Revised Spells

This section goes slightly against site policy as it lists the full text of spells. On the whole, however, these spells cannot be found in any officially published source or if they can I have changed them to such an extent a complete rewrite was necessary. Spells that appear in this section fall into one of the following categories:

• Existing third edition spells that I have completely overhauled to fit in with my House Rules.
• Existing third edition spells that I have updated to version 3.5.
• Second edition spells I have converted into the third edition game.

As and when officially published versions of spells from categories two and three find their way into print, I will remove my version of the text from this site. In the meantime, please sit back and enjoy this trawl through spell-land.

Detect Evil

Divination
Level: Clr 1
Components: V, S, DF
Casting Time: 1 standard action
Range: 60 ft.
Area: Cone-shaped emanation
Duration: Concentration, up to 10 min./ level (D)
Saving Throw: None
Spell Resistance: No

You can sense the presence of evil. The amount of information revealed depends on how long you study a particular area or subject and how strongly that area or subject is aligned to evil. Very weakly aligned creatures may not be revealed at all, even if they are slightly evil. You discover the following information:

1st Round: Presence or absence of evil.
2nd Round: Number of evil auras (creatures, objects, or spells) in the area and the power of the most potent evil aura present. If you are of good alignment, and the strongest evil aura's power is overwhelming (see below), and the HD or level of the aura's source is at least twice your character level, you are stunned for 1 round and the spell ends.
3rd Round: The power and location of each aura. If an aura is outside your line of sight, then you discern its direction but not its exact location.

An evil aura's power is dependent upon how closely aligned that source of that aura is to the tenets of true Evil. In game terms this is often measured by the source's hit dice, caster level, class level or even type. However it is also dependent upon the deeds of a subject. A fifteenth level orc has lived a brutal life and in that time done some questionable things. He is not the sort of person you would like to ask around to Christmas dinner. Is he evil? Although it might be fair to say that he is more evil than a benign publican he is probably not evil enough for this spell to detect him. The GM has the discretion to declare a subject is not evil regardless of his level or alignment. Some creatures such as demons and the undead will almost always detect as evil. See the section on Alignment for more information on this.

The following table lists probable game mechanics that will flag up a character as evil. They are only to be taken as a guide. If an aura falls into more than one strength category, the spell indicates the stronger of the two:

The term "evil creature" applies to any being or any type except the undead and outsiders. Other character classes that are not clerics may radiate an aura of equivalent power. The class description will indicate whether this applies.

An evil aura lingers after its original source dissipates (in the case of a spell) or is destroyed (in the case of a creature or magic item). If detect evil is cast and directed at such a location, the spell indicates an aura strength of dim (even weaker than a faint aura). How long the aura lingers at this dim level depends on its original power:

Animals, traps, poisons, and other potential perils are not evil, and as such this spell does not detect them. Each round, you can turn to detect evil in a new area. The spell can penetrate barriers, but 1 foot of stone, 1 inch of common metal, a thin sheet of lead, or 3 feet of wood or dirt blocks it.

Note: This is a revised version of the spell that appears on p218 of the Player's Handbook. It was modified to fit in with my house rules concerned Alignment. The spells detect chaos, detect good and detect law also now function in a similar fashion.