D&D 5E Silence Spell

[Snoring Rock]

I ran into this last session with my players. Up until now, no one had cast silence. To read the PHB on the surface it appears the spell can be cast on a person. That is powerful to say the least and breaks a lich in a hurry. What is the ruling on this? If it is a point in space, the one could move out of the effected area.

 

[Saarith]

The wording of the spell says that it is centered on a point you choose. That does not mean that the point moves with an object or person.

So you could center the spell up a Lich's nostril, but he only needs to move 20 feet away to leave the influence of the spell.

However, a clever use of this spell would be to lure a lich, or any magic user for that matter, into a room that has no point further away from the center than 20 feet. Cast the spell at the center and have the muscle do it's work.

 

[Sunseeker]

[MENTION=6849514]Saarith[/MENTION] is correct. Casting it "on a person" just means it is "centered on that person" the bubble of silence does not move with them.

 

[UnknownDyson]

The Lich would just counter spell....... or move.

 

[MonkeezOnFire]

The lich would probably see the silence spell as a minor inconvenience. It can be a good strategy, but not an encounter winning one.

 

[DEFCON 1]

I don't see anything in the spell description that mentions being cast on a person, and the area of effect is stationary after the spell is cast.

It doesn't have to say the area of effect is stationary. It says the 20-radius zone is centered on a point you choose within range. A point in space you choose. If the point was then allowed to move it would have to then say in the description "If this point is a person or object capable of moving, the point and the zone of silence moves with it."

"It doesn't say it can't move" isn't a legal justification for thinking it does, because there are millions of other things it doesn't say it can't do.

 

[Creamsteak]

It doesn't have to say the area of effect is stationary. It says the 20-radius zone is centered on a point you choose within range. A point in space you choose. If the point was then allowed to move it would have to then say in the description "If this point is a person or object capable of moving, the point and the zone of silence moves with it."

"It doesn't say it can't move" isn't a legal justification for thinking it does, because there are millions of other things it doesn't say it can't do.

The rules as intended are kinda easy to see when you note it doesn't target a creature or object, it's just intended to be a sphere in space someone can move in or out of.

That said, wait till the rules lawyers start actually considering physics and your spell centered on a point in space moves based on the current rotation of the planet, movement of the planet around the star, movement of the star within the galaxy, and movement of the galaxy within the universe.

I prefer to keep things simple.

 

[Saarith]

That said, wait till the rules lawyers start actually considering physics and your spell centered on a point in space moves based on the current rotation of the planet, movement of the planet around the star, movement of the star within the galaxy, and movement of the galaxy within the universe.

D&D 6th edition version.

The spell effect is centered at a point of your choosing within the same reference frame you reside in.

 

[fjw70]

D&D 6th edition version.

The spell effect is centered at a point of your choosing within the same reference frame you reside in.

LOL! Don't give them any ideas.

 

[DEFCON 1]

I don't quite understand your comment. My post had two separate thoughts separated by a comma. The part about the spell description not mentioning being cast on a person is one thought, and the fact that the spell is stationary (because it's cast on a point in space) is another. So my point was that it IS stationary because it's cast on a point in space, not a person.

My apologies, I misunderstood. When I read it, I took it as you saying that there was nothing in the spell description about casting the spell on a person and that the area of effect was stationary. I thought you were arguing that since the spell didn't mention either of those things, they were thus allowed to be done. My bad.