Recently guy threatened to cast Silence on his Animal Companion and have it follow me around. Is there anything at all my wizard can do to counter this strategy?
You can dispel it, but that is about it.
I take that back because if you are silenced you can't cast. You can however use dispel magic to counterspell the silence.
If he is being a jerk I out of character I would try to handle it out of character though. You can also kill the dog, or the character in question. That last sentence is really not recommended.
take a dagger, kill the animal companion, put the head of the horse in his bed.
Be evil.
If that doesn't work, your GM might decide that the animal companion is afraid of the silence and runs away. They are not 100% controlled, and unintelligent after all.
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Recently guy threatened to cast Silence on his Animal Companion and have it follow me around. Is there anything at all my wizard can do to counter this strategy?
This sounds like a player issue not a game issue. And as such is best treated out of game.
Note Player vs Player is specifically banned in pathfinder society and this would get him a "don't be a jerk or leave the table" warning in PFS.
However if this is an in-game mine-is-bigger-than-yours contest then thoughts are:
Threaten him with a spell you don't have on your list either?
How did a class with an animal companion get a silence spell?
It only lasts a round per level and then its gone for the day - its not a threat unless backed up with immediate violence.
Tell him you will zap him with a spell every time you see him casting as he has made it clear he is offensive casting against you.
Silence has a 1 round casting time giving you a move and action to his cast. So zap him when you see him casting a long spell and he will have to make a concentration check to cast or lose the spell.
He can't instruct his animal companion while it is under a silence spell. You can probably do something with that. Maybe always have a treat handy so it becomes your friend while it can't hear its master.
Turn his animal companion bright pink with prestidigitation. You can keep that up all day.
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Turn his animal companion bright pink with prestidigitation. You can keep that up all day.
Best idea I've read in ages.
Alternatively, depending on the animal, turn it black with glowing red eyes, then flee from it into town. When the town guard see you being chased by a fiendish dog (or similar - not recommended if its a hamster!), they will probably come to your aid and kill the beast for you.
Threaten him with a spell you don't have on your list either?How did a class with an animal companion get a silence spell?
He can't instruct his animal companion while it is under a silence spell. You can probably do something with that. Maybe always have a treat handy so it becomes your friend while it can't hear its master.
Clerics and oracles can get animal companions with mystery and domain.
Hand signals are commonly used to train animals.
Turning it bright pink though is a good idea. Presently the guy is threatening to silence you for a minute or two. I'd ask him if he needs a hug. Something is obviously bothering him enough that he feels forced to annoy you.
+1 for not escalating into PvP.
My mystic theurge, with a high Use Magic Device check, keeps a rifle scroll of arcane concordance handy to counter just such a strategy. Since I'm our group's only full caster, I often employ a silence / arcane concordance combo when launching a surprise attack on enemies. I can keep on casting normally while enemy spellcasters are crippled from the start and (usually) unable to raise an alarm.
Alternatively, keep a metamagic rod of silent spell handy.
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What class is the other player? Oracle or Cleric? Assuming the same level, if it's a Cleric the animal will have one Hit die, when the other player starts casting silence, cast shocking grasp, 4d6 should outright kill the animal. Otherwise if he's an Oracle, cast blindness/deafness on him, his fort save probably won't be that high, choose to make him blind, the duration is permanent until you discharge it or he gets remove blindness/deafness on him, which is a 3rd level spell. Or if you want to just stop the animal from following you, cast scare on it it's will based and will be away from you for at least 2 rounds, more if fails its save.
Or if you want to set an example and not resort to PvP, levitate and float up 20 ft, silence is a 10 ft emanation you'll be well out of it, or expeditious retreat, most things won't be able to meet your 60ft speed, these wan't work if he has a bird or something with 60 or more move speed.
Anyway if we had more information we might be able to help a bit more with pvp. It'd help if we had class (and curse if an oracle) and what the animal companion is.
Assuming this isn't PFS (because if it was he really should have gotten the warning as soon as he said that) how do the other players feel about this? If he plans to do this in combat the other players will probably be pretty angry, shutting down your own wizard is a pretty stupid move, if it's not in combat then you really don't have much to worry about.
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You can just move next to him. Then he's silenced too. ;)
But yes, this is a player issue, not a character issue. You're playing with someone who is immature. No spell will fix that.
Of course, the silent spell feat counters this, as would a metamagic rod of silent spell.
Two things:
1 - Succeed on the Will save. As a wizard, you already have a good Will save, so it shouldn't be that hard.
2 - Why is he casting silence on his animal companion instead of you? That seems to add an extra level of unnecessary complexity to the matter.
The companion's point is to get around the wizard's will save, I assumed. The companion waives/fails the save so the spell takes effect, and nobody else gets one. In the area of effect = affected automatically.
The companion's point is to get around the wizard's will save, I assumed. The companion waives/fails the save so the spell takes effect, and nobody else gets one. In the area of effect = affected automatically.
Exactly. I usually cast it on a trinket being carried by my air elemental familiar in case she needs to dispose of it early for some reason. With he high speed and maneuverability, it's unlikely anyone can flee the area of effect if she readies to follow them.
The companion's point is to get around the wizard's will save, I assumed. The companion waives/fails the save so the spell takes effect, and nobody else gets one. In the area of effect = affected automatically.
Huh. That's a much more severe interpretation of silence than I had been using, but upon further research you are correct. I have a deaf Oracle who just got a lot more terrifying...
Back on the original topic, in that case look into learning the somatic-component-only spells mislead (to move away from the animal companion while it follows your illusion) and/or pilfering hand (to steal your opponent's holy symbol).
No one asked why he is casting silence on you? Did you deserve such an act or are you an innocent party? More details would be great. I would not turn evil, but there are other options and they depend on your level and how attached he is to the animal companion. How does gaseous form or slow sound?
Buy a bear trap? Climb a tree? Read Swiss Family Robinson, and learn how to make birdlime? Stand next to the other guy (he can't command his companion while he's silenced, unless he's taught it hand signals)? :)
In other words, there aren't many ways to counter Silence, but there can be a lot of ways to counter the companion vector.
@far_wanderer: Yeah, it's pretty brutal. A save can keep someone from 'sticking' the spell to your face, but there are lots of fiendish ways to put Silence right next to you, and potentially keep it there.
An immediate in game method would include:
1) The fact is that you would know via spellcraft what spell the person is casting, so when the animal companion walks over to you with the area of silence, all you have to do is move out of the radius and then cast your spell. The animal cannot ready an action, unless it was specifically trained to attack anything, and trained with hand signals.
Something to prepare for in the future would be:
2) Take the silent spell feat
3) Buy a metamagic rod of silent spell
The above 2 are assuming that you are at least above 3rd level (since silence is a 2nd level spell).
4) Start taking magus levels or switch over to eldrich knight, and just cut some stuff up!
And of course there is the general...talk it out. And when or if that fails, involve the DM.
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My sympathy to the origional poster. Hope you work that out.
I used to use the silence spell to counter spell casting but only thought it a good idea in small spaces where the caster could not get away. Choosing a point in space would prevent people in the radius from getting a saving throw. Now I will consider checking With players and asking them if they mind me casting it on them of the companions. Summoners with good mud can do it with the eidolon and still telepathically communicate with the eidolon. Thanks for the extra play in my book.