Does silence or grappling stop witch hexes?

[redcelt32]

Sat. night at our regular game, several questions came up regarding the slumber and evil eye hexes being used by the group's witch. Three different times the witch used hexes and we weren't clear whether or not the situation affected his ability. Specifically, the first time, he was in a net and pinned under his riding dog (he is a gnome), the second time he was silenced, and the third time he was being actively grappled by bandits.

It is clear that they are standard actions that do not provoke, but it is not clear whether there is a vocal component to hexes (in general) and whether or not a concentration check is required if you are being grappled or you are pinned. After the game when I read the hexes, it appears that there is nothing to suggest that immobility or silence affect these two hexes, and only charm appeared to have a vocal component.

Anyone else have any insight into this situation? Am I interpreting these abilities correctly? Its a bit obscure when its stated that they are "magical tricks", so I wasn't sure whether they were SLA, SU, or what.

[Varthanna]

redcelt32 wrote:

Sat. night at our regular game, several questions came up regarding the slumber and evil eye hexes being used by the group's witch. Three different times the witch used hexes and we weren't clear whether or not the situation affected his ability. Specifically, the first time, he was in a net and pinned under his riding dog (he is a gnome), the second time he was silenced, and the third time he was being actively grappled by bandits.

It is clear that they are standard actions that do not provoke, but it is not clear whether there is a vocal component to hexes (in general) and whether or not a concentration check is required if you are being grappled or you are pinned. After the game when I read the hexes, it appears that there is nothing to suggest that immobility or silence affect these two hexes, and only charm appeared to have a vocal component.

Anyone else have any insight into this situation? Am I interpreting these abilities correctly? Its a bit obscure when its stated that they are "magical tricks", so I wasn't sure whether they were SLA, SU, or what.

Being a Supernatural ability, they should be usable in a grapple or silenced. Ask yourself if a dragon can breath fire while silenced or grappled. That's how I normally do it as a quick rule of thumb, but YMMV.

[Abraham spalding]

Seeing as they are directly labeled Supernatural, and supernaturals aren't stopped by anything short of death, or antimagic fields the answer is no -- grappling or silencing the witch does nothing to stop the hexes.

[redcelt32]

Great, then I ruled it correctly during the game, which is always a good thing :)

Thanks a lot for the input and assistance!