Two situations I've been thinking about, involving the intersection of these two spells. These are my interpretations, but I'd like to cross check them.
Wizard with ventriloquism and a silence radius near him.
Case 1:
If the wizard is in the silence spell, but the point that his ventriloquism spell emanates from is outside the silence spell, I am assuming that the silence spell keeps the wizard from making any noise for the ventriloquism spell to carry. Thus, a spell with verbal components (and no Silent Spell feat) has a 100% chance of failure.
Case 2:
If the wizard is out of the silence spell, but puts his voice into the silence spell, what happens?
Option A) The wizard cannot hear the components, and there is a 20% chance of the spell failing, just as if he were deafened. On the other hand, nobody can hear the verbal components of the spell.
Option B) The wizard can hear himself giving the verbal components, and thus, there is no problem, and the spell goes off normally
Case 3:
Is there anything keeping a wizard from using the ventriloquism spell to put his voice 25' below him, say deep into the earth, and effectively get the ability to cast spells without anyone hearing the verbal components?
My gut hunch is that Case 2, Option A is the right ruling. I could be persuaded for Option B.
Case 3 is a tricky way to do Case 2 without needing a pesky silence spell.
Well the rules say
To cast a spell with a verbal (V) component, your character must speak in a firm voice. If you're gagged or in the area of a silence spell, you can't cast such a spell. A spellcaster who has been deafened has a 20% chance to spoil any spell he tries to cast if that spell has a verbal component.
So that is fairly clear, if your in the silence, you can't cast it period. As for the ventriloquism spell putting your sound into the silence spell when your not, I am not sure this is covered anywhere. I would argue that for a spell to work properly the Verbal component has to emanate from you not from 25' away, but I doubt the rules cover that anywhere
Case 1 fails. Presumbaly the verbal components of the Ventriloquism spell have to be spoken BEFORE the spell takes effect. Thus you can't project them out of the silence spell, so it fails.
Case 2 is interesting, and I can see Option A being allowed, but I suspect that there's Option C that hasn't been considered. You can't cast spells with a verbal component within the area of a Silence spell. I would probably rule that even if the caster is outside of the Silence, if the verbal components are Silenced they don't work. Spell fails.
Case 3 is likely out because you normally need line of effect, even though this negates the old parlour trick of making your voice sound like it's coming out of a box.
In other words, if you don't want people to hear you casting, take the Silent Spell feat.
I, as a GM, have a situation which relates to Silence and Ventriloquism, so posted it here.
There is an enemy(Sor8) who has Ventriloquism, Charm Person, Suggestion not as spells but as spell-like abilities. And PCs got a Wand of Silence, and frequently uses it against spell-users.
This seems to me a “Decided by GM” situation, but I want to hear your voices to get wider view. So please help me with your advices or opinions if possible.
My questions are as follows;
Case4:
Can Sor8 use Ventriloquism(spell-like ability), and cast her spell with verbal components on her next turn in area of Silence cast by the party’s wand?
Case5:
Same as Case4, but how if she tries to use Suggestion(spell-like ability) on her next turn? She needs to tell target PC what she suggests.
Case6:
Same as Case5, but how if she tries to use Charm Person(spell-like ability) on her next turn?
She needs to tell target PC something to effectively use Charm Person.
My impressions are Case4:No, Case5&6:Yes.
Thank you in advance.