Holy Smite and the first entence in the spell description.

[Gibbers]

Hi All

This good question came up in a game tonight. In Holy Smite the first sentence of the spell says:

"You draw down holy power to smite your enemies."

Does that mean the spell only affects a caster's enemies? For instance, if a CN ally of the caster was caught in the Area of Effect, would they become affected by the spell?

I am leaning towards saying no, because they are not an enemy of the caster. It seems plain to me by the first sentence that only enemies and not other party members of the caster are affected.

What do you guys think? Is there something I am missing something here?

[Malag]

When quoting spell text, it's best to quote entire description of spell. In this case:

Holy Smite:

Holy Smite

School evocation [good]; Level cleric/oracle 4, inquisitor 4; Domain glory 4, good 4
CASTING

Casting Time 1 standard action
Components V, S
EFFECT

Range medium (100 ft. + 10 ft./level)
Area 20-ft.-radius burst
Duration instantaneous (1 round); see text
Saving Throw Will partial; see text; Spell Resistance yes

[This content was created for the Pathfinder rules by Paizo Publishing LLC and is part of the Pathfinder RPG product line.]
DESCRIPTION

You draw down holy power to smite your enemies. Only evil and neutral creatures are harmed by the spell; good creatures are unaffected.

The spell deals 1d8 points of damage per two caster levels (maximum 5d8) to each evil creature in the area (or 1d6 points of damage per caster level, maximum 10d6, to an evil outsider) and causes it to become blinded for 1 round. A successful Will saving throw reduces damage to half and negates the blinded effect.

The spell deals only half damage to creatures who are neither good nor evil, and they are not blinded. Such a creature can reduce that damage by half (down to one-quarter of the roll) with a successful Will save.

First text is a fluff text. The spell simply mentions after the first sentence that it affects "creatures", meaning it will affect everyone, including yourself. A specific creature types (good aligned creatures) are unaffected by it's effect however.

Adam