Hello everybody, i know there have been tons of topics and questions about this specific topic, i will try to summarize most of the possible conditions in a more general form with examples.
1. Disbelieve Shadow Evocation, so the wording on the spell i think is ambigious on the 2 points below :
-"If the disbelieved attack has a special effect other than damage, that effect is one-fifth as strong (if applicable) or only 20% likely to occur."
-"Non-damaging effects have normal effects except against those who disbelieve them. Against disbelievers, they have no effect."
So what exactly is considered as a special effect? A disbeliever on Shadow Evocation (Resilient Sphere) automatically passes through it or the Sphere has 20% chance to actually work?
2. Attacking with Melee Weapon a Shadow Evocation (Resilint Sphere).
So the weapon is considered an object but a creature holds it in hand, so does the weapon automatically succeeds the Check (as for being an object) or because is being held by a creature, a Will Save is needed?
3. Attacking with Ranged Weapon a Shadow Evocation (Resilint Sphere).
Slightly the same as question (2), but this time you do not "hold" the object, but its you who actually force it's movement.
4. Are Rays and generally "magically throwing stuff" considered objects?
So as the questions describes, are Rays, Magic Missiles, Fireball's beads and so on actually considered as objects for these purposes?
5. Attacking through your own Shadowly Resilient Sphere, how it affects the enemy
So as the Wizard was the one who casted the Spell, he has proof that is an Illusion and needs no Saving Throw for it and casts spells right through the Sphere.
But how does that affect an enemy watching it? does he automatically also gets proof that the Sphere is an Illusion and on his next attempts automatically succeeds a Saving Throw?
Does he get a new Saving Throw if he failed the first one now that he sees someone/something actually going throught the Sphere?
Considering the enemy is also a Caster and not a Barbarian that has no clue over Magic.
6. It's an invisible barrier after all
Resilient Sphere works like Wall of Force and Wall of Force states :
"A wall of force creates an invisible wall of pure force."
So the scenario here is that you are now attacking someone that has Shadowly Resilient Sphere around him and you fail the Save and you have no means of seeing Invisible stuff (with See Invisibility, True Seeing etc..).
If you can't actually see the boundaries of this Resilient Sphere, how can you possibly know if there was something there to block the enemy's (the one inside the sphere) arrow or Ray, considering you can't see Invisible stuff?
With that in hand, how does this affect my question (5) above?
7. Spellcraft Checks to recognise the Spell
So if someone casts Shadow Evocation near you and you successfully recognise the Spell being cast as Shadow Evocation, should you also know which Evocation Spell he is casting using the Shadow Evocation?
And how does recognising Illusion Spells with Spellcraft Check affects the following Will Save in general?
8. Counterspelling with Shadow Evocation
Can you actually counterspell all 4th and below Evocation Spells by using Shadow Evocation?
9. The feet are hanging out!?
The way I understand Resilient Sphere is that it encloses someone inside in a way that he is protected from all directions, but if the Caster uses it on himself, and he automatically disbelieves it, so how can he actually stand on it? It should be a thin layer of force which barely touches the ground, but still, should it be visible that he is touching the ground and not the Sphere? Considering of course you are able to see Invisible stuff.
Thanks in advance.
bump
So what exactly is considered as a special effect? A disbeliever on Shadow Evocation (Resilient Sphere) automatically passes through it or the Sphere has 20% chance to actually work?
There are some cases where it's really ambiguous what "20% real" means. There's similar issues with shadow conjuration. You'll get different rulings depending on which GM you ask.
In this case I'd rule that the Resilient Sphere has only 20% as many hit points (4 per caster level) as normal, similar to a monster conjured with Shadow Conjuration. Successfully disbelieving wouldn't do anything useful for you; you're still trapped by a 20%-real resilient sphere.
So the weapon is considered an object but a creature holds it in hand, so does the weapon automatically succeeds the Check (as for being an object) or because is being held by a creature, a Will Save is needed?
It's the creature in question that is attacking, therefor any saves are made by the creature. Only evocation spells that specifically target items independently of the wielder (such as the Shatter spell) would trigger a save from the item, which would be automatically succeeded.
So as the questions describes, are Rays, Magic Missiles, Fireball's beads and so on actually considered as objects for these purposes?
Spells are not objects and are neither here nor there. Ranged weapon attacks would be similar to melee weapon attacks; unless the spell specifically singles out the weapon any save would be from the creature. In this case I wouldn't consider a ranged attack to count as "interacting" and it wouldn't trigger a save.
So as the Wizard was the one who casted the Spell, he has proof that is an Illusion and needs no Saving Throw for it
Not necessarily; being straight up told by someone you trust that something is an illusion is only a +4 bonus to the save, so the standards of what constitutes "proof" must be very high, and higher than the colloquial meaning of the word. Sadly the rules don't define this and it's left ambiguous. Some GM's will rule as you say, others will be more restrictive and rule that you don't automatically disbelieve your own illusions. This is also the answer for your later question regarding the spellcraft check.
But how does that affect an enemy watching it? does he automatically also gets proof that the Sphere is an Illusion and on his next attempts automatically succeeds a Saving Throw?
It's magic; the idea that a barrier might be one-way is hardly impossible, so no new save or automatic disbelief.
If you can't actually see the boundaries of this Resilient Sphere, how can you possibly know if there was something there to block the enemy's (the one inside the sphere) arrow or Ray, considering you can't see Invisible stuff?
That's up to the GM to adjudicate. I wouldn't worry too much about this one, and would either describe it slightly differently than usual or just emphasize the 20% real part.
Can you actually counterspell all 4th and below Evocation Spells by using Shadow Evocation?
It's unclear, but I would rule yes.
The way I understand Resilient Sphere is that it encloses someone inside in a way that he is protected from all directions, but if the Caster uses it on himself, and he automatically disbelieves it, so how can he actually stand on it?
You can always elect to intentionally fail a saving throw if you desire.
A weapon is being used by a creature, and therefore attended, so a Will save is required.
Spell attacks are not objects. They're spell effects.
You can't get a disbelief save unless you interact with it. Seeing someone else interact with it doesn't work. Your GM might let you have a small circumstance bonus or something on a disbelief save, but it isn't going to get you a save by itself.
Resilient Sphere is not a damaging effect.
"Non-damaging effects have normal effects except against those who disbelieve them. Against disbelievers, they have no effect."
So for anyone who disbelieves, the spell isn't there.
Generally speaking, an attack against someone protected by a shadow evocation resilient sphere would be interacting with it, allowing a save.
As for 'standing on air' the thin layer of force is almost certainly thin enough that you wouldn't be able to tell. Less than a millimeter.