Silence and Sonics

[Olive]

It seems kind of full on that a simple lvl 2 Silence spell can completely eliminate the effect of [sonic] subtype spells. Am I correct in this reading?

This spell provides a defense against sonic or language-based attacks.

Of course there are some issues which make this kind of problematic, mainly that if you're worried about sonics you need to be able to operate well in silence, which a lot of spellcasters won't be able to. In fact it would probably be easier to just cast the silence on the caster who's tossing sonics at you in the first place! Also, given how rare sonics are in the game, I guess a lot of casters won't be keeping it prepared for that specific reason anyway.

So, opinions?

 

[Hypersmurf]

It seems kind of full on that a simple lvl 2 Silence spell can completely eliminate the effect of [sonic] subtype spells. Am I correct in this reading?

Yes. Like a level 1 Protection from Evil spell nixes [Charm] subschool spells.

-Hyp.

 

[Olive]

Or 2nd level blindness/deafness nixs... almost everything.

 

[Darklone]

Or 2nd level blindness/deafness nixs... almost everything.

Hey, blind wizards can shoot fireballs like anyone else

 

[Dinkeldog]

Olive, if you cast silence on yourself, there's no save. My recommendation is to cast it on your monk ally and let him close on the bad guy spellcaster.

 

[Hypersmurf]

Olive, if you cast silence on yourself, there's no save. My recommendation is to cast it on your monk ally and let him close on the bad guy spellcaster.

Or on your Air Elemental. Try running away from something with Fly 100' (Perfect).

-Hyp.

 

[Scion]

Or on your Air Elemental. Try running away from something with Fly 100' (Perfect).

-Hyp.

isnt that what burrow is 'for'?

 

[mo]

It does seem odd that there is a second level spell which can make an entire energy sub-type ineffective, whereas for fire, lightning, acid, and cold you need to use spells of a much higher level to get much less protection.

If I were to make a ruling, it would be that silence is protection against spells where you have to hear it to be effected by it - so it would be protection against power words for example. But, much as a deaf person would be knocked over by a sonic boom from an aeroplane (or a building for that matter), for effects where there is sonic energy I would go with the standard energy protection spells.

Otherwise there would be other implications for the silence spell. My physics is that of a school boy, but as I understand it sound is particles bumping into each other - much as the wind is, so does silence stop a gust on wind spell, or simply stop those affected from hearing the wind

(and if a tree falls in the forest...... )

 

[Hypersmurf]

much as the wind is, so does silence stop a gust on wind spell, or simply stop those affected from hearing the wind

It would stop the Gust of Wind spell... if it had the [Sonic] descriptor.

Since it doesn't, the spell works normally, just quietly.

-Hyp.

 

[Olive]

It does seem odd that there is a second level spell which can make an entire energy sub-type ineffective, whereas for fire, lightning, acid, and cold you need to use spells of a much higher level to get much less protection.

Except that as Hyp pointed out, there's a 1st level spell that stops an entire sub school of enchantment spells, and the fact that there are few sonics (unless you make a habit of using the feat Energy Substitution: Sonic). I certainly don't think that it's anymore over powered than blindness/deafness. Also, if you want to stop the mage casting sonics, it's much easier to cast silence on the mage than it is to cast silence on you, and then have to prepare everything with the silent spell feat.

Sonics have significant advantages as well: they're rare, and very few creatures have any immunity to them at all.

Regardless, physics doesn't entre into the conversation. If I start looking for physics problems with spells, then almost nothig will work.

Just so the rest of you know, this thread was started by me because of a conversation Mo and I had recently. Mo's character in my campaign is an alienist with 'a penchant for sonically substituted evocations', and as a result Mo is slightly concerned about me making every encounter from here on in involve silence spells. Don't fear, I won't. that would be unrealistic, stupid and bad 'DM out to shut down an effective player tactic' DMing. But anyone who know's Mourne's reputation and is expecting a barney with him might consider preparing silence. Just as anyone expecting to face paladins might want to invest in that armour from the BoVD that helps protect against smites.