Invisibility - what point during an attack do you become visible?

[Thurbane]

No. The spell must have been completed for the attack to occur, and the attack must have already occurred for the invisibility to end. Otherwise, rogues would not be able to use invisibility to set up sneak attacks, since they would become visible before completing the attack.

Excellent point, that settles it for me.

As others have said, the wizard would have become visible after finishing the casting of her spell.

However, based on the described readied actions for the enemies, they should have taken their shots at the invisible caster (and either fully missing if they had no clue where she was, or with the 50% miss chance if they made a reactionary spot check versus DC 20+ to notice where she was).

Why would they have shot at the invisible caster? Unless they made a listen check (pretty unlikely given the range, and general mayhem of the battle), they wouldn't have even known someone was casting until she appeared. And I would consider it pretty unfair to force someone to take a blind shot simply because they didn't specify "I ready an action to shoot at anyone visibly spellcasting". Likewise, if they heard someone spellcasting behind a closed door I wouldn't expect them to unload bolts into said door.

 

[Legildur]

IF they readied crossbowman recognised the words as spellcasting, then I agree with Jhulae.

From the SRD:

Verbal (V)
A verbal component is a spoken incantation. To provide a verbal component, you must be able to speak in a strong voice.

and

Listen DCs

Listen DC Sound
-10 A battle
0 People talking1

1 If you beat the DC by 10 or more, you can make out what’s being said, assuming that you understand the language.

So, let's assume that speaking in a strong voice is equivalent to battle, and then increase by 10 to understand the words, we have a base DC 0 Listen check (modified for distance, of course).

IIRC, in order to pinpoint the square, you'd need to make a DC some 20 points higher, or DC 20 Listen check (modified for distance). Then the 50% miss chance would still apply.

Of course, they could just pick a random square

 

[Klaus]

A situation arose in last night’s play I am a little unclear on:

The party wizard, who was invisible, cast an attacking spell (magic missile) which rendered her visible. Two of the enemy had readied an action, to fire crossbows against anyone casting a spell.

The question is this: since the wizard only became visible on casting the magic missile, do the crossbow shots still hit quickly enough to have a chance of disrupting the spell?

Not only do the bolts not disrupt the casting, the crossbowmen can't even take their readied action. They didn't see someone casting a spell, they saw some dude in robes appearing out of nowhere. That would've caught them by surprise.

Now, if the readied action were "If I hear anyone speaking something I can't comprehend, I shoot in that direction", then he MIGHT have a chance of disrupting the spell (assuming he made a Listen check). Even so, he'd still have to choose a square in the appropriate direction and suffer a miss chance.

There's a feat that allows something like this to happen easier: Hear The Unseen (CAdv). It allows detecting invisible creatures with Listen instead of Spot.

 

[Darklone]

I'm with Legildur and Jhulae. They readied upon spellcasting, there's nothing that makes them miss the spellcasting... they just lack a target and have a difficult time where to shoot. Now IF they manage somehow to score a hit (picking a square and succeeding the 50% miss chance ... things like these happen), then the mage would have to roll his concentration check. And become visible afterwards.

Edit: This assumes they knew the wiz was there, invisible but closeby... otherwise he'd get his surprise action and would enter combat afterwards.

 

[Thurbane]

Seems odd to me that a ready action could be so restrictive...I mean, if I ready an action "to shoot at any spellcaster", do I then have to shoot a party member because I didn't specify "enemy spellcaster"? Even if they did hear the spellcasting (which, BTW, I am assuming they did not), I dont think their readied action should tie them into shooting at an unseen opponent.

Is the readied action rule really so hard and fast that you have to carry out your readied action to the letter despite any unforseen circumstances? If I ready an action "to shoot at the next creature to cast a spell" and an avatar of my chosen god suddenly materializes and starts casting, do I have to shoot at him? :\

 

[Mistwell]

Seems odd to me that a ready action could be so restrictive...I mean, if I ready an action "to shoot at any spellcaster", do I then have to shoot a party member because I didn't specify "enemy spellcaster"? Even if they did hear the spellcasting (which, BTW, I am assuming they did not), I dont think their readied action should tie them into shooting at an unseen opponent.

Is the readied action rule really so hard and fast that you have to carry out your readied action to the letter despite any unforseen circumstances? If I ready an action "to shoot at the next creature to cast a spell" and an avatar of my chosen god suddenly materializes and starts casting, do I have to shoot at him? :\

I agree, the readied action is not usually so hard and fast in the games we play. It's more of an expression of general intent to attack an enemy under generalized conditions. The specifics can mold to fit the situation that actually comes up.

 

[Dross]

Seems odd to me that a ready action could be so restrictive...I mean, if I ready an action "to shoot at any spellcaster", do I then have to shoot a party member because I didn't specify "enemy spellcaster"? Even if they did hear the spellcasting (which, BTW, I am assuming they did not), I dont think their readied action should tie them into shooting at an unseen opponent.

Is the readied action rule really so hard and fast that you have to carry out your readied action to the letter despite any unforseen circumstances? If I ready an action "to shoot at the next creature to cast a spell" and an avatar of my chosen god suddenly materializes and starts casting, do I have to shoot at him? :\

Well, you have a choice NOT to use the ready action, and i believe still have it for later in the round.

By RAW you need to be fairly specific in your ready action statement. In reality it will depend on the group. I generally wouldn't need the word 'enemy' in a ready action for instance (some cases I would). I'd also allow hearing the spellcaster, but would only say "you hear a voice from someone you can't see" and let them make the spellcaster assumption (spellcraft check aside).