D&D 5E See Invisibility: awareness of Invisibility

[Cyan Wisp]

Hi, community, I would like to see how See Invisibility works for you regarding knowing that something is invisible.

The Situation: My bard has See Invis running and we encounter a wizard cabal. My companions don't see the skulking invisible mage by the statue, but I do.

My immediate reaction is to warn them about the invisible guy... but then I begin to ponder: why would I? As far as I'm concerned, the mage is not invisible, so is not worthy of any suspicion! So, unless the party swaps notes quickly and I describe the position of each wizard I see -

Bard: "Five wizards, huh. Must be a convention or something."
Rest of Party: "Five???"

- the rest of the party won't benefit from my (unknowing) knowledge until they confirm which one they can't see by cross-checking.

How would it work at your table?

 

[MarkB]

See invisibility is pretty clear that you see invisible things "as if they were visible", so it doesn't seem like you'd get any direct indication that the person you were looking at was invisible.

However, note that invisibility alone doesn't make a person hidden under D&D 5e rules. In order to actually be undetected by those around them, they must make a successful Stealth check. That means the invisible character won't just be wandering around casually - they'll be trying to keep exceptionally still and quiet, something that your character might pick up on through active or even passive Insight.

After a minute or so of observation, you might also pick up other cues - other characters are paying no attention at all to this figure, he's the only one not participating in the conversation, maybe someone almost walks into him by accident.

My go-to as DM would be the Insight skill.

 

[billd91]

One of the main points of See Invisibility is to foil the invisibility spell - I'm not going to let it then deceive the caster on whether something is invisible or not. That seems pretty cheesy on a DM's part.

 

[prabe]

It's probably cheesy DMing, I agree, but the text of the spell does say "as if they were visible," so it's hard to justify much of an effect. It's probably worth talking to your DM about before the next time it comes up. I think I'd say you can tell the difference, at least most of the time, but it hasn't come up in my campaigns, that I remember.

 

[MarkB]

Thinking about it, there might be some reasonably obvious visual effects on the invisible creature, since it doesn't technically interact with any ambient light. For a start, they'll cast no shadow. To go further, perhaps they would have a curious uniformity of illumination to their features, no part of them appearing to be especially well illuminated or in shadow. A particularly bright point of illumination, such as a lantern, might be visible shining through their body if they were in front of it.

 

[Todd Roybark]

See Invisibility is intended to be paired with obsessive casting of the Detect Magic spell.

You would see the enemy wizard and the aura of illusion magic that is emanating from the active Invisibility spell, with both up.

Otherwise, with just See Invisibility you can certainly call out all Tangos you see to your group. That is perfectly rational and good adventuring behavior in my opinion .

 

[Charlaquin]

When in doubt, refer to the basic play loop: the DM describes the scenario, the players say what they want to do, the DM determines the results (calling for a check if necessary) and starts the loop over again. As DM, I would describe the scene as all of the PCs see it. Then I would describe what additional details the PC with See Invisibility sees. As @MarkB points out, if the invisible wizard isn’t making an attempt to hide, then part of the description of what everyone sees should be risidual signs of his presence everyone can detect. If he is trying to hide, then his attempts to hide should be part of the description of what the PC with See Invisibility sees. Then it’s up to the players to say what their characters do. Personally, I think it would be pretty hilarious if the player with See Invisibility addressed the invisible wizard directly, like “what the hell are you doing, dude? We can all see you.”

 

[commandercrud]

Clearly, you'd know that they were supposed to be invisible.

 

[Sword of Spirit]

Yeah...this is one of those where imma claim to read the mind of the design team and say they just assumed it was clear that the spell let you know when you were seeing something that would otherwise be invisible.

I’d probably describe it as seeing a shimmering aura around them; or maybe vary it based on the type of caster.

 

[CleverNickName]

What @MarkB said. You would see three people sitting at a table, while your companions saw only two people. You would have to ask your companions what they see to discern which one of them is under the effect of an illusion.

Really want to mess with your players? Have those invisible assassins use Stealth to hide in the shadows. Seeing them "as if they were visible" doesn't negate their Hide action. That's what faerie fire is for. ;-)