School: Divination
Level: 1
Casting Time: 1 standard action
Component: V, S, DF
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 the selected alignment. The amount of information revealed depends on how long you study a particular area or subject.
1st Round: Presence or absence of the alignment.
2nd Round: Number of auras (creatures, objects, or spells) in the area that match the alignment and the power of the most potent aura of that alignment present.
If you are diametrically opposed to the alignment, and the strongest 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.
Aura Power: An aura's power depends on the type of creature or object that you're detecting and its HD, caster level, or (in the case of a divine caster) class level; see the table below. If an aura falls into more than one strength category, the spell indicates the stronger of the two.
Lingering Aura: An 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 alignment 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:
| Original Strength | Duration of Lingering Aura |
|---|---|
| Faint | 1d6 rounds |
| Moderate | 1d6 minutes |
| Strong | 1d6 × 10 minutes |
| Overwhelming | 1d6 days |
Animals, traps, poisons, and other potential perils do not have an alignment, and as such this spell does not detect them. Creatures with active intents of the target alignment count as creatures of that alignment for the purpose of this spell.
Each round, you can turn to detect alignment 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.
Detect Alignment
| Creature/Object | Aura Power | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| None | Faint | Moderate | Strong | Overwhelming | |
| Aligned creature1 (HD) | 4 or lower | 5–10 | 11–25 | 26–50 | 51 or higher |
| Aligned Undead (HD) | — | 2 or lower | 3–8 | 9–20 | 21 or higher |
| Aligned outsider (HD) | — | 1 or lower | 2–4 | 5–10 | 11 or higher |
| divine casters of an aligned deity2 (class levels) | — | 1 | 2–4 | 5–10 | 11 or higher |
| Aligned magic item or spell (caster level) | 5th or lower | 6th–10th | 11th–15th | 16th–20th | 21st or higher |
| 1 Except for undead and outsiders, which have their own entries on the table. 2 Some characters who are not clerics may radiate an aura of equivalent power. The class description will indicate whether this applies. |
|||||