Dimensional Door Question

[GutterFace]

Does it make a sound? As in: does activating an ability like the Blink Shirt (etc); and or re-appearing make a sound?

for example if i wanted to move silently would using Dimensional Door be fool proof, more so than relying on a Move Silent check?

[nedz]

The spell has Verbal (only) components, so it's not silent. Applying Silent Spell would fix this though.

[Jormengand]

Though, the verbal component happens while you're casting it, which is before you actually teleport, meaning that if you arrive somewhere else, you wouldn't make a sound in your new location.

[nedz]

True, or you could use something like the Dimensional Jaunt Reserve feat: which is a (Su). These don't usually have components and so you should be OK. The Warlock Flee the Scene invocation is a SLA with only a Somatic component so this should be good too.

[Darrin]

There's a loud *BAMF* sound, along with a lingering smell of brimstone.

[Curmudgeon]

That's going to be up to each individual DM to decide. When you displace the air at your destination when suddenly appearing there will be a shock wave (basically an explosion); at the other end there will also be a noise as surrounding air fills the vacuum you just created by leaving. There's nothing in the spell which says anything about two-way transport (air moving from destination back to origin point), so all that displacement is going to be audible. I'd think it would be quite loud, but it's an individual DM's call.

[Gildedragon]

There's a loud *BAMF* sound, along with a lingering smell of brimstone.

I now wanna play a diabolan shadow-hand unarmed swordsage

[KorbeltheReader]

There's nothing in the spell which says anything about two-way transport (air moving from destination back to origin point), so all that displacement is going to be audible.

And in fact it implies the opposite. If whatever you displace were instead teleported to the origin point, you would be able to teleport into walls and such, with the wall pieces you teleported into appearing in a heap at your origin point. Thus you're probably right that it should make a loud sound.

[Jormengand]

That's going to be up to each individual DM to decide. When you displace the air at your destination when suddenly appearing there will be a shock wave (basically an explosion); at the other end there will also be a noise as surrounding air fills the vacuum you just created by leaving. There's nothing in the spell which says anything about two-way transport (air moving from destination back to origin point), so all that displacement is going to be audible. I'd think it would be quite loud, but it's an individual DM's call.

Yeah, and you may be able to cause nuclear explosions with Mage Hand and a DC 30 knowledge check to know that atoms exist. The dimension door spell doesn't say that you make a noise at the other end - all it says of any relevance is "You instantly transfer yourself from your current location to any other spot within range."

Also, the displacement shouldn't be that noisy anyway. When you walk into a room, you displace air equal to your own volume in that room anyway. Dimension door should be no more noisy than falling. No, not landing, falling. Id est, basically inaudible.

Basically, stop getting physics in my magic. :smalltongue:

[Peelee]

Basically, stop getting physics in my magic. :smalltongue:

Nevas! Also, I'm seriously thinking about sigging this line.

[HighWater]

That's going to be up to each individual DM to decide. When you displace the air at your destination when suddenly appearing there will be a shock wave (basically an explosion); at the other end there will also be a noise as surrounding air fills the vacuum you just created by leaving. There's nothing in the spell which says anything about two-way transport (air moving from destination back to origin point), so all that displacement is going to be audible. I'd think it would be quite loud, but it's an individual DM's call.
Fair points, but I'm not so sure you actually displace air. In order to displace something, you actually have to be moving, the spell says nothing about the teleporter appearing in a point space and then expanding outwards until they reach their full size (which would indeed cause a shockwave). Instead, the teleporter just appears, without the spell saying anything about what happens to the air that used to be in that location. In fact, the teleporter is transported instantaneously, which is faster than the speed of light, so if he did go from a point-space to full size in no-time-flat, his existence would be over much faster than anyone on any accellerated time demiplane could say nuclear fusion (https://what-if.xkcd.com/1/).

Now it may seem like a bunch of designers forgetting that air has mass and density (or that it even exists at all) and in general not bothering with thinking through "realistic physics consequences", but that can't possibly be the case, so let's over-analyse this instead, shall we?
So, where did the air go?
- Perhaps it's still there, stuck inside your body... That doesn't sound very healthy to me, I think you'd probably die in a pretty brutal fashion! So that option is out...
- Perhaps it DID transport back to the original location of the teleporter, this would explain why the spell does not describe the sound of air smashing into itself as it fills a vacuum at the original location (which should otherwise happen even if no inflation at the targetlocation took place). Perhaps only gases and liquids can do this though, as you're prohibited from teleporting into solids. Still, if you teleport from a few miles under the sea to a new, airy location, you'd form an air bubble at your original location before the water slams down and creates a nasty shockwave (https://what-if.xkcd.com/6/) that'll likely hamstring any living thing nearby. This option is messy, but plausible...
- Perhaps it just disappears into nothingness. Now don't start throwing accusations of lacking conversation of energy, or casters draining the multiverse of air one teleport at a time, maybe instead the Law of Conservation of Energy functions differently with teleport. Teleport wipes out the liquid/gas you replace, but fills up your original location with perfect ratios of it's surrounding (so if you were standing ankledeep in water, it replaces the bit up to your anklet with water, and the bit above with air). Now casters have a moral obligation to off-set their emergency-teleportations with something akin to planting trees for flying (https://sites.google.com/site/treeflightskenya/). Every time you save yourself from drowing by teleporting to a safe and airy location, you have to make up for it by teleporting from an airy location to a waterly location, or eventually the air will run out!

I like this third "explanation" much more, and it could be completely silent! (See, totally on topic!)

Save the Plane(t), teleport into the Ocean RIGHT NOW!


Edit: said "second" where I meant "third" in the concluding statement!

[Jormengand]

Nevas! Also, I'm seriously thinking about sigging this line.

If you like. :smalltongue:

[GutterFace]

Well i am pleased this topic took off :)

[Bullet06320]

while not in the rules, I do recall in at least 1 or 2 of the forgotten realms novels(im not sure which ones), that teleporting makes a small pop or woosh sound, implying the displacement of the air, it does make for better reading and realistic physics with magic for the novels at least
by RAW nothing is stated it makes a sound except verbal component while casting
as a house rule u could add the sound for realistic effect if u wanted to

[JusticeZero]

Honestly, it is not even a given that air has volume in a given fantasy setting. It could very easily just be an energy field, much in the same way that metal is infinitely divisible semi fluidic manna inscribed on an energetic level with its identifying features as an address in the Elemental Plane of Earth.

[Larrx]

Random (fun) real world physics aside, I'd imagine that DD would make noise regardless. If one were to teleport into a room that was covered in dry twigs, I'd imagine that would make a sound that someone could notice. Ways to mitigate that (flight, skill checks, etc.) would work similarly to how they work in other situations. Entering a five foot square covered in linoleum while wearing high heels will make a clacky-clack sound. It doesn't matter (much) how you get into the square.

[pwykersotz]

For what it's worth, Complete Psionic has the only flavor text for Dimension Door that I've ever seen.

"You step into a black spherical void; when you step out, you are somewhere else."

Validity of the source aside, this implies more of a portal effect that would handle the displacement without noise. There is the downside of a visual display, but used with that flavor Invisible Spell would let you cover your bases for sneakery.