The party is currently fighting a Big Bad who, while flying, casts Entropic Shield on herself. She is a Wind Oracle with the Invisibility revelation.
My question is if she were to use Invisibility, would she disappear or would the Entropic Shield act like Faerie Fire and at least outline her form (or did I just totally hose my baddie)?
I will say they would be invisible. Nothing in the spell's description says that the field can't itself become invisible.
Faerie Fire is an exception. It is designed to counter invisibility and other hidden things. Invisibility can't hide light, but it can hide light sources. I'm on the edge with Entropic Shield having a visible field though, but the spell doesn't mention it is a light source.
Also note that if the field was visible, the target of the spell would still be invisible. There would still be a 50% miss chance. The field would only reveal what square the character was in, so there would be no guessing where they were.
Faerie Fire is designed specifically to call attention to their target. Its only function is to counter the concealment of those it effects. Entropic Shield is designed to protect you from ranged attacks. Its effects are similar to concealment but are not in fact concealment.
Entropic Shield is an abjuration spell designed to protect you. Making it counter invisibility would make it less powerful than it should be.
Cambourne wrote: {creature casts Entropic Shield normally then Invisibility as Oracle Wind Revelation(Su)} Entropic Shield:A1 "A magical field appears around you, ..."
Wind oracle revelations Invisibility (Su): As a standard action, you can become invisible (as per the invisibility spell). You can remain invisible for 1 minute per day per oracle level. This duration does not need to be consecutive, but it must be spent in 1-minute increments. Starting at 9th level, each time you activate this ability you can treat it as greater invisibility, though each round spent this way counts as 1 minute of your normal invisibility duration. You must be at least 3rd level to select this revelation.
Invisibility:I3
The important part is that the Entr Shld visible field is a spell effect not an object or creature. So as long as the spell is ongoing so is the effect.
As it IS a glowing field, Invis talks about light sources (that would be the Light spell among mundane sources), "Light, however, never becomes invisible, although a source of light can become so (thus, the effect is that of a light with no visible source)." where the effect of the light is still going to be seen. How much that obscures the location of a magical glowing field is TBD (in game terms very likely a higher Percp DC).
As a guideline from Invis, "If a check is required, a stationary invisible creature has a +40 bonus on its Stealth checks. This bonus is reduced to +20 if the creature is moving.".
To further add, I don't think glow is defined as a light source. I'm not sure if you can see something that is glowing in the dark. Mild, intense, whatever. At least thats my RAW interpretation. I'd rather house rule that the spell had no visual glow effect than be something that breaks invisibility.
This might be a case where the fluff interferes with the function of the spell.
Entropic Shield does not specify how bright the glow is, nor does it mention increasing the illumination level. It also does not mention any penalty to stealth. Faerie Fire on the other hand specifically states the target sheds light as a candle and imposes a -20 penalty on stealth.
RAW Entropic Shield does not shed light, nor does it impose any penalty on stealth. Invisibility gives you a +40 bonus to stealth unless you are moving in which case it drops to +20. Since the character under Entropic Shield does not take a penalty to stealth when not invisible, why would they be easier to spot when invisible?
The description of Entropic Shield mentions a glow, but does not state that glow is bright enough to be considered light. Light can cause things to glow when it shines on them. The best example of this is the glowing eyes in a photo with a flash.
as with many details it is left to the Home GM to consider as RAW is just conversational on this specific topic. That's why I left it as "TBD"(to be determined). You can go "no effect" to some effect. I knew some folks would try to define what the glow is in Game Terms but it is undefined in the spell description and simply has its common english definition in context:to emit light (be it by reflection, refraction, thermal, or emission(where the molecules/atoms emit light going to a lower energy state)). No matter what bounds I set people would argue with them as it is a matter of opinion so I let others outline those bounds and make arguments according to their tastes.
Personally I'd agree that it should not exceed defined effects like a candle light{Table 7-10}(at best) or a spell to reveal targets(Faerie Fire) as an invisible light source.
GM circumstance modifiers run from plus to minus five to cover a variety of situations.
OmniMage wrote: To further add, I don't think glow is defined as a light source. I'm not sure if you can see something that is glowing in the dark. Mild, intense, whatever. At least thats my RAW interpretation. I'd rather house rule that the spell had no visual glow effect than be something that breaks invisibility.
This might be a case where the fluff interferes with the function of the spell.
Quote: glowing with a chaotic blast of multicolored hues It doesn't illuminate anything, but it emits light. It will help in pinpointing the invisible creature square (but it will not negate the Invisibility).
I would have people make a Perception check to see the effect, the DC depending on the ambient light. If you want a paragon, it would be like a cigarette ember. Bright enough to allow a sniper to hit you at night, but unable to give any meaningful illumination.
As it is a secondary effect of the spell I would make the modifier way lower than Faerie Fire, but note that Faerie Fire does more than allow to pinpoint the square. It completely negates the concealment.
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