Detect Evil Might Hurt Campaign


Homebrew and House Rules


Hello. I am about to run a pathfinder game using an older module from the another game setting. I know my players very well and know that one is about to play a paladin. Paladins "detect evil" I feel is going to ruin any chance of suprise in the game, and be used like a HUD evil bad guy radar, especially when it comes time for a chapter where dopplegangers are switching with NPC's to take over the town. I don't want to nerf/cheat against my players as they have been playing with me for nearly 20 years now and they would see right through it. Any suggestions?

The Exchange

-have a plan B (some other monster that appears due to summoning or something)
-make the creatures not be evil, instead, neutral, and with a capricious will, or, maybe, mercenary

Also, what level are your players?


The players are level 5. I like the idea of making the creatures neutral,however, the whole murdering people and replacing them is sort of an act of evil, the whole invasion of body snatchers thing. Not to mention their master is a demon, but I think I find a way to work them being mindless drones simply following instructions.


There are limitations to it.
1. Beings with less than 6hd wont ping unless outsiders, clerics or similar.
2. It may not be socially acceptable to go around staring down people.
3. People can be evil without doing anything illegal and without being acceotable to attack.

Contributor

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I'd make it a little more complicated and fun for the adventurers.

What if, for example, the doppelganger is neutral but replaces someone evil?

Think of oh, say, Mr. Potter from "It's a Wonderful Life," the LE or NE banker. Have him cackle as he forecloses on widows and orphans and there's not a thing the paladin can do about it because all his wickedness is completely legal.

Then one day he has a change of heart, or at least isn't detecting as evil like before. While not becoming quite Scrooge after his conversion, he's not as generally rotten as before and seems wanting to just blow through his money and have a grand old time.

Heck, if your CN doppelganger doesn't want to kill the evil old SOB, just give the doppelganger an item that does Baleful Polymorph, have him turn Mr. Potter into a chicken, then give him to one of those poor widows rather than foreclosing on her.

Let there be some evil doppelgangers too, but make it so that they're presented more as a traveling band of grifters, some of whom are murderers, but not all of them.


Another possibility is the Undetectable Alignment spell. If I were an evil person trying to sneak around a place where I knew there might be Paladin's, I'd look into getting it cast on me somehow.

The Exchange

Chengar Qordath wrote:
Another possibility is the Undetectable Alignment spell. If I were an evil person trying to sneak around a place where I knew there might be Paladin's, I'd look into getting it cast on me somehow.

I like this idea! Why couldn't the Dopplegangers have a caster allied that can summon such a thing?


There could also be a bunch of evil people around. Make like 5 evil NPCs that have nothing to do with anything.


cranewings wrote:
There could also be a bunch of evil people around. Make like 5 evil NPCs that have nothing to do with anything.

Such an old lady that seems so nice and kind, but who quite intentionally mixes in huge amounts of garlic and old eggs in the chocolate cookies she gives the adventures, and then have fun seeing them trying to not throw up.


Korpen wrote:
cranewings wrote:
There could also be a bunch of evil people around. Make like 5 evil NPCs that have nothing to do with anything.
Such an old lady that seems so nice and kind, but who quite intentionally mixes in huge amounts of garlic and old eggs in the chocolate cookies she gives the adventures, and then have fun seeing them trying to not throw up.

Side note, the one of the worst butt-kickings I served a PC group was through poison food. They were investigating a blood mage cult in an L5R / PF game. The village they are in throws a feast and so the party eats with all the adventurers. Well, the demon they were hunting for poisoned all of the food and made everyone on both sides sick, save for him and the vampire. So the party is Nauseated, which is a BAD condition, and decides to retreat. They got half way wrecked by the CR = APL encounter with the creatures that followed, and the bad guys still got away.

Sovereign Court

50GP potions of Undetectable Alignment. Problem solved.


cranewings wrote:
There could also be a bunch of evil people around. Make like 5 evil NPCs that have nothing to do with anything.

That's a good suggestion too; I did that once in a campaign where the party was trying to find a couple spies within an army. Suffice to say that after going through several soldiers that after their first attempt at relying on Detect Evil to do their work for them revealed a couple soldiers who just liked killing, the party figured out that DE wasn't going to fix everything.


I'm allergic to cigarette smoke, so smokers would be delectably evil.
If you make all politicians and lawyers evil, the PCs are not going to be able to pick enemies out of a crowd.

New cursed item, amulet of undetectable alignment, but it changes the wearer's alignment to that of anyone who tries to detect their alignment. :)


A friend of mine made it that detect evil gave the character headaches or pass out due to how powerful the creature, location, or item was.

The Exchange

Spyder25 wrote:
A friend of mine made it that detect evil gave the character headaches or pass out due to how powerful the creature, location, or item was.

Most people don't actually read what the spell does. If the person who is detecting evil is confronted by something considerably evil, they are stunned for a while.


Spyder25 wrote:
A friend of mine made it that detect evil gave the character headaches or pass out due to how powerful the creature, location, or item was.

That's actually in the rules for Detect Evil:

"If you are of good alignment, and the strongest evil aura’s power is overwhelming (see below), and the HD or level of the aura’s source is at least twice your character level, you are stunned for 1 round and the spell ends."

Keeping that part of the rules in mind is another way to prevent people from spamming Detect Evil.


I guess you should tell them up front that Wyverns using their poison or waiting in ambush do not radiate evil.


For bonus fun, use [url=http://www.d20pfsrd.com/magic/all-spells/m/misdirection]misdirection[url]. The doppelganger can have both this and undetectable alignment up.

When the doppelganger approaches the party he casts misdirection targeting the paladin. That way if the party gets crafty and starts doing detect good as well,the party will discover that he is in fact Lawful Good.

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