Invisibility in a Boat

[Palanan]

A quick question for a desperate beguiler who really needs to make himself scarce:

He's in a small boat, small enough that he can cast invisibility on it...but that's his last spell for the day, so he can't cover himself as well.

The boat has a small mast which he hasn't stepped yet (no time)...and sails, lying folded in the bottom.

Can he cast invisibility on the boat, and then hide himself under the sails? Since they're "gear," and they fall within the weight limit of his caster level, would they be considered part of the boat proper?

[Mnemnosyne]

A boat with invisibility cast on it would be...pretty conspicuous, unless the water is rough. There'd be a big, visible depression in the water where the boat displaces its weight in water. Since the boat sounds pretty small, it sounds unlikely the water is all that rough, so casting invisibility on the boat might not have the effect you intend.

That said, it's reasonable to consider hiding under the sail just like picking up a non-invisible object and sticking it in your pocket while you're invisible: it works. The sail is as much part of the boat as your clothing is part of you, so to rule that the sail would be a separate object that requires a separate casting seems wrong as far as I can see.

[Palanan]

Okay, thanks. I'm aware of the concavity the boat will create in the water, but the water is fairly choppy and it's raining as well, so it's a risk he's willing to take. One spell left, and not a lot of options...

[candycorn]

Actually, depressions in the water are devilishly hard to see at any real distance. Speaking as a qualified master lookout (former Naval service), small or difficult to see objects, such as periscopes, gray buoys, debris that is similar colored to the water, or the like, it's much easier to spot the pattern of white foam that comes off such objects than to see the objects themselves. Even then, it takes a relatively practiced and trained eye.

Up close, it wouldn't pass inspection... But from anything over a couple hundred feet, it would be damn hard to see. I'd probably treat it as concealment, allow hide checks, apply a -4 modifier for boat size, and allow spot vs hide to detect.

[Palanan]

Thanks for the experienced comments there. The weather in this scenario will be moderate rain and rough water, and the beguiler is hoping that past a few hundred feet, the invisible boat will be lost in the general chop and greyness.

Your comment about the white foam is a good suggestion--maybe a little spray when the boat hits a wave, a small fan of water where there shouldn't be?

[Augmental]

Out of curiosity, what situation is the beguiler in, exactly?

[Palanan]

It's a tight one. I wrote up a recap of our last session here (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showpost.php?p=13711571&postcount=22).

Our next session is this afternoon. The beguiler is almost out of spells, so he's down to his emergency alchemical items. His day's really gone south in a hurry.
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[theUnearther]

I just want to intrude to point out that rain actually makes your situation worse, because it will keep bouncing off the invisible ship. If it is raining hard enough you get a sort of Daredevil-vision effect there.
No rules for that, as far as I know, but beware of the GM deciding this is what happens. You should know your GM better better than I do.