So I've been running a higher level (level 16) 2e campaign wherein the players were just exposed at close range to a very loud, deafening noise. To add some context, the players are wandering around the inside of a giant infernal beast (Jabu Jabu style) and inadvertently caused it to roar in pain. I had them roll Fortitude saves to avoid becoming Deafened, and two members of the party failed. When looking to see how they could remove the condition, they came upon the Restore Senses spell, but it states that "it doesn't cure someone who does not have the sense due to some natural state or effect, such as from birth or from a non-magical wound or toxin." My intuition is that that line of text is present to allow the game for representation of deaf characters without magic invalidating that, but I'm not sure how it would apply in this circumstance. Because this was not "magical" per se, would the spell not remove the condition? If that's the case, are there other options for them?
Thanks!
Loud deafening noise should fix itself over time, typically a few minutes. So you shouldn't need a spell to do it. A short rest should do the trick.
Yes it is annoying that Restore Sense doesn't help. It probably should but that's just not what the spell says.
If there is physical damage to the ear its not unreasonable for the GM to allow normal magical healing to work. Its not as if the inner ear has been removed, its is just damaged.
Regenerate will definitely work.
Its over to the GM.
I think I'd probably model the time frame after the effects of a Thundering Rune: one minute on a failure and one hour on a critical failure.