Hey all!
I am making a Veiled Illusionist for PFS and am try to get my tactics straight.
I am going to be using a Threatening (Metamagic Feat) Ghost Sound to give allies some flanking bonuses and make rogues happy. My issue is this.
Ghost Sound has a range of 25 + 5 / 2lvls and an effect of "Sound". My issue is that it has no target.
Do I pick a square within my range that the sound emanates from at casting?
This is important because it will determine if I have to cast another ghost sound (standard action) or just change the threatening square (swift action). How much area does the effect fill? One square or up to my range?
Hey all!
I am making a Veiled Illusionist for PFS and am try to get my tactics straight.
I am going to be using a Threatening (Metamagic Feat) Ghost Sound to give allies some flanking bonuses and make rogues happy. My issue is this.Ghost Sound has a range of 25 + 5 / 2lvls and an effect of "Sound". My issue is that it has no target.
Do I pick a square within my range that the sound emanates from at casting?
This is important because it will determine if I have to cast another ghost sound (standard action) or just change the threatening square (swift action). How much area does the effect fill? One square or up to my range?
The volume of sound created depends on your level. You can produce as much noise as four normal humans per caster level (maximum 40 humans).
Additionally, a spell with a range of close that does not define a specific type of target - at least based on my reading of the "Aiming a Spell" rules - would indicate that you could center the affect on any square within the stated range.
The effect would be audible based on how much noise you can make - which is based on your level.
I'd have to look to see if there are rules on sound effects like that, but essentially with the Threatening Metamagic, you would create a sound of four adult humans or the equivalent per level (which should be audible over a wide range - say probably 100 feet?), and each round you can use a swift action to 'focus' that sound on a single five-foot square within range that then is considered to threaten an adjacent foe.
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Ultimately, the square on which you center the effect has to be within the range of the spell, and cannot move beyond that range, so the distance at which the illusory sound could be heard is irrelevant for purposes of threat. If you move, and then wished to move the 'threatening' square to be in a location that was outside the original range of the casting, then you'd have to recast.
I think that you should be able to do it with a swift action as per the feat's description. It would just be one casting.
If you took the trait Magical Lineage and applied it to Ghost Sound, you would have an endless amount of opportunities to provide flank.
I think that you should be able to do it with a swift action as per the feat's description. It would just be one casting.
Yes, and maybe no.
The spell has a defined range on how far away you can 'center' the casting. Since it is normally a non-offensive spell it doesn't define an area of effect - i.e., at what distance you could hear the spell.
So a question could arise in PFS on how far away from the original point of emanation you could 'move' the threatened square without recasting. It might be somewhat overpowered to allow someone to move it anywhere within the area of sound, because you could technically keep the effect up constantly (even between battles, moving along with you) assuming you didn't use your swift actions for anything else.
My initial thought was this:
You cast Ghost sound.
You then pick a square, within range, from which the sound will emanate.
The ghost sound effect fills one square that is threatening.
I can not move the ghost sound around, though I can mimic distance by raising and lowering the volume.
If I needed to move the threatening square I would need to cast another Ghost sound.
This is by far the most conservative understanding of the rules. I will have to use standards to move my flank. However, since Ghost Sound lasts for rounds/lvl, I could end up with lots of threatening ghost sounds proving flanking bonuses to my party. Think of it as my very own invisible army.
My initial thought was this:
You cast Ghost sound.
You then pick a square, within range, from which the sound will emanate.
The ghost sound effect fills one square that is threatening.
I can not move the ghost sound around, though I can mimic distance by raising and lowering the volume.
If I needed to move the threatening square I would need to cast another Ghost sound.This is by far the most conservative understanding of the rules. I will have to use standards to move my flank. However, since Ghost Sound lasts for rounds/lvl, I could end up with lots of threatening ghost sounds proving flanking bonuses to my party. Think of it as my very own invisible army.
Well, the Threatening Illusion metamagic feat specifically states that you can move the illusion anywhere within range once per round as a swift action. So you WOULD Be able to move it - and you could only move it to any square that is within 25 ft + 5 ft / 2 levels.
The only question is whether there is a 'boundary limit' set based on how far the sound emanates; for example, if the radius of audibility of the sound is 100 feet centered on the first 'target' square of the spell, could you walk along within that 100 feet, moving the threatening square as you moved each turn, and then upon reaching the edge, move the square outside the original range of the sound?
I would say probably you could, assuming that you could get there within the spell's duration.
Threatening Illusion doesn't say you can move the illusion, it lets you move the square that is threatening. Ex: I create a huge threatening creature. One of the squares that the creature takes up is threatening. If the enemy moves however, I can change the threatening square to one of the other 8 squares that my huge illusion takes up.
I am revisiting this idea since I started the character for the concept.
One thing I noticed is that the description states that I can create a "volume of sound that rises, recedes, approaches, or remains at a fixed place."
From that description I am now moving towards the idea that I can create the sound anywhere within my range and it can move around. This idea is also supported by the fact that you can use ghost sound to make a silent image seem more life like. It wouldn't make sense that the illusionary lion is in one area but its roar comes from a completely separate square 30 ft away.
My only worry at this point is the awfully low save on the concept and the fact that the enemy gets TWO saves. One for the threatening effect and one for the ghost sound. Either save would negate the threatening. At third lvl, the save would be a DC 16 will save and the enemy would get to roll twice and take the better. Not great odds and it only goes down hill from there.
Maybe the better option is to utilize it on a higher lvl illusion. Having a threatening Major Illusion would be useful. With effortless trickery I could have a major image follow me around all day and the enemy would only have 1 save vs the threatening effect with a DC that is 3 higher.