Discrete Spellcasting [Archive] - Wizards Community

Discrete Spellcasting [Archive] - Wizards Community

Post/Author/DateTime Post
Luminryl
10-05-06, 02:17 PM Hey all.

I have a question concerning discrete spellcasting. Here's the situation. I am about to start DMing a group of characters, one of whom is an NPC sorcerer that I am running myself. The problem is, I don't want the party members to realize that she is a sorcerer. She does not wear any magical items, so even a Detect Magic scan of her would show nothing indicating any magical ability. That's fine. My problem is with her actually doing any casting. She has both the Still Spell and Silent Spell feats as well as the Eschew Materials feat. Theoretically therefore, she should be able to cast a number of spells with no verbal, somatic or material components. That will work fine as far as being undetectable is concerned. My problem is if she casts a spell which does not have all of those three metamagic feats applied to it. Let's say she casts a spell which allows her to use the Eschew Materials and the Silent Spell feats, but NOT the Still Spell feat. She will therefore have to make some somatic gestures for the spell to be cast. How do I minimize the chances of the rest of the party seeing those gestures and therefore knowing that something was up. The party members would presumably have to make Spot checks to notice the somatic gestures being made. What kind of DC am I looking at for a check like that? Likewise, if she casts a spell which allows her to use the Eschew Materials and the Still Spell feats, but NOT the Silent Spell feat. She will therefore have to make some verbal noise for the spell to be cast. The rest of the party will have to make Listen checks to catch her in the act. What kind of DCs am I looking at here? Any thoughts? I need the party NOT to know that she is a sorcerer but I need for her to continue functioning as one.

Thanks all.
Lina_Inverse
10-05-06, 02:46 PM Hey all.

I have a question concerning discrete spellcasting. Here's the situation. I am about to start DMing a group of characters, one of whom is an NPC sorcerer that I am running myself.

I stopped right there.
Remove the dmpc before you kill your game.

The problem is, I don't want the party members to realize that she is a sorcerer. She does not wear any magical items, so even a Detect Magic scan of her would show nothing indicating any magical ability. That's fine. My problem is with her actually doing any casting. She has both the Still Spell and Silent Spell feats as well as the Eschew Materials feat. Theoretically therefore, she should be able to cast a number of spells with no verbal, somatic or material components.

So all the party members are at least 6th level? Sounds more and more like standard dmpc syndrome here.

That will work fine as far as being undetectable is concerned. My problem is if she casts a spell which does not have all of those three metamagic feats applied to it. Let's say she casts a spell which allows her to use the Eschew Materials and the Silent Spell feats, but NOT the Still Spell feat. She will therefore have to make some somatic gestures for the spell to be cast. How do I minimize the chances of the rest of the party seeing those gestures and therefore knowing that something was up. The party members would presumably have to make Spot checks to notice the somatic gestures being made. What kind of DC am I looking at for a check like that? Likewise, if she casts a spell which allows her to use the Eschew Materials and the Still Spell feats, but NOT the Silent Spell feat. She will therefore have to make some verbal noise for the spell to be cast. The rest of the party will have to make Listen checks to catch her in the act. What kind of DCs am I looking at here? Any thoughts? I need the party NOT to know that she is a sorcerer but I need for her to continue functioning as one.

Thanks all.

DC10, at the highest. Most likely lower since spells have to be chanted in a clear and legible voice and mystic arm waveing is easy to spot.
Azezel
10-05-06, 03:04 PM Make your Sorcerer a Bard, and take the Disguse Spell feat (I think it's in the CAr or CAd) - the feat allows a Bard to cast a spell whilst playing/singing/etc without anyone realising that a spell is being cast.

Also - be very careful with your DMPC - It can be done without spoiling a game, but it is dashed hard.
SeptimusMagistos
10-05-06, 05:29 PM You could have her try to stay away from such spells. If necessary, try to cast them while the group is distracted. If they're facing down a monster, they're not likely to be looking at the sorcerer.
frasmage
10-05-06, 07:05 PM Might I suggest first the party thinking that sorceress x is some lowly helpless girl. Only have her use the spells in places where there might be a possible explanation for them going off. Avoid overly showy spells like fireball, but maybe go for charm/hold/dominate/calm emotions or similar spells or cure spells when people aren't looking. If stuff is less obvious, then the players are less likely to question.

for example, they will notice a lightning bolt fly over their shoulders and zap the minion,s but they might not know why the frenzied berserker suddenly sits still - raising questions, but not at all obvious
Milo HoBo
10-05-06, 07:55 PM I would go in the direction of psionics while suppressing displays, however other people have made some good suggestions.

My final suggestion is a feat from the Planar Handbook. It is called Non-Verbal Spell. It changes the verbal component from actual, recognizable arcane components to any noise (which could be anything from grunts to an elequent speech).

It is still supressed by Silence, but otherwise is great for desguising verbal components. It does not increase the effective spell level.

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
Luminryl 10-05-06, 02:17 PM	Hey all. I have a question concerning discrete spellcasting. Here's the situation. I am about to start DMing a group of characters, one of whom is an NPC sorcerer that I am running myself. The problem is, I don't want the party members to realize that she is a sorcerer. She does not wear any magical items, so even a Detect Magic scan of her would show nothing indicating any magical ability. That's fine. My problem is with her actually doing any casting. She has both the Still Spell and Silent Spell feats as well as the Eschew Materials feat. Theoretically therefore, she should be able to cast a number of spells with no verbal, somatic or material components. That will work fine as far as being undetectable is concerned. My problem is if she casts a spell which does not have all of those three metamagic feats applied to it. Let's say she casts a spell which allows her to use the Eschew Materials and the Silent Spell feats, but NOT the Still Spell feat. She will therefore have to make some somatic gestures for the spell to be cast. How do I minimize the chances of the rest of the party seeing those gestures and therefore knowing that something was up. The party members would presumably have to make Spot checks to notice the somatic gestures being made. What kind of DC am I looking at for a check like that? Likewise, if she casts a spell which allows her to use the Eschew Materials and the Still Spell feats, but NOT the Silent Spell feat. She will therefore have to make some verbal noise for the spell to be cast. The rest of the party will have to make Listen checks to catch her in the act. What kind of DCs am I looking at here? Any thoughts? I need the party NOT to know that she is a sorcerer but I need for her to continue functioning as one. Thanks all.
Lina_Inverse 10-05-06, 02:46 PM	Hey all. I have a question concerning discrete spellcasting. Here's the situation. I am about to start DMing a group of characters, one of whom is an NPC sorcerer that I am running myself. I stopped right there. Remove the dmpc before you kill your game. The problem is, I don't want the party members to realize that she is a sorcerer. She does not wear any magical items, so even a Detect Magic scan of her would show nothing indicating any magical ability. That's fine. My problem is with her actually doing any casting. She has both the Still Spell and Silent Spell feats as well as the Eschew Materials feat. Theoretically therefore, she should be able to cast a number of spells with no verbal, somatic or material components. So all the party members are at least 6th level? Sounds more and more like standard dmpc syndrome here. That will work fine as far as being undetectable is concerned. My problem is if she casts a spell which does not have all of those three metamagic feats applied to it. Let's say she casts a spell which allows her to use the Eschew Materials and the Silent Spell feats, but NOT the Still Spell feat. She will therefore have to make some somatic gestures for the spell to be cast. How do I minimize the chances of the rest of the party seeing those gestures and therefore knowing that something was up. The party members would presumably have to make Spot checks to notice the somatic gestures being made. What kind of DC am I looking at for a check like that? Likewise, if she casts a spell which allows her to use the Eschew Materials and the Still Spell feats, but NOT the Silent Spell feat. She will therefore have to make some verbal noise for the spell to be cast. The rest of the party will have to make Listen checks to catch her in the act. What kind of DCs am I looking at here? Any thoughts? I need the party NOT to know that she is a sorcerer but I need for her to continue functioning as one. Thanks all. DC10, at the highest. Most likely lower since spells have to be chanted in a clear and legible voice and mystic arm waveing is easy to spot.
Azezel 10-05-06, 03:04 PM	Make your Sorcerer a Bard, and take the Disguse Spell feat (I think it's in the CAr or CAd) - the feat allows a Bard to cast a spell whilst playing/singing/etc without anyone realising that a spell is being cast. Also - be very careful with your DMPC - It can be done without spoiling a game, but it is dashed hard.
SeptimusMagistos 10-05-06, 05:29 PM	You could have her try to stay away from such spells. If necessary, try to cast them while the group is distracted. If they're facing down a monster, they're not likely to be looking at the sorcerer.
frasmage 10-05-06, 07:05 PM	Might I suggest first the party thinking that sorceress x is some lowly helpless girl. Only have her use the spells in places where there might be a possible explanation for them going off. Avoid overly showy spells like fireball, but maybe go for charm/hold/dominate/calm emotions or similar spells or cure spells when people aren't looking. If stuff is less obvious, then the players are less likely to question. for example, they will notice a lightning bolt fly over their shoulders and zap the minion,s but they might not know why the frenzied berserker suddenly sits still - raising questions, but not at all obvious
Milo HoBo 10-05-06, 07:55 PM	I would go in the direction of psionics while suppressing displays, however other people have made some good suggestions. My final suggestion is a feat from the Planar Handbook. It is called Non-Verbal Spell. It changes the verbal component from actual, recognizable arcane components to any noise (which could be anything from grunts to an elequent speech). It is still supressed by Silence, but otherwise is great for desguising verbal components. It does not increase the effective spell level.