How much noise does a lightning bolt make?

[Felix]

For lightning bolts, I like the "zzzzfvvvVVD!" sound that Tesla coils make from Command and Conquer.

 

[pallandrome]

It makes the same sound as a billion volt bug zapper, set to "Guards cooking in their own juices."

 

[Nazhkandrias]

Well, as for screaming guards, it depends. If they all die instantly, then they won't even make a sound. When somebody grabs an electric fence, it doesn't really make a sound if they hold on to it, and neither do they. They've got so much juice running through their bodies that they're completely paralyzed and it's not likely that they'll open their mouths. Their mouths and their voiceboxes just can't coordinate in the event that all muscular control is lost. I've seen somebody get hit by a taser, they didn't scream until the current was stopped and the jerking around slowed down a bit. If they survive, they'll scream. If they don't, all you'll hear is a sizzle, which I wouldn't hear through a wall.

As for lightning making a noise... Thunder is caused by lightning superheating the air around it, generating a massive shockwave. Lightning Bolt calls lightning into existance from almost nothing, and it's not natural lightning, it is pure, undiluted arcane electricity. You can use a fire spell underwater to make deadly steam - under ordinary circumstances, fire wouldn't even do that - it would simply vanish. Therefore, it can be assumed that a spellcaster is working with the ELEMENTAL force of electricity, rather than the natural phenomenon. Elemental fire can be used in an airless space, since it isn't creating the chemical reaction that leads to fire, it's simply making fire, all provisions included. Hence the art of Evocation - ice in an arid environment, fire without oxygen, lightning without thunder.

 

[Nifft]

Well, as for screaming guards, it depends. If they all die instantly, then they won't even make a sound.

Depends. "Instantly" just means "within 6 seconds".

You're also forgetting about the loud popping sound.

Basically, it's a DC -10 Listen check (adjusted for circumstances, including distance), add flavor to taste.

Cheers, -- N

 

[Sound of Azure]

add flavor to taste.

Ewww.....

Not to mention the smell....

 

[Delta]

KRAKAKATHOOUM!!!!!

(Big 1980's Walt Simonson fan here.)

 

[Vegepygmy]

Exactly as much noise as a battle (DC -10 to hear it)

That's how I would rule it.

 

[1500run]

Last session the party is next to a building, at night, in the desert. 10th level caster casts lightning bolt off the side of a building. (Bank shot to get a line of bad guys) The question is how much noise does a lightning bolt make, and would bouncing it off the wall wake the inhabitants inside. Now granted it is a thick wall of 10 feet. I can't believe that it would be as loud a lighting bolt that we are all used to hearing. The lighting bolt is only 120 foot long so it's not moving as much air as the lighting bolts that we know. There is nothing in the rules about thundering noise. It is powerful enough to melt low melting point metals and catch combustibles on fire. The session ended right after this battle so I have time to send out the inhabitants of the building at the start of next session. How would you handle this?

man... what kind of building has 10' thick walls?! ease of battlemap drawing aside, c'mon! 10' thick walls?! is this a fortress? ...if it is, well, then, i'd be a little more worried about how easy the flash of light generated by the spell is to see by the inevitable guards (and their waking of the inevitable VIPs inside) than the possible noise heard through a wall thicker than the height most of us can jump.

also, i agree with the "no noise, elemental lightning" argument posed by Nazhkandrias. this is fantasy. physics has no place in this setting (though, judging by my comments, architecture does!). lightning bolt does not have a sonic descriptor listed, and given everything in the various texts, i'll say that the sound of sizzling pork is about all you'll hear. ..."lamb" instead of "pork," if this is an arabian setting (you did say desert)... maybe a little "zzziiaap." but certainly not a
KRAKAKATHOOUM!!!!!

 

[MarkB]

I was under the impression that lightning made no noise. It does however make thunder irl which can be a bit loud.

Um, thunder is the sound a (natural) lightning bolt makes. It only sounds separate from a distance because sound travels slower than light.

 

[pallandrome]

Actually, I'll throw my hat into the "no noise, elemental lightning" camp. Actuallightning bolts are damn loud. Like, shake your house loud. There is nothing in the rules to indicate that the spell causes sonic vibrations anywhere even NEAR that level.