Invisibility... how do you handle it ?

[Rashak Mani]

I havent been exactly super happy with some rulings regarding invisibility. After all for most run of the mill PCs an invisible foe is quite a challenge... but with PCs with high spot and/or listen it shouldnt be this hard dealing with invisibility.

One thing especially irks me is passive detection. Your just eating something calmly and then you feel some strange noise nearby... I feel passive listen and spot checks should be the norm but many DMs only do them when the player says he is paying attention !

Do you guys use the Spot DC 20 to know where an invisble foe is ? Do you allow for Listen checks as well ? What about guessing where the enemy is...? Is it that hard to detect where a guy might be ? Shouldnt be that hard to just swing a sword thru several "squares" where the invisible guy can be.

 

[Dimwhit]

We use passive spot and listen checks to know if there is an inivisible foe within range (30ft I think). DC20 for that. You have to allow for those. But that doesn't do a great deal. It's a much higher DC to pinpoint, which is what they have to do. If they want to try to guess a location, they're more than willing. If they guess right, there's still a 50% miss change. (Except for many area spells.)

But invisibile foes are supposed to be very tough for even high level characters. But if PC's get burned enough times, they'll start preparing for it.

 

[shilsen]

I allow passive checks. All it does is let you know someone or something is out there. Pinpointing is a different matter altogether. Check the DMG, pg. 78 for details. Actually I really like the 3e mechanics for invisible creatures. The spot/listen mechanic gives non-spellcasting characters a chance, without really making it easy for them, since the 50% miss chance still kicks in.

 

[WattsHumphrey]

Whenever possible, I try to roll d20's at inappropriate moments. The party walks into an unknown area? roll some d20s. Make it look good. Then, if there happens to be something they should notice, I know if they have or not. If there isn't anything to hear or see, they don't get the OOC idea that there's something there to be found.

DC20's enough IMC to know there's something amiss, but I try to be as vague as possible with an actual description of where something is. I mean, DC20's not enough to pinpoint the something, just realize that something illusory may be there.

Generally if an invisible something is beginning a combat, I'll just roll initiative... it moves on its initiative, and nobody before that knows what's going on... and the people after that might not know either, depending

 

[Rashak Mani]

But for example when an invisible mage fires off magic missiles or a fireball... it should be easier to point the general area he is in than if he is just running around...

What about AOOs ? An invisible guy passing thru should be subject to AOOs ?

 

[Storminator]

I let people know where the attack came from automatically. That's why invisible people usually attack, then move.

And I only allow AoO if your spot check pinpoints the invisible guy. I.e. you beat the DC40.

PS

 

[Hypersmurf]

What about AOOs ? An invisible guy passing thru should be subject to AOOs ?

Ooh, this should be fun...

-Hyp.

 

[Technik4]

"A spot check result of greater than 20 can generally let you become aware of an invisible creature near you (though you can't actually see it)."

So, an invisible creature is 100 feet away, does a simple DC 20 and a character "paying attention" in that direction see it? No.

"Per 10 feet of distance -1 penalty"

So an invisible creature 100 feet away has a spot DC of 30. A creature 30 feat away has a spot DC of 23. If you aren't a ranger, bard, or a rogue, dont plan on spotting invisible creatures unless theyre right up next to you.

Oh, and if you happen to miss your first spot chance "As a full-round action, you may attempt to spot something that you failed to spot previously."

Its all in the phb, page 74.

Technik

 

[Emerald]

Would blind-fighting give you an edge in spotting an invisible creature that is near?

 

[Hypersmurf]

Would blind-fighting give you an edge in spotting an invisible creature that is near?

No. It lets you retain your Dex bonus and reroll your miss chance, but you still need to figure out which square they're in like everybody else.

-Hyp.