Good undead and the detect Evil Spell

[KozanShoku]

Im joining a game as a Necropoloton Wizard and the Dm Pointed out the the Detect evil spell lists undead as Evil. how can i get rid of this so every cleric and douchbag Paladin we meet wont try to turn or smite me?



EDIT: Okay Ill try and clear this up My charater is Neutral Good BUT when detect evil is cast on ANY Undead they ping as evil because they are animated by negative energy. so while my charater isnt evil he is still subjected to being seen as such

[ATHATH]

Take a Good-Only prestige class with a low DC to know about it? Take one of the feats that pledge you to a Good power from BoED? Make it obvious that you are undead, and just avoid Clerics of Pelor?

[ericgrau]

Hang around pitpockets and other petty criminals who also ping as evil. When paladins come to smite them, turn them in for murdering a shoplifter. Trap all the ones in the city and you should be a lot safer. Seriously all this attitude about slaughtering evil guys first and asking questions later has no place outside of Saturday morning cartoons and the worst hack and slash campaigns.

But ok there are a lot of DMs and players who chase after bad stereotypes. Undetectable alignment is a 2nd level spell and it lasts 24 hours. It's not on the wizard list but it's also not self-only. Ask the party cleric or get it in item form. You could spam consumables or UMD a wand, at least when entering a city. A custom item for this is plenty reasonable and costs 6,000 gp (3*2*2000*1/2).

[Story]

Clerics and paladins shouldn't be trying to smite everyone who detects as evil anyway.

But if the DM doesn't relent on that bit, Detect Alignment is trivial to fool anyway. There are lots of spells and items that can do it.

[Crake]

Ring of Mind Shielding is your friend.

[AlanBruce]

Im joining a game as a Necropolitan Wizard and the Dm Pointed out the the Detect evil spell lists undead as Evil. how can i get rid of this so every cleric and douchebag Paladin we meet wont try to turn or smite me?

Looking at Libris Mortis, where the Necropolitan template was written, nowhere does it say that your alignment changes to Evil, so a paladin or the actual spell will not register you as Evil unless you chose to have an Evil alignment.

Granted, the fluff on Crucimigration and the Necropolitans themselves being hunted if found outside their Necropolis hints that they would detect as such, but if we look at the sample used in that book, it's a 5th level Neutral wizard.

Of course, good clerics and paladins may be compelled by their faith to smite and/or turn you. Being a wizard, you should have enough spells from class features alone to shield your appearance and, if evil, alignment.

That's before magic items come into play.

If you aren't evil and travel with good clerics, paladins or other folk who would react to your true nature by bashing your skull in or dousing you with holy water, just make sure you play along like a typical wizard- that is to say, very powerful. Powerful enough for them to receive great help.

Powerful enough for them to suffer horribly if they turn hostile on you.

And if you find a party that's accepting and fine with your undead nature and you are fighting your undead brothers further down the road of adventure, just make sure to stay away from them, in case the party cleric decides to turn them. Turn Resistance is nice, but you never know when the cleric might roll abnormally high.

[OldTrees1]

Douchbag clerics rarely cast Detect Evil before using Turn Undead. So blocking detect evil is too small a measure. I suggest instead figuring out how to get a mistakenly hostile cleric to back down for a moment. Diplomacy(especially if the DM has a fixed version) is my go to when playing an undead character. If you can't talk Durkon down from combat to a momentary ceasefire, then you are going to have lots of broken bones.

Still, avoid those pelorites. Those evil followers of the burning hate would gladly crusade all over you without even a scrap of reason for it.

[Zanos]

Looking at Libris Mortis, where the Necropolitan template was written, nowhere does it say that your alignment changes to Evil, so a paladin or the actual spell will not register you as Evil unless you chose to have an Evil alignment.
Undead always have an Evil aura as per the Detect Evil spell.

You might as your DM for a custom item of undetectable alignment (http://www.dandwiki.com/wiki/SRD:Undetectable_Alignment). Should be fairly cheap.

[LTwerewolf]

You could always be a good cleric to get a good aura. Also make sure your dm remembers that it takes 3 rounds for them to pinpoint you as the evil. Also, it doesn't say what kind of evil you are, just that you are evil. There is no indication that they should be tossing out turn undead spells. As a cleric, you would also detect as good. Regardless of your detection, unless you're actually doing something actively evil, your dm is a douchebag if he has them immediately try to kill you upon detection. That cleric or paladin is committing an evil act by trying to harm an innocent passerby.

[Necroticplague]

Human Heritage would make you Humanoid, while keeping all the benefits of being Undead. Thus, you no longer emit an Evil aura (and you can't be turned).

If that fails, have backup explanations. Claim that the lingering Evil aura is the result of a curse cast on you some time ago, or blame it on a magic item in your possession. Given how Detect Evil doesn't give you anything more specific than 'there is an evil aura of X strength in y relative direction' this is completely plausible. Remember in OOTS, what happened with Xykon's crown? Claim the same thing is happening here.


Looking at Libris Mortis, where the Necropolitan template was written, nowhere does it say that your alignment changes to Evil, so a paladin or the actual spell will not register you as Evil unless you chose to have an Evil alignment.

Yes, your alignment doesn't change to Evil. This is irrelevant. All undead ping on Detect Evil for some stupid reason, regardless of alignment.

[KillianHawkeye]

You could always be a good cleric to get a good aura. Also make sure your dm remembers that it takes 3 rounds for them to pinpoint you as the evil. Also, it doesn't say what kind of evil you are, just that you are evil. There is no indication that they should be tossing out turn undead spells. As a cleric, you would also detect as good.

Note: It probably doesn't matter if you also have a different aura, because it takes a different spell to detect that, and how many good clerics and paladins do you think ever prepare Detect Good?

My advice would be to stock up on a lot of turn resistance.

[AlanBruce]

Yes, your alignment doesn't change to Evil. This is irrelevant. All undead ping on Detect Evil for some stupid reason, regardless of alignment.

Why include undead into Detect Evil? Yes, a vast majority of undead are Evil, but a few are not, like the Necropolitan, who actually gets to choose their alignment or keep the former they had prior to Crucimigration.

And this is brought up because there is a spell that does the EXACT same thing but for undead only, and of the same level. (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/spells/detectUndead.htm)


Depending on the party's composition and how your DM runs NPCs, it may be wise, depending on starting level, to ask someone in the party you can trust to see if they can use the Disguise skill on you, on top of any illusions you can cast to improve the result.

If you are minding your own business and give no one a reason to suspect, they shouldn't be rolling Spot checks, so that could give you a measure of safety.

[Necroticplague]

Why include undead into Detect Evil? Yes, a vast majority of undead are Evil, but a few are not, like the Necropolitan, who actually gets to choose their alignment or keep the former they had prior to Crucimigration.

Um, because the rules are clear that that's the case (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/spells/detectEvil.htm)? It's stupid, but thems the breaks. Just as even a Succubus Paladin pings Detect Evil, so does any Good Undead.

[OldTrees1]

Why include undead into Detect Evil? Yes, a vast majority of undead are Evil, but a few are not, like the Necropolitan, who actually gets to choose their alignment or keep the former they had prior to Crucimigration.

Because WotC is not a trusted author for alignment content?

[LTwerewolf]

Note: It probably doesn't matter if you also have a different aura, because it takes a different spell to detect that, and how many good clerics and paladins do you think ever prepare Detect Good?

My advice would be to stock up on a lot of turn resistance.

No, but you can demand they stop breaking laws and trying to harm innocents and try to fact check before turning into murderous sociopaths. You can mention they remind you of a lich, who kills those he perceives as his enemy whether or not they have done anything wrong, and congratulate them on becoming a worse evil than the thing they claim to hate for being evil.

[OldTrees1]

No, but you can demand they stop breaking laws and trying to harm innocents and try to fact check before turning into murderous sociopaths. You can mention they remind you of a lich, who kills those he perceives as his enemy whether or not they have done anything wrong, and congratulate them on becoming a worse evil than the thing they claim to hate for being evil.

That line might even get them to pause in mid combat (especially if you avoid escalating the conflict). If nothing else it gives them something to roll Sense Motive against (use their good Wisdom score against them >:) ).

[KillianHawkeye]

No, but you can demand they stop breaking laws and trying to harm innocents and try to fact check before turning into murderous sociopaths. You can mention they remind you of a lich, who kills those he perceives as his enemy whether or not they have done anything wrong, and congratulate them on becoming a worse evil than the thing they claim to hate for being evil.

That might work with reasonable people, but if they're already attacking you on sight I sort of doubt they'd take anything you say at face value. Then again, if you want to bet your unlife on mid-combat diplomacy, don't let me stop you!

[Solidarity]

Even if he managed to gain a good aura somehow, is there anywhere in any source book that actually states it would negate his 'evil' result from detect evil?

As an addition, undead don't appear as evil strictly because of the negative energy animating them. They appear evil because they are abominations of life. Similar to how it's arguable that disgracing the restful dead is an evil act, reanimating them is as well. Undead are a more permanent state of that evil act. Negative and positive energy are inherently neutral. Talk to your DM about maybe even allowing anyone with Knowledge (Arcana) giving you some kind of edge on diplomacy rolls.