Casting underwater

[Palagast]

Hi all,

I'm wondering about the possibilities of casting spells with a verbal while you're underwater (we'll leave the the possibility of fumbling wet spellcomponents outside of this for now).
To quote the SRD: "To cast a spell, you must be able to speak".
While the incantation might be able to be made, it certainly wouldn't be heard right for people around you, but does that matter for the spell?

If it's impossible as a normal, say, human, how about underwater races like Kuo-Toa of Merfolk for example? Can they speak underwater anyway?

Thanks!

 

[DrunkonDuty]

I'd say if you can breathe underwater you can talk. At least enough to cast spells. If you can't breathe, no. You'd choke as you tried to speak. Or gargle. Or just generally be muffled.

How do underwater critters speak? Depends on the critter. DOn't whales have some sort of echo chamber in their heads? All sorts of Monster Ecology articles and books on the sea critters, I like the 2e Sahuagin one.

 

[Infiniti2000]

Can you "speak in a strong voice" underwater? That is the question. There are, unfortunately, no guidelines of what that means underwater.

I don't think breathing has anything to do with it because you expel breath when talking. Maybe it would reduce the amount of time you have (because you use precious breath), but it wouldn't affect the casting IMO.

 

[shilsen]

The DMG section on aquatic adventures (pg. 92) lists no problem about casting underwater, and I personally prefer not to add any.

 

[Bagpuss]

I generally allow casting underwater with no problems if you have water breathing, or a non verbal spell. If you don't then I make it a DC10 Concentration check of spells of single action or less casting time, and DC 20 for a full round action spell or longer (although much longer an you are likely to drown), each round you spend casting a spell reduces the amount of time you can hold your breath 2 rounds.

If you want to be really mean introduce a similar rule for somatic components, negated by Freedom of Movement.

 

[cheshire_grin]

Has nobody in this thread ever ducked under the surface of a swimming pool and yelled?

It's not hard. Even a full-round action only takes 6 seconds; I can speak loudly underwater that long easily, and I'm hardly a trained wizard. I think the idea that 1 round of casting or speaking reduces the time you can hold your breath by 2 rounds is fine (you are after all expelling breath), but anything more seems kind of over the top.

 

[Dargon]

I would say the question is more relevant for somatic components.
I don't se a problem with verbal but I would rule a consentration or down right spell penalty for somatic, if you don't have a swim speed.

some movements in water is much more difficult then on land

 

[Delta]

If it's impossible as a normal, say, human, how about underwater races like Kuo-Toa of Merfolk for example? Can they speak underwater anyway?

All the rules for modifications to underwater combat are in the DMG (or here: http://www.d20srd.org/srd/wilderness.htm#underwaterCombat ).

There is no limitation to casting spells underwater, other than for fire spells.

 

[Pinotage]

Per the rules, I don't believe there is any limitation on casting spells with verbal components underwater. If you want, you can always force a Spellcraft check (DC 15 + Spell Level) to make sure you pronounce the words correctly. You could also force an (additional) Concentration check if the character is trying to cast while without some means of water breathing.

Pinotage

 

[Kmart Kommando]

Exerting yourself uses double the air. So spell casting uses double air, so does fighting, swimming hard, etc. It's too late to go searching for the page number though..