Silence - Broken? & My House Rule

[Staffan]

Its an illusion spell so giving its victims a saving throw is fair. Not really sure how they call it an illusion. Lol i guess you just believe you cant hear anything. But anyway in 2nd edition i think it had saving throws so its not like it hasnt been done before. Alternatively you could have any spell that protects you from illusions protect from silence too.

Glamers (such as silence) has nothing to do with making you believe anything. They actually change the sensory nature of whatever they are affecting. Just like invisibility really makes it so you're not seen, silence makes it so you're not heard.

 

[Felix]

*confused about line of effect*

I think he meant line of sight.

That's right... line of sight. The potential target now has full cover/concealment, and so cannot be targeted. So any spell with "Target: One Humanoid" or something like that would be buggered.

Fireball might not be fizzled but the effect depends on how accurate you think the mage should be without being able to see.

 

[Lodow MoBo]

Sorry a little off topic. My favorite tactic:

silence a tanglefoot bag

 

[boredgremlin]

Glamers (such as silence) has nothing to do with making you believe anything. They actually change the sensory nature of whatever they are affecting. Just like invisibility really makes it so you're not seen, silence makes it so you're not heard.

I liked the invisibility from psionics better. You invade the targets mind and make them not see you. Also i read a book once where invisibility was a shield against light so you werent visible because no light hit you. Drawback was that the caster couldnt see either. lol. But then i like low magic and usually try to find ways to reduce to focus of the game on spells.

 

[moritheil]

I liked the invisibility from psionics better. You invade the targets mind and make them not see you. Also i read a book once where invisibility was a shield against light so you werent visible because no light hit you. Drawback was that the caster couldnt see either. lol. But then i like low magic and usually try to find ways to reduce to focus of the game on spells.

This is immensely relevant in a rules discussion regarding silence.

 

[moritheil]

I know but I was thinking of the situation where you have a spellcaster, say, on a raised platform surrounded by a chasm, or even just a small room with only one exit. It just seems too easy to be able to take out high level spellcasters with this spell if their mobility is limited.

High level spellcasters are dead without mobility anyhow, in most cases. Archers hit them, monks and fighters grapple them, barbarians park right next to them and rage . . . Silence isn't the problem if you're putting immobile BBEGs up against the party. It's the fact that most casters should be highly mobile, and if they're not, they're screwed.

 

[Lonely Tylenol]

If the caster needs to be up on a raised platform surrounded by a chasm, he'll have Fly cast so that he won't fall into the chasm, and so he can leave the platform if he needs to. Otherwise, he's not smart enough to live. Really, if I were a BBEG, I'd run through as many "okay, when the inevitable rag-tag band of adventurers gets here, how will they try to defeat me," scenarios as possible and figure out how to defeat each one. Fly is a good way of getting out of bad situations, as is a Silenced Dimension Door, if you're high enough level or have a (conveniently inexpensive) rod of metamagic.

If the BBEG paints himself into a corner, he's an idiot. Of course, you could always bring back the Vocalize spell from 2nd ed.

 

[VirgilCaine]

Thank you moritheil and Dr. Awkward! Any lich worth his salt will have Fly or Levitate in use anyway when fighting.

 

[Nail]

If the caster needs to be up on a raised platform surrounded by a chasm, he'll have Fly cast so that he won't fall into the chasm, and so he can leave the platform if he needs to.

...which assumes he knows when said adventurers will arrive. The duraction of fly is 1 min/lvl, you know. Overland Flight might be better, as long as you don't take short move actions and stall.....

In one of my first 3.5e adventures with my Clr 5, I neutered the BBEG by a silence. You see, he thought he was clever....he was surrounded by a chasm, covered with an illusion. To bad the platform was only 10' x 10'; his clever defense deprived him of the ability to avoid my Clr's silence spell! ...and then we finished him off with arrows.

 

[boredgremlin]

The problem with a wizard flying around is dispel magic. You can break the spell and he just wasted a round casting it. Then more time floating to the ground while he cant dodge and becomes a fish in a barrel for everything the PC's can shoot, cast or throw. Same problem with levitate. Everyparty should have at least 2 people good at ranged combat even if they didnt specialize in it.