In my 3.5 game I have been ruling that detect evil does not detect just any creature of evil alignment, it only detects creatures with a evil aura or the evil subtype. And recently have had this questioned by the paladin in my group and for now we are doing things my way, I am the DM after all.
But I am wondering if I am wrong or right by RAW. So far my only real proof is that if detect evil detects any creature that is evil, then why do they need to worry about auras of evil clerics.
Does anyone know if there is an errata on detect evil or any other official source that better explains the spell.
In 3.5, any evil creature has at least a faint evil aura.
Many would houserule this so that not every single evil-aligned commoner would show up, but only those with evil intent or with a history of evil actions. The Pathfinder RPG version of Detect Evil requires at least 5 HD to show up as faint on Detect Evil.
Cheap and fun item. Amulet of Undetectable Alignment with a permanent (Nystul's) Magical Aura so it does not detect as being magical. Throw the good guys for a loop.
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I Houserule it the same way as you, Andrew, but I've come to add a "bad" Alignment.
The Paladin casts detect evil on the NPC merchant the PCs are negotiating with and gets "Well, he's certainly a bad guy -- don't leave your purse lying around; don't trust everything he says -- but he's not Aligned (capital A) with an Evil Outsider."
This way, the PCs know he's not to be trusted too far but they also know they can't kill him. That's murder.
This works really well with "named" goblins, orcs and other humanoids that are NPCs. They detect as "bad" but not Evil. So the PCs can't kill them in the market (or follow them into an alley). Thus I can have a goblin be an NPC, even a "bad" NPC that won't turn into a combat.
I tend to be more generous then the spell specifies. I'll give them shadings as it were. Tell them the person leans this way or that. I've never had a Palladin that abused it too badly.
In my 3.5 game I have been ruling that detect evil does not detect just any creature of evil alignment, it only detects creatures with a evil aura or the evil subtype. And recently have had this questioned by the paladin in my group and for now we are doing things my way, I am the DM after all.
But I am wondering if I am wrong or right by RAW.
By the RAW you are incorrect.
So far my only real proof is that if detect evil detects any creature that is evil, then why do they need to worry about auras of evil clerics.
The aura of evil clerics is to point out they have a stronger aura than a normal evil character of their level.
Creature.........Faint....Moderate....Strong....Overwhelming
Evil creature....<=10.....11-25.......26-50.....>=51
Evil cleric...........1...........2-4..........5-10.........>=11
So an 11th level evil fighter only has a moderate evil aura, while an 11th level evil cleric has an overwhelming evil aura.