Litany of Righteousness & Aura


Rules Questions

Shadow Lodge

1 person marked this as FAQ candidate.

I'm trying to figure out what determines an aura, say for the purpose of the Litany of Righteousness spell. It says this: If the target is evil, it takes double damage from attacks made by creatures with a good aura (from a class feature or as a creature with the good subtype).

The Detect Evil Spell says that an Aligned Creature level 5-10 has a Faint Aura, while an Aligned Outsider of 1 or lower has a Faint Aura. Then looking at Aasimar it says they have the Outsider Type and Native subtype. Does that mean a Good Aasimar character has a Faint Aura and a Good PC level 5-10 does also?


No, only outsiders with the Good subtype have a Good Aura.


mplindustries wrote:
No, only outsiders with the Good subtype have a Good Aura.

Don't forget Paladins and properly aligned Clerics

Silver Crusade

mplindustries wrote:
No, only outsiders with the Good subtype have a Good Aura.

The wording of the Detect Evil spell disagrees with you. In my opinion the OP is correct based on a strict RAW reading of the spell.


A Ninja wrote:
mplindustries wrote:
No, only outsiders with the Good subtype have a Good Aura.
Don't forget Paladins and properly aligned Clerics

Well, yeah, and there's a spell that gives someone a Good Aura, too, which is useful for setting up novas.

Bigdaddyjug wrote:
The wording of the Detect Evil spell disagrees with you. In my opinion the OP is correct based on a strict RAW reading of the spell.

No, because by that logic, any Good creature of 5+ HD would qualify, and we know that is not the case.

A faint aura of good or whatever in the context of Detect Good is not the same as a Good Aura--that is something very specific.

Shadow Lodge

mplindustries wrote:
Bigdaddyjug wrote:
The wording of the Detect Evil spell disagrees with you. In my opinion the OP is correct based on a strict RAW reading of the spell.

No, because by that logic, any Good creature of 5+ HD would qualify, and we know that is not the case.

A faint aura of good or whatever in the context of Detect Good is not the same as a Good Aura--that is something very specific.

But that IS the case. The Detect Evil spell specifically says "Aligned Creature" and "Aligned Outsider". It has no mention of subtypes anywhere in the spell description. By your logic, hardly anything evil will have an aura since most evil beings are evil by alignment, not subtype.

Also, I don't think the OP is talking about specific auras such as that of a Paladin. I think he just means auras in general for the purpose of the spell.

Shadow Lodge

OK, I just re-read the OPs initial question. He actually has 2 questions in one. Detect Evil works on alignment, however, for the purposes of the Litany, "good aura" is defined as that specifically from a paladin type are subtype but it can be ANY evil creature. So you can detect evil on an evil aligned creature and then use the litany IF you have a good aura as defined by the spell (usually Paladin, Cleric and I think Inquisitor).


3 people marked this as a favorite.

Stupidly,

INQUISITORS do not get an Aura. The spell is useless for them.


anthonydido wrote:
OK, I just re-read the OPs initial question. He actually has 2 questions in one. Detect Evil works on alignment, however, for the purposes of the Litany, "good aura" is defined as that specifically from a paladin type are subtype but it can be ANY evil creature. So you can detect evil on an evil aligned creature and then use the litany IF you have a good aura as defined by the spell (usually Paladin, Cleric and I think Inquisitor).

Right, but the question was never about the evil creature, it was about what counted as having a Good Aura. The answer is:

1) Classes that specifically say they have one (i.e. Cleric and Paladin)
2) Races that have the Good subtype

Shadow Lodge

mplindustries wrote:
anthonydido wrote:
OK, I just re-read the OPs initial question. He actually has 2 questions in one. Detect Evil works on alignment, however, for the purposes of the Litany, "good aura" is defined as that specifically from a paladin type are subtype but it can be ANY evil creature. So you can detect evil on an evil aligned creature and then use the litany IF you have a good aura as defined by the spell (usually Paladin, Cleric and I think Inquisitor).

Right, but the question was never about the evil creature, it was about what counted as having a Good Aura. The answer is:

1) Classes that specifically say they have one (i.e. Cleric and Paladin)
2) Races that have the Good subtype

Yeah, I realized that right after my first post, lol. Hence my correction post thereafter.

Shadow Lodge

Ok, that's pretty much what I thought (Good Aura Class Feature, Good Subtype). Reading the Detect Evil confused me with their whole Aura thing. Thanks!

Community / Forums / Pathfinder / Pathfinder First Edition / Rules Questions / Litany of Righteousness & Aura All Messageboards

Want to post a reply? Sign in.