One of the players who I have gathered for a new campaign starting this Saturday is a cleric who wants to keep his status as a cleric secret. He has asked me if there is any way in which he can do so by hiding the fact that he is casting spells, perhaps using a skill such as slight of hand or bluff. While I don't think the ruse will last long, I would rather let him try and let his cleverness/chance dictate how long he can keep the ruse going. I am a bit too swamped grading right now to hit the D&D books and research a solution. Any chance anyone wouldn't mind providing some suggestions (or cite pages from any of the books that might contain suggestions) as to how to adjudicate this?
I like it. Something like this is a DM's dream: a player has a concept in their head beyond just min-maxing or cool combat combos. This should be rewarded. 
I don't think verbal components of spells necessarily need to be shouted from the rooftops. Perhaps he follows a god of stealth and trickery; or perhaps his god is inherently humble by nature.
Many religions in our own history went underground, still happens today in many parts of the world. Secrecy is as part-and-parcel of religion as it is part of spycraft.
You can also look towards Catholicism: at one time, all church services were in Latin, a dead language. Most of the congregants didn't even know what was being said! Who could decipher that from actual magic! Or just a guy who curses under his breath a lot.
If he is trying to keep it from the other players, use note-passing and what-not for spellcasting until the other players catch on.
If he is trying to keep it from NPCs and monsters, let him use a Deception roll. Do it as a skill contest vs the enemy's Religion score, or make up a DC table based on CR:
Deception result = 10: CR 1 or lower
Deception result = 12: CR 2
Deception result = 14: CR 3
Deception result = 16: CR 4
I just tossed that out there, you may want to make your own DC table.
Bottom line: don't look to the rules to allow it. If a player dreams up a cool concept, tweak the rules in your campagin to make it fit*.
* obviously take great care in tweaking actual game mechanics, that could horribly unbalance the game. But this character trait doesn't sound vaguely unbalancing.
Well as a cleric would his Deity be ok and grant him his abilities if he is hiding the fact of the Deities powers?
Also, I don't think hiding spellcasting from players characters would be viable. They are seasoned veteran adventures and generally would know what a magical affect is even if the caster hide the casting. Now hiding it from local villagers sure.
I love the idea. I don't think it would be very viable. Instead, let the players know and ask them to play their characters as if their characters aren't quite sure how he does the things he does.
As others stated, I think who the Diety is & thier Domain has a big influence on the cleric succeeding. Also, I would have the player explain to me why they want to go this route. There should be a reason the cleric wants to stay hidden other than the player thinks it will be fun.
Psionics, Innate Magic?
Original diety and backstory. Make the player do the work. Have him figure out how his pc fits into your campaign (well at least work together).
Since Psionics or innate magic can give an advantage, I might even add a wrinkle or quirk. I.e. If the pc has to cast more than 1 spell in an encounter, make a (int or con) save DC ? or gain exhaustion. Of course quirk can be worked out between you and player too so that the player owns it and it helps him roleplay his character.
To expand on Cyber-Dave's idea, how would you handle an arcane trickster trying to do the same thing? Specifically to keep mage hand up, but could certainly see use otherwise.
Cyber-Dave wrote:
No "rule" needed. As Deity grants the spells, deity sanctions their use. Presumably, this deity is okay with its cleric being on the DL (God of secrets maybe?).
You might introduce some self policing. For the most part, non-flashy effects will be below radar. But casting something big and obvious or turning undead requires a demonstration of faith and will be immediately noticeable.
it seems to me that someone casting on the DL will already be taking pains to keep the effects discrete.
Bonus to "no rule". Player's decision to use a flashy spell and drop the secretive pretense becomes a choice - not a happenstance of the RNG.
Choice > Randomness (generally)
Is this a Dark Sun game by chance? It would explain the secrecy...
Allow the player to cast the spell undetectably using a spell slot one level higher than normal.
So a Cantrip would use a level one slot, a level one spell would use a level two slot, etc.
This is a serious enough drawback to give the player motivation to find ways to cast spells outside of the other characters observation when possible, (which would make for some interesting roleplaying) but still let them do it right under peoples noses if they have to.
DemoMonkey wrote:
The setting is not Dark Sun. I am about to start running a homebrew Age of Arcana campaign this Saturday. Pretty much, its set in an early 17th century analog of earth, except that religion grants magical spells, and the rise in secular philosophy and science is represented by a rise in arcane magic. Early on in the setting, a human religion waged a crusade over the continent. That religion is fairly intolerant of other religions. The player is playing a dwarf life cleric. He has recently heard the call of his god. His occupation is as an itinerant merchant (he travels the land selling dwarvish ale). He is a little uncomfortable praying in public due to the way the human religion looks down on the dwarvish "cults" (and the way 2 out of the 4 countries in the setting would burn him on the stake for being a heretic).
I would handle such a situation with a Deception (Passive Insight) check, possibly combined with a Sleight of Hand (Passive Perception) check depending on the situation. I would probably impose disadvantage on the check for higher level spells (as their VS components would most likely be more involved).
With spells with a verbal component, I would probably say it won't work unless there is some other noise going on. I could see hiding somatic components, though.
abs1nth wrote:
Complete Scoundrel for 3.5 had a section on tricky Clerics. I borrowed my Public Library's copy, so I can't give a better reference than that. You might want to edit something from there.
Also from 3.5 were the magic feats Silent Spell and Still Spell, which could be reworked / updated. Add a Holy Symbol (so no material component needed) and you can just stand there as magic bursts out all around you.
FrogReaver wrote:
My take on it, would depend on the components of the spell.
If it is Verbal, I would say no, because my understanding is that there are specific magic words that must be used, and you can't just mumble them under your breath (a certain "ummph" is needed to invoke the spell. I might allow a Deception check to let it go through, but give the drawbacks listed below.
If it has somatic, I would allow it with a sleight of hand check against perception or possibly insight, depending on the situation.
Because of the intricate nature of casting spells, I would say that any attack roll or check made by the use of the spell would be at disadvantage (high chance of mucking up because you are concentrating on hiding the hand gestures/disguising the words, rather than getting them right...if there is no roll or check, but a save, I would give the target advantage on the save, for the same reason.)
Material components would still have to be used, same with focus. Depending on what this is, I might allow the others an Int check (with relevant skill perhaps, arcana etc) to identify what is happening.
Thats my take on it.
Cyber-Dave wrote:
abs1nth wrote:
abs1nth wrote:
I would allow it against NPCs but not PCs. It would be possible to obscure the casting of a spell from NPCs, perhaps with one of the contested checks others have suggested above, but I cannot imagine it happening with the PCs when they are nearby and in any direction from the caster. There is also the issue of how the caster gets their spells. In the wilderness perhaps they can get away from the party long enough, and perhaps facing the danger of doing so, but in a dungeon room during a rest? As someone says above, I think the rest of the party should be involved in the deception, perhaps aware of the danger the caster puts himself in and trying to shield him.
FrogReaver wrote:
Personally, I would rule against it.
A cleric in good standing is granted their powers because they represent the physical manifestation of that deity's power. The cleric shouldn't be just a fighter with some magical spells that he can throw around (and heal the party). They should actively be proving their deity's righteousness and legitimacy in the face of their enemies and should not be trying to 'hide' or 'stealth' their deity's powers. Even gods of trickery and stealth are going to want to have their gifts recognized for what they are, it is the only real advertisement that they can invest in. There may be spells where this doesn't really come into play, but those, I would suspect, would be few and far between.
That god is not giving you power so that you can kill goblins. That god is giving you power so that you can prove your god's might so that you may inspire others to find and come into the fold.
I'd allow it with a few conditions.
Firstly their god MUST be the type to promote trickery, deception, and secrets. This would help it fit with the story of trying to hide their cleric-ness.
Secondly there must be little or no real statistical benefit of being able to keep it to a whisper. If they used any kind of spell while hidden that has verbal components then they would have to make a stealth check. If they wear a face mask of some kind then they could say the words slightly louder and people may not hear hem. If someone asks what they were saying when they were fighting, have the character reply that they were swearing under their breath.