Comprehend the Corrupted

Prerequisite(s): Non-evil alignment, Wisdom 13+

You possess wisdom of such incredible & unerring acuity that you may sense the bright spark of goodness – though buried deep, dormant & perhaps long-silenced – hidden within the cold, stony heart of even the most corrupt, vile and seemingly-irredeemable of villains.

Whenever a creature within 60 feet attacks you or an ally, as a bonus action you can make a Wisdom (Insight) check, opposed by that creature’s Charisma (Deception) check.

If your check succeeds, you can determine whether the creature has the potential to be swayed to your side by your actions, by your words, by outside circumstance beyond your control, or by some combination of those factors.

Creatures that are innately evil are instantly revealed as such unless their alignment aura is disguised by magic. You also can determine if a creature is not evil but is charmed or under some type of magical influence or control, or if a creature is entirely mindless and driven only by instinctual urges.

For creatures that do not fit into any of the above categories, a successful check gives you a useful hunch or clue about the creature’s motivations in attacking you, including a misguided good-aligned creature, a lawful soldier simply following orders, a case of mistaken identity, or even a case of the creature being forced to attack under duress or blackmail. The specifics of what is learned are up to the GM, but a successful check should provide some useful insight. A failed check may mark the target as suspicious but gives relatively little information.

You must have line of sight to the creature and be able to clearly specify that creature, even if it is disguised, polymorphed, has partial concealment, or otherwise is hiding its identity. You can use this feat once per round as a free action. You also can use this feat as a bonus action to reflect on the motivations of a creature who attacked you or an ally within the past minute.

At the GM’s option, you also can use this feat to gain insight into the motivations of a creature performing other types of actions besides attacking, such as theft or breaking into a building.