So, a few weeks ago the party was fighting a cleric NPC with an animal companion, and the party druid started casting dominate animal (I think) which has a full round casting time. To counter this spell, the cleric casts Blindness/Deafness and blinds the druid so he can't target anything.
Then, last night, the party was fighting an enchanter, which started to cast Dominate Person. The party druid, remembering the tactic I used, cast Obscuring Mist as a standard action, limiting what the Enchanter could see so he couldn't target anything.
Both valid "counters"?
Also, talking about countering spellcasters, is there anything stopping the party's bard from casting silence on one of the melee fighters' swords so that character can close the distance and stop spellcasting? Same tactic with an arrow which is then fired from a bow? Two combats that have ended prematurely because the enemy spellcaster can't get far enough away from the fighter with the silenced sword.
The first would work, assuming that the druid failed his or her save. The second would work assuming that the enchanter was more than 5 feet away from his or her target (but note obscuring mist would not stop area spells or effect spells such as rays-though the concealment or full concealment would apply to the latter).
Yes silencing the fighters sword is an option, but realize that the fighter and all around him are silenced as well, in such situations as GM I allow no communication at the table between silenced characters and the others (save perhaps a bit of pantomime), making it harder to plan out strategies and tactics for the combat.
Some spell casters (not all by any means, but some) will have the silent spell feat.
Remember, also, what's good for the goose is good for the gander, and don't be surprised when an enemy cleric send forth his guards with silenced swords to confront your druid, bard and other casters in the party
Obscuring mist would have worked to stop the targeting of the spell if the target was more than five feet away. Excellent tactic in fact.
As cwslyclgh says, if the fighter's sword is silenced, he's going to be effectively deaf in combat. I might even impose deafness penalties on those in the area of effect.
And can you believe that so many people claim spellcasters are "overpowered" because they waste their lives wiggling fingers and muttering under their breath...
Sacks of flour thrown into the air, a ball gag and some sturdy rope. Where is your mighty magic now?
Ok, great to know that I played it all right. I'll keep doing what I'm doing, then.
What happens if an item is temporarily enchanted, and then broken (destroyed)? I've been wondering this for a while. I've always imagined that either the enchantment would subside, or that the enchantment would stay with the biggest 'piece'.
It seems important to find out, given that an arrow that damages a creature is destroyed; and an arrow that misses a creature has 50% chance of being destroyed. But if it can be a target for Silence, then one must find out if that Silence will survive the journey.
I suppose I could take a cue from permanently enchanted magical items, which when destroyed become nonmagical. Thoughts?
Perhaps your GM would allow you to cast the silence on one part of the arrow, like the tip. That will, most likely, survive.
Use durable arrows.
Hmm, one thing I would like to point out:
Does a blind spellcaster have to "see" their target? Since it says under targeting, "You must be able to see or touch the target, and you must specifically choose that target."
Does the "or touch" part specifically apply to "touch" spells, or can a blind spellcaster move up and cast Dominate Animal while touching an animal?
GM Jeff, I would rule that if you can touch a target you can "see" it well enough to cast a spell on it. Maybe not RAW but I'd go with it.
It gets tricky in combat with the blind touching spellcaster.
Is it a touch attack?
Is it considered an armed touch attack?
Is there an attack of opportuntiy on my opponent's part?
Do I get a free action touch attack? It's not a real touch spell, so if I cast it and have to wait next turn to touch attack, the spell goes away cause it doesn't go to the "hold a charge" rule.
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It gets tricky in combat with the blind touching spellcaster.
Is it a touch attack?
Is it considered an armed touch attack?
Is there an attack of opportuntiy on my opponent's part?
Do I get a free action touch attack? It's not a real touch spell, so if I cast it and have to wait next turn to touch attack, the spell goes away cause it doesn't go to the "hold a charge" rule.
For a touch spell, I would rule that the blind caster gets to cast the spell, gets the touch attack that is part of the spell (with the 50% miss chance for total concealment from the blind condition) and then can even hold the charge of the spell. I wouldn't hit him with an AoO for the touch attack, but (and this is just me, as I can't find a pertinent rule), I wouldn't give the blind wizard an AoO should his opponent back away from him.