I believe the new book Ultimate Intrigue provides some new good options for getting around the detect alignment spells.
Do keep in mind, if your paladin uses detect evil (and not the move action single target version) it takes multiple rounds for him to know things.
Round 1 is only "Is there evil in this cone?". Round two "How many evil auras are there and what is the strength of the strongest I detect?". Round 3 "What is the location and strength of each evil aura?".
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In games where there is a mystery how to you curtail some detect spells means of getting around it?
Well, PF isn't really the best system to run mystery adventures in. If the paladin doesn't simply try to detect evil her way out of the mystery, the cleric is likely to use augury or the wizard contact other planes or something. When half the classes seem to have "ask God for His advice" as an explicit ability, most of the time you need to run more of a hard-boiled style mystery where the first half of the adventure is simply figuring out what is the question you should ask, and the second half is dealing with the consequences of asking that question and getting an answer. So less Murder on the Cheliax Express and more The Taldane Falcon.
Having said that, if you insist on running Agatha and Dorothy instead of Raymond and Dashiell, read the spells carefully and apply the limitations to the letter. In particular, remember that most evil people do not detect as such (the detect spells generally only detect supernatural evil), that just because someone is evil doesn't make them the criminal, and that many neutral people (and even sometimes good people) will commit murder for reasons they consider justified.
"The Eyes Have It," by Randall Garrett, is a very good short story that illustrates how you can actually use this to good effect to make cozy mysteries in a magical universe. Actually, all of the stories in that series are pretty good. Details are hidden behind the spoiler:
The murder victim is found dead in a classic locked-room mystery. Among the guests at Cheesecake Manner is an actual evil sorcerer who attempted to kill the victim by foul magics the previous night, but he actually failed, because the victim was already dead. He had been killed in self defense by someone else.
Sir Lock of Holmes, the paladin who simply uses detect evil on everything, would have totally botched this mystery -- the person who detected as evil was actually innocent, and the killer was actually a good person.
Basically, divination spells only provide clues. The task of a mystery writer is to provide clues, both true clues and false clues to mislead the reader. The knowledge that Lord Falseheart of Slytherin radiates evil is simply.... a clue, as is the knowledge that Lady Penelope's handkerchief was found in Sir Playa's bedchamber. Maybe Lord Falseheart has deliberately set himself up to radiate evil so that he can discredit the party when they accuse him and he can triumphantly produce an ironclad alibi. Tune in next week for the next exciting chapter!
No one gas touched on how they have the spells (or abilities) manifest however.
Well, in my game, I don't bother, in the same way that very few people (I think Dorothy Sayers is the only one) describe exactly how the detective figured out that there was arsenic in the gravy. (The answer for most cozies is, of course, the Marsh test, but outside of forensic chemists, who gives a hamster turd?)
Clues are clues, and I don't think it adds much to verisimilitude or immersion to describe them in detail. I don't also don't describe the process of picking locks ("well, you try to rake the lock, but there's something that keeps it from working. After a few minutes, you realize that the cylinder probably uses mushroom pins, so you put the rake back in your toollkit and pull out the actual pick. The first two pins are easy, but the third... hey, why is everyone heading down to the beer fridge?") or making a campfire ("you find some pine needles that might work for tinder, but unfortunately all the dead wood you see is lying on the ground and so it's kind of dampish..... hey, why is everyone heading to the kitchen for Doritos?")
Yeah, the problem with too much detail is that likely on the person performing the action is likely to be interested in that level of detail at all.
Other people are very likely to not pay attention or go do something else.
Unfortunately it's best to avoid describing things for one character too much. But go crazy on detail that applies to everyone equally.
The hideously disfigured half-orc as he erupts through the door and surprises you all and proceeds to beat you to death with your friend can have some great description that everyone could be interested.
Describing how one picks a lock, not as much.
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This is my preference only, but I prefer the "5 Second Description," even when it doesn't necessarily involve everyone. If the player's ought to know what's going on, mechanically speaking, then work that into the description.
Paladin: I use Detect Evil on the cloaked figure.
GM
Erstwhile the Anti-Paladin sizes up the Paladin, using Detect Good.
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Make detect smells into smello-vision.
Make every general category ahve a type of scene. Lets look at schools of magic:
Enchantment: flowers, perfumes, etc.
transmutation: animal smells- musk, 'marked territories', and "presents"
Necromancy: rot, formaldehyde, dust
Conjuration: candles, incense, and other things in the 'I'm like...a witch now mom' starter pack
evocation: smoke, ozone (for electricity), etc.
Abjuration and divination- can't think of anything good right now
Good-a fresh plate of cookies made by grandma,
Evil- sulfer, blood, tears
Law- hard sweat, wet ink, a blacksmith's forge, etc.
Chaos- booze, drugs, women, etc.
Obviously, you give a more extravagant description the higher the magic level. A high level enchantment spell should smell like an entire field of roses or like a bull just made its way through a perfume shop.
I think evil people will also detect good as unpleasant things. Perhaps the antipaladin tastes good auras as a sickly sweet stench that reminds him of rot. Or maybe he hears auras as helpless voices begging for mercy.
Undetectable Alignment is a lv 1 bard spell. Wand/rod of it would be super cheap. So is Magic Aura, which works against Detect Magic.
Abjuration smells like lysol, erasers, and soap.
Divination amplifies the truth. The caster might smell the blood of everything they killed and it will burn their nose a little because the truth hurts.
Hearing abjuration is a muffled sound of strangling.
Divination gives you the distant sound of secrets trying to reveal themselves.
I like to insist that detect evil isn't an action that just involves standing around. The paladin has to present a holy symbol or, at the very least, say in a booming voice "By the powers of Goodgod The God of Goodness, evil show yourself!"
That gives the targets a chance to react. E.g., the hidden villain can hiss and threaten, the innocent falsely accused can object, the neutral can shrug... the point is to make it an RP opportunity instead of putting all the onus on the GM to describe everything. Remember, it's a collective enterprise.
Of course, if your players aren't interested in hamming up detection, then you're not going to get much traction with this approach.
I like to insist that detect evil isn't an action that just involves standing around. The paladin has to present a holy symbol or, at the very least, say in a booming voice "By the powers of Goodgod The God of Goodness, evil show yourself!"
That gives the targets a chance to react. E.g., the hidden villain can hiss and threaten, the innocent falsely accused can object, the neutral can shrug... the point is to make it an RP opportunity instead of putting all the onus on the GM to describe everything. Remember, it's a collective enterprise.
Of course, if your players aren't interested in hamming up detection, then you're not going to get much traction with this approach.
By the rules spell-like abilities don't require any of that.
Spell-Like Abilities: Usually, a spell-like ability works just like the spell of that name. A spell-like ability has no verbal, somatic, or material component, nor does it require a focus. The user activates it mentally. ...
But according to this FAQ they do have some sort of visible manifestation. I could see some flavor there: a tattoo of her holy symbol appearing on her head, her hair and/or eyes turning white, etc. That gives the NPC's a chance for a Spellcraft check. So even if the players don't want to alter the rules, there is still room for a little roleplaying.