Masking Alignment and Alignment based damage

[Quintain]

What happens if you have an ability that effectively changes your alignment to something other than your normal alignment (even radically opposite) and you get attacked with something who's damage is based upon your alignment.

Example: Holy Smite vs Chaotic Evil that Mask of Virtue has Damnation feats that change alignment to good or neutral?

Moreover, is the damage being done known to the caster -- as in which level of damage applies to the target -- does it indirectly reveal the damnation feat holder's alignment?

[LordKailas]

In reading over the feat my inclination is that the feat will not prevent the normal damage or effects of the spell.

As DM I would rule that the possessor of the feat gets a free bluff check to conceal the damage or effect.

In a combat situation I think the caster would have to make a perception check to notice it injured the "friendly" in the first place. Then they would have to make a healing check to notice how badly wounded they were by the spell. If the cleric isn't the one that cast the spell then they would also need a spell craft check to recognize the holy smite and exceed the dc by a large enough margin that they can gauge how powerfully it was cast.

So, you're probably looking at a minimum of 2 successful skill checks, possibly more for the damage to go noticed and that's without the benefit of the feat.

[Ring_of_Gyges]

It is unclear by RAW.

There is a sense in which Holy Smite is a very enthusiastic Detect Evil spell, but I would be reluctant to read Mask of Virtue that broadly. I read Mask of Virtue to work against the various Detect Alignment spells and not much more. For example, if you were invisible and stabbing puppies then See Invisibility would (from a certain point of view) be a spell that would reveal your alignment, but not within the scope of Mask of Virtue.

I don't have Champions of Corruption, so I can't say what the in character rationale for the feat is, but the rules you linked to see clearly supernatural, so anything goes. I would be reluctant to create an incentive to take the feat for combat purposes. If it blocks Holy Smite a perfectly out in the open Demon might want it not to fool inquisitors, but to avoid damage while openly fighting Paladins. That seems like not the intention of the feat.

[Quintain]

Ring_of_Gyges:

I'm not talking about blocking holy smite or any of the holy effects that enhance damage against evil characters, but I think like LordKailas mentioned, not revealing what damage was applied -- since the damage changes and revealing this would indirectly reveal the alignment of the target.

Interestingly enough, Mask of Virtue, at it's most powerful, allows for the use of alignment restricted (aka Holy) weapons, and prevents the negative effects of doing so.

It is ambiguous by raw. I like the bluff idea.

[2bz2p]

I once had a situation where a NE rouge using Undetectable Alignment was working with a party of goods when one of them set off a Holy Smite (from a scroll) in battle. The player argued the spell should not affect him because of the Undetectable Alignment, but when I pointed out that spell clearly only works against divinations, the table argument quickly switched to "does anyone else in the party notice the rouge wincing in pain". At the time I ruled a Perception against a DC15 would notice, especially since the rouge was not anticipating the Holy Smite, but in reading LordKailas reply, I now think a modified bluff (-4) vs sense motive should have been allowed to the rouge.

[Quintain]

Yeah, while there isn't really a RAW way of accomplishing this, I think a bluff or perception check might be in order to see determine if the defender is able to hide it.