Post/Author/DateTime	Post
Borgir 11-05-04, 04:53 PM	Greetings folks, a brief query if I may; reading through the spell lists in the Player's Handbook 3rd edition I noticed that the Silence spell is now only allowed to Bards. I am just returning to the game now after a 10 year or so hiatus and I recall that back then in the 2nd edition mages could cast silence(I think it was called Silence 15 radius?). I was therefore a tad dissapointed to see I cannot add it to my spellbook in the current edition(I consider it a very useful spell). Anyway the question is twofold; Did I read this the correct way ie. Are wizards in the 3rd edition NOT allowed to write the Silence spell in their spellbook? and if not: If I were to purchase a Silence scroll can I cast this as a wizard(I am assuming the answer is in the positive as it is not a divine spell but I thought I'd check) Thank you for your time lads
calypso 11-05-04, 04:56 PM	Greetings folks, a brief query if I may; reading through the spell lists in the Player's Handbook 3rd edition I noticed that the Silence spell is now only allowed to Bards. I am just returning to the game now after a 10 year or so hiatus and I recall that back then in the 2nd edition mages could cast silence(I think it was called Silence 15 radius?). I was therefore a tad dissapointed to see I cannot add it to my spellbook in the current edition(I consider it a very useful spell). Anyway the question is twofold; Did I read this the correct way ie. Are wizards in the 3rd edition NOT allowed to write the Silence spell in their spellbook? and if not: If I were to purchase a Silence scroll can I cast this as a wizard(I am assuming the answer is in the positive as it is not a divine spell but I thought I'd check) Thank you for your time lads To answer your questions.... no, wizards/sorcerers cannot learn, memorize, or cast Silence. Also, they cannot cast it off of scrolls without a Use Magic Device Check. You can only use scrolls that are on your spell list otherwise. Calypso
Zherog 11-05-04, 05:01 PM	Silence is a Divine spell - it's on the cleric's list as well. If a spell is not on your spell list (such as silence for a wizard) you cannot cast it from a scroll or other Spell Completion Item unless you make a successful Use Magic Device check.
Krelios 11-05-04, 05:02 PM	I thought only clerics got Silence in 2nd edition--anyway, they still get it in 3rd, but Wizards/Sorcerers do not.
Keenath 11-05-04, 05:19 PM	There's a spell in... um... either the Faerun Campaign Setting or Magic of Faerun, called Suspended Silence. Actually, come to think of it, I think it has a name stuck to the front, like "Kelvren's" or sommat. Sorry I can't be more helpful; my books are at home. Anyway, you cast this spell on an object, and you have to pay an expensive material component, then later say a command word to make the object the center of a Silence effect. That's the only Sor/Wiz silence spell I've ever seen.
Borgir 11-05-04, 05:31 PM	Thank you for your prompt and helpful replies gentlemen. I guess I will have to do without the particular spell :weep: . Cheers.
Heron_Marked_Blade 11-05-04, 06:20 PM	I've often wondered why Sorcerers and Wizards don't have access to a Silence spell. Is it that they cannot create a zone of silence? Considering their ability to bend the powers of the Cosmos to their will, I can't imagine they'd have trouble negating sound in a small area. So why, then, have sorcerers and wizards never researched a spell that negates sound waves? It'd be the first spell I ever researched if I expected to combat spellcasters at any point in my life. If the only wizard to come up with a spell that replicates the spell Silence (at least in part) is an iconic Epic-level wizard in the most magic-heavy campaign world in D&D, there must be a glitch in my reasoning I'm not seeing.... [And "balance" isn't a good enough reason, IMO, to keep something so blatantly obvious and necessary to a spellbattling wizard's continued health out of his hands....]
beaver1024 11-05-04, 06:35 PM	I've often wondered why Sorcerers and Wizards don't have access to a Silence spell. Is it that they cannot create a zone of silence? Considering their ability to bend the powers of the Cosmos to their will, I can't imagine they'd have trouble negating sound in a small area. So why, then, have sorcerers and wizards never researched a spell that negates sound waves? It'd be the first spell I ever researched if I expected to combat spellcasters at any point in my life. If the only wizard to come up with a spell that replicates the spell Silence (at least in part) is an iconic Epic-level wizard in the most magic-heavy campaign world in D&D, there must be a glitch in my reasoning I'm not seeing.... [And "balance" isn't a good enough reason, IMO, to keep something so blatantly obvious and necessary to a spellbattling wizard's continued health out of his hands....] Just like wiz/sorcs should have Spell Resistance but it's a cleric only spell? No surprises there.
RaistlinBN 11-06-04, 01:14 AM	There's a spell in... um... either the Faerun Campaign Setting or Magic of Faerun, called Suspended Silence. Actually, come to think of it, I think it has a name stuck to the front, like "Kelvren's" or sommat. Sorry I can't be more helpful; my books are at home. I can't be positive without checking...but I believe it is called "Khelben's Suspended Silence" and is located in the Magic of Faerun book. Somewhere between 2nd and 4th level, I believe? Raist
hovnarr 11-06-04, 08:15 AM	I also remember seeing a Powerword: Silence (wiz/sor 6) somewhere, but it might have been back in 2nd ed. Though balance might be a poor reason, I still think that's why silence is bard/cleric only. By the same reasoning, couldn't an arcance caster have use for healing or restorative magic or indeed spell resistance? And what's that cleric doing with flamestrike and destruction that are better than the arcance cone of cold (potentially) and finger of death (definetely)? However, there's always limited wish if you want a more powerful silence for 300 XP or perhaps a spell resistance (5th level - just within limits) if your enemy is heavy on offensive magic but lacks powerful dispelling...
The Simbul 11-07-04, 12:25 AM	Sound manipulating spells, specifically spells that negate it altogether, are predominately Bard-only spells. It gives a bit of flavor to the allocation of spells between the classes. In 2nd edition Wizards could cast Silence, but in 2nd edition Bards could cast Lighting Bolt and Antimagic Field. Neither is the case anymore. Bards have a background-oriented spell list now, and it seems only fair that at least one or more particular magical effects should be exclusive to them given their limited magical scope.