once per day, a paladin can call out to the powers of good to aid her in her struggle against evil. As a swift action, the paladin chooses one target within sight to smite. If this target is evil, the paladin adds her Cha bonus (if any) to her attack rolls and adds her paladin level to all damage rolls made against the target of her smite. If the target of smite evil is an outsider with the evil subtype, an evil-aligned dragon, or an undead creature, the bonus to damage increases to 2 points of damage per level the paladin possesses. Regardless of the target, smite evil attacks automatically bypass any DR the creature might possess.
In addition, while smite evil is in effect, the paladin gains a deflection bonus equal to her Charisma modifier (if any) to her AC against attacks made by the target of the smite. If the paladin targets a creature that is not evil, the smite is wasted with no effect.
The smite evil effect remains until the target of the smite is dead or the next time the paladin rests and regains her uses of this ability. At 4th level, and at every three levels thereafter, the paladin may smite evil one additional time per day, as indicated on Table: Paladin, to a maximum of seven times per day at 19th level."
That part right there that I bolded.
Rules Quote:
"Once per day, a paladin can call out to the powers of good to aid her in her struggle against evil. As a swift action, the paladin chooses one target within sight to smite. If this target is evil, the paladin adds her Cha bonus (if any) to her attack rolls and adds her paladin level to all damage rolls made against the target of her smite. If the target of smite evil is an outsider with the evil subtype, an evil-aligned dragon, or an undead creature, the bonus to damage increases to 2 points of damage per level the paladin possesses. Regardless of the target, smite evil attacks automatically bypass any DR the creature might possess.In addition, while smite evil is in effect, the paladin gains a deflection bonus equal to her Charisma modifier (if any) to her AC against attacks made by the target of the smite. If the paladin targets a creature that is not evil, the smite is wasted with no effect.
The smite evil effect remains until the target of the smite is dead or the next time the paladin rests and regains her uses of this ability. At 4th level, and at every three levels thereafter, the paladin may smite evil one additional time per day, as indicated on Table: Paladin, to a maximum of seven times per day at 19th level."
That part right there that I bolded.
That's what I was looking for, thanks.
Moreover the "considered a part of the struggle against evil" argument is a slippery slope. You could use that logic to justify smiting a LG weaponsmith who sells some of his weapons to a evil despot's forces since technically the weapons are being used to foster evil ends.
There would be few if any limits on who the Paladin could smite provided the targets were even vaguely 'supportive' of some evil. So the N peasant farmer whose taxes go to support the evil Baron - smite-able. At that point, you might as well call the ability 'Smite Anything'.
Moreover the "considered a part of the struggle against evil" argument is a slippery slope. You could use that logic to justify smiting a LG weaponsmith who sells some of his weapons to a evil despot's forces since technically the weapons are being used to foster evil ends.
There would be few if any limits on who the Paladin could smite provided the targets were even vaguely 'supportive' of some evil. So the N peasant farmer whose taxes go to support the evil Baron - smite-able. At that point, you might as well call the ability 'Smite Anything'.
I considered that line to be more fluff than anything. The only useful rules information is the once per day part. The struggle against evil is fluff.