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Can you ready an action to interrupt a spell-like ability since they have no verbal, somatic or material components? Can you tell when they're starting to cast it in order to attack them? Since they provoke, if there is no way to tell they're using it, then you wouldnt get an attack of opportunity, right? So stands to reason you can tell somehow. thoughts?
My thought is you're right - to an extend. It's not so much that using a SLA is noticeable, but rather that invoking it takes one's focus away from the fight. It's that which causes the AoO. But it could also be the cue to launch a readied action.
It should be impossible though to know beforehand which SLA is used, or even whether it's a SLA, a stilled and silent spell or just a ruse. Readying an action to launch against a specific SLA is probably impossible.
Hey there Everybody]
The rules here are certainly not clear, because they generally assume that the act of casting a spell has some noticeable element. Notice I did not say component, because I think the rules are silent on parts of spellcasting that are codified components versus those that occur without any sort of codification, such as the wiggle of a finger, change in breathing and other flavor bits that happen when a spellcaster makes the magic happen, as it were.
Back to the topic at hand, since the rules are silent here, I think it is well within the GMs purview to impose a penalty to the Spellcraft check to identify a spell without components (V, S, M). Since there is no real increase for spells with just one, I would guess that this penalty is not very large, perhaps only as much as -4.
This is, of course, up to your GM to adjudicate.
Jason Bulmahn
Lead Designer
Paizo PublishingEdit: I should also note that I also agree with James, that a strict reading of the rules says you can make the check, without penalty, regardless of the spell's components.
This is one of my favorite quotes by Jason! He essentially agrees with my theory that magic DOES things, such as make your eyes glow or your hands crackle with energy. The metamagic feats to remove spell components do NOT remove your ability to identify a spell with Spellcraft (though the GM can impart a penalty).
Since SLAs are identical to the spell being cast, I would assume the coalescence of the godlike energies would certainly be there and recognizable as well.