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Message: <blockquote data-quote="KarinsDad" data-source="post: 6513267" data-attributes="member: 2011">Because the BBEG never has minions between himself and the party. He never has allies with ranged attacks to take out the PC spell caster. He is always within 30 feet of the grappling Fighter at the start of the encounter (whose init beats the BBEG's). He never throws spells right away that hinder the PCs or have allies do so. The PC actually prepped Silence this particular adventuring day, or didn't swap it out because he never got to use it as a class that doesn't prep spells and finally gave up on it. Life is always ice cream and flowers and puppy dogs for the PCs. Woo hoo! <img src="http://www.enworld.org/forum/images/smilies/laugh.png"  class="smilie" loading="lazy" alt=":lol:" title="Laughing    :lol:" data-shortname=":lol:" />Sorry, but your scenario sounds contrived and optimistically simplistic.This is what happens when people here talk about other people instead of talking about the game (like he did and you just did). If you had read the thread, you would have read that I stated that Silence could be very effective in the right circumstances (like the Fighter getting a chance to grapple). But there are a lot of hurdles to overcome for PCs, just to get to a scenario where it can be effective. Of course, if the DM sets it up for the NPCs like that poster did, he sets up the room, the NPC casters, and all of the other conditions that make it work wonderfully. At that point, it becomes a great spell for the NPCs. PCs rarely get that opportunity.Unless of course you are a DM that says "In today's adventure, you will be fighting a BBEG spell caster. Be prepared.". <img src="http://www.enworld.org/forum/images/smilies/erm.png"  class="smilie" loading="lazy" alt=":erm:" title="Erm    :erm:" data-shortname=":erm:" />And, of course, there is never a DM who thinks tactically himself and creates an intelligent BBEG that is difficult to get near. That never happens. <img src="http://www.enworld.org/forum/images/smilies/worried.png"  class="smilie" loading="lazy" alt=":-S" title="Uhm    :-S" data-shortname=":-S" />Thinking tactically? In order to get Silence to work, it's more like thinking strategically. The PCs have to be able to control the situation and in the chaos of combat, that is not always the case. So the PCs need to bring multiple lock down options to the table like Entangle and/or Web and/or grappling. In order to get a high probability of success, they need more than one way to lock down the BBEG because one method might not work (i.e. the fighter cannot get close enough, or the caster of Web gets hit and it fizzles). And if the BBEG is not locked down, he merely moves out of the area of Silence or an ally of his hits the spell caster with a damaging attack, and the "tactic" can fail.Silence has great potential. It just needs a few fiddly bits working perfectly in order for it to work and it is easy to "dispel" or walk out of. And there is a difference between potential and reality at the gaming table. When it works, it can work great. The problem is in getting it to work. There are sometimes too many factors that are often uncontrollable. Unless, of course, you are the DM and you have your NPCs spamming the spell in a small area against the PCs. <img src="http://www.enworld.org/forum/images/smilies/laugh.png"  class="smilie" loading="lazy" alt=":lol:" title="Laughing    :lol:" data-shortname=":lol:" /></blockquote>

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