I'm having trouble dealing with ghost sound being used against my PC's...
Okay, example situation: NPC creature engaged in combat with the PC's casts ghost sound to create the sound of reinforcements coming from the door behind the PC's.
Here's the problem:
I notify PC's the creature casted a spell, and then a bunch of sound comes from the door behind the PC's. Won't your players have to be idiots to not know what's up?
Even ignoring that, the spell says "Anyone who hears a ghost sound receives a Will save to disbelieve." So I roll saves for each PC privately. Out of 4 PC's, it's extremely likely at least one will make his or her save. So I tell saving PCs that they recognize the sound is illusory, but that pretty much tells everyone that the sound is illusory...
Doesn't playing this spell as written make it pretty much useless or is it just me?
The way I think I'll play it is to only allow the Will save if someone declares they are attempting to disbelieve the spell. In addition, I'll probably let some time pass between the casting of the spell and telling the PC's about the sounds they hear, but I'm guessing that still won't be enough to throw them off...
How does everyone else play this spell?
RPG Superstar 2012 Top 32
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Saving Throws and Illusions (Disbelief): Creatures encountering an illusion usually do not receive saving throws to recognize it as illusory until they study it carefully or interact with it in some fashion.
A successful saving throw against an illusion reveals it to be false, but a figment or phantasm remains as a translucent outline.
A failed saving throw indicates that a character fails to notice something is amiss. A character faced with proof that an illusion isn't real needs no saving throw. If any viewer successfully disbelieves an illusion and communicates this fact to others, each such viewer gains a saving throw with a +4 bonus.
I italicized the important part. I don't count hearing as interacting with it. The saving throw says Will disbelief, so it is not automatic. I just ignore the line that says everyone gets the save.
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I use the standard that "interaction" means 1 standard action. Whether that be stopping to say "Wait a minute... That doesn't look right." I roll perception! or hitting the illusion with an arrow one action spent interacting with the illusion grants the will disbelief roll.
I had seen some version of that idea posted by one of the designers at some point and I like it. It works well and is clear to apply both for and against the PCs. There is no free round of will saves as the illusion is cast, but everyone will most likely get one as they interact.
Just hearing it is not enough, they have to give it some 'special' attention in some way. If a PC tries to make a listen check to determine how many reinforcements there are for example, I'd also allow an immediate save if they made a succesful spellcraft check to see ghost sound being cast.
Casually seeing someone affected by a disguise self spell will not allow a save, but someone making a succesful perception versus disguise check would so would someone touching or attacking the person in question, or being attacked in a physical manner.
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Ghost Sound is a special case where everyone hearing it does get a Will save to disbelieve, dispite the usual Illusion magic rules, mostly because (unlike a visual illusion) there's no real way to 'interact' with an audio-only illusion beyond hearing it (it's not like you can poke it with your sword...).
That said, in the context of Illusion magic 'disbelief' is a mechanical thing in that it has actual in-game effects. Failing a save to 'disbelieve' an illusion doesn't force a character to 'not suspect' the illusion... it just means they don't get the funky 'see through it as if it's translucent' thing which a successful save gives them.
So, for the OP's situation...
... NPC creature engaged in combat with the PC's casts ghost sound to create the sound of reinforcements coming from the door behind the PC's...
First up the PCs, if they can see the NPC in question, get Spellcraft rolls (modified as per Perception modifiers) to identify the spell as it's being cast. If they do identify the spell, then they still don't 'auto-save' the illusion, but they should get the +4 bonus for having the information that it's an illusion communicated to them.
Next, the cantrip being Ghost Sound, they all get a save. If anyone communicates that 'it's an illusion' they get the +4 bonus.
If they fail the save, then they hear the sounds, as if they were real... what they think is causing them (even if they think 'that's an illusion') is still up to them - just as if they'd heard any other sounds.
If they make the save, then they still faintly hear the sounds, but the sounds don't obscure any other noises in the area (i.e. the Ghost Sound doesn't inflict any penalties on hearing-based Perception checks) - the audio equivalent of 'seeing through the illusion as if it were translucent'.
So, even if the PCs are bound to know, in character, that the Ghost Sound is an illusion, it can still be helpful in disrupting communications (fail a save Vs a loud Ghost Sound and you can't hear what your mates are shouting at you), covering Stealth attempts, and similar things.
Wouldn't 'interaction' with a sound involve some form of perception to see if there is some reasonable source of it?
Think of ghost sound like a hidden speaker, if you hear horses gallop on an open plain but don't see them when you look for them, that's interaction, but if you hear faint voices from behind a door, you have little clue as to the source, so you wouldn't be able to interact until you could open the door, or peek through a crack.
I would consider giving the NPC silent spell, OOooor, take the feat that allows you to use a preparable spell as a spell-like ability. SLA's do not have V, S, or M components so you can effectively hide what the NPC is doing as long as the players do not have an active detect magic going on (although I might be wrong about that, the spell identification rules might allow it even with no visible components).
The other way to not give the illusion up is to roll their saving throws in secret, and just tell them what they perceive. Be a stickler for the timing. If player A and player B fail their saving throws, but player C makes it, and player C goings last in the initiative roster, he/she cannot shout "it's an illusion!" until after player A and B fall for it and react accordingly, quite possibly loosing vital actions.
Ghost Sound is a special case where everyone hearing it does get a Will save to disbelieve, dispite the usual Illusion magic rules, mostly because (unlike a visual illusion) there's no real way to 'interact' with an audio-only illusion beyond hearing it (it's not like you can poke it with your sword...).
That was kindof my impression. Do you have any authority to support this or is this just how you treat it as a GM?
No, you MUST see a spell being cast to attempt identification in Pathfinder. In 3.5 you had to see or hear it.
Even if you use a metamagic feat on it or turn it into a spell-like ability, the players are going to see your spellcaster staring intently and not casting -- which is really quite suspicious -- before they experience auditory phenomena. I don't think it's out of question that they'd figure out something was afoot.
My issue with this whole thing is, you're trying to get a whole lot of utility out of a 0-level spell. Prestidigitation does tricks; Message carries a message dozens of feet which can be intercepted; but you're trying to figure out how to cast a 0-level illusion right in front of PCs, in order to scare them off or distracting them into wasting actions preparing for an enemy that won't arrive, without them figuring out they're being had. That sounds like more than a 0-level spell to me.
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Speaking of logic... Doesn't anyone think that an illusory sound don't make any sense?
It's like dry water. Just add water to prepare!
Ultimate Intrigue added some information about how to run illusions.
Ghost Sound specifically gives a save to anyone that hears it, which is not normally how an illusion would work.
Otherwise, can you be more specific about your question?
How to run illusions gets debated a lot, with a large part of the problem being that its easy to make them overpowered or completely useless depending on how you run them. It's very hard to run them so that are in line with the sorts of things other spells can do.
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Specifically on ghost sound, because it has that catch where it says everyone that hears it does a save. Does that mean if they save they hear nothing?
Or do they hear something and realize it's fake?
If for you use ghost sound, a person who hears it fails their save, does that sound now block other sounds?
A good example would be casting ghost sound to create the illusion of rain, maybe even with thunder. Suppose those able to hear this are inside a ship and unable to see, but hear a torrential down pouring. All the while PCs are fighting walking running on the ship's deck, which being wood and hollow probably sounds.
Would the illusion rain cover those sounds?
Would making save still allow someone to hear the rain but maybe it sounds "fake"?
Or do they hear nothing, and don't realize there was anything cast at all?
Assume using silent spell for that last question, so that the answer is not muddled with answers about hearing the casting.
The way I've run it is:
The hear the ghost sound, but know its an illusion.
Ghost sound doesn't "block" other sounds. Though it might be so loud that it makes other things difficult to hear (the spell can produce at maximum the sound of 40 humans shouting).
(Nearby) thunder is probably louder than 40 humans shouting. And a thunder storm like that is probably likely to arouse attention and get people on deck.
As far as what the illusion sounds like after the save is made...no guidance is given but they should know it's not real and react appropriately (per their character) to someone attempting to cast illusory magic and trick them.