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I am leaving detect magic/buried/poison out of this for now, but they can easily be incorporated into this.

Currently, casting detect good/evil/lawful/chaos give you a buff that makes it so you can see the respective aura wherever you go. These spells are personal and as such, can be cast using persistent spell. It can be exceedingly difficult to RP an evil character when 50% of the game runs around with detect evil on persistent spell.

My proposed change: Change the rules for these spells to the d20 rules. Specifically, that these are not a temporary buff to your character but something that you cast to reveal what's in the room with you. So if you're in a room with evil 1, evil 2, and goodie 3, you would cast 'detect evil' and see"
Or some variation of such. It would actually put some strategy into using these spells instead of having a permanent evil radar.

I'd be all for their absolute removal. I just don't feel they're used properly.

As you say, there is no reason to bring detect magic/detect buried/detect poison into this. Their functions are, in my eyes, completely different when compared to the RP impacting features of detect good/lawful/evil/chaos so their fates are not linked.

That said, I wouldn't mind good/evil/chaos/law to be quick-last effects. I admit, my priests run around with them on as much as possible... though it has more to do with them lasting extensively (even without feats), rather than some habit of casting them frequently.

I am not of the mind that they should be removed. They serve a function and a needed one at that. It is merely the method in which they are used that is questionable, not the base idea. If they merely lasted a round or two, rather than an in-game week or more, they would not be such an hinderance on RP and something evils (or neutrals) could respond to when it happens.

Athon wrote:My proposed change: Change the rules for these spells to the d20 rules.

Agreed, but only if the amount of information revealed is based on time as per the rules. Not sure how the skill level of the spell would factor in... maybe the "rounds" could be "stages" instead and the time it takes to progress from one stage to the next would be lessened as skill with the spell increases.

1st Round
You are aware whether the ethos/morality you are attempting to detect is present or not.

2nd Round
You are made aware of the number of auras of the ethos/morality that you specified that are present as well as how strong the strongest one is. If the strongest aura level is the opposite of the casters ethos/morality and is at least twice the level of the caster, the caster is stunned for 1 round and the spell ends. While stunned, the caster cannot make any actions, loses any dexterity bonuses to armor class, and attackers get a +2 bonus to attack.

3rd Round
You are able to see the actual locations of the auras and their strengths. (Meaning you can actually determine who/what is the source of the auras at this point.)

Aura Strength Formulas:

Creature* (HD/5), Undead (HD/2), Elemental (HD/2), Item/Spell (CL/2), Outsider (HD), Cleric** (ECL)

* For PCs, this would be any character that isn't a cleric. Priests included.
** Given that FK has "favor" levels, maybe this could factor in somewhere.

Plane-touched PCs might qualify for either the Elemental or Outsider conversions, but it isn't specified in the rules as far as I am aware.

Aura Strengths:

(1-) Faint, (2-4) Moderate, (5-10) Strong, (11+) Overwhelming

Unfortunately, coding limitations will make it difficult to implement it much akin to how d20 handles it. However, after some thinking, I believe this is how these spells should act:

- Detect good/evil/lawful/chaos are treated as instantaneous spells that take 3 rounds to cast
- After 3 rounds, a list of all afflicted targets (everyone in the room save those with nondetection on) in the room will appear on the caster's screen, with the appropriate aura (for example, a red aura around evil chars but no aura for anyone else)
- Nothing is said about strength and as such, the caster cannot be stunned

I feel this is a really important change to the game. Right now, detect evil can REALLY ruin evil RP, seeing as many players will just automatically shun or be cautious around the black auras they instantly see. Makes it impossible to RP as a normal character or be deceptive.

This will make casting these spells a conscious effort to discern evil while enhancing the ability for evil characters to be more deceptive. Also, this will make nondetection a useful spell.

I did not include aura strength or the stun effect from the detect spells mainly due to coding reasons.

For the record, there is already the ability to block alignment checks in the game.

I think the easiest way to get rid of misuse would be to change the duration.
This will be very easy codewise to make it force you to "look" and set the duration to a few seconds.

This way it will be an instant spell

On my evil char I have an item that grants "mind shielding" which blocks alignment detection, and I've had a lot of fun RPing him with all those "perma-detecting" good chars who for once treated me as a normal person and an equal. The difference in reaction is not blatant, but it is definitely noticeable.

Obviously not everyone has access to items like this. I think what this tells me is that detection spells being so accessible and prominent is not healthy for the game. I would be all for their nerfing and/or removal.

Ah...there IS an answer to this problem..... Play SKYRIM!!!!! hehehe...