Fun with Words of Creation

[Jowgen]

Words of Creation, the BoED feat, allows a character to somewhat speak in a pre-celestial tongue for various benefits, but what caught my eye is this little snippet.


A nonevil creature that tries to utter the Words of Creation without learning them properly is affected as by a feeblemind spell, while an evil character is struck dead.

Two things come to mind reading that.

1. A non-evil creature immune to mind-affecting effects should be fine trying to speak the words, as the effect Feeblemind has on it is zilch. If it has the Listen to This skill trick, it should be able to replicate the effects of the feat after hearing the words spoken, provided it's within the skill-tricks time limit. If that creature is able to verbally communicate with someone with access to the Words of Creation feat at will using whatever magic-walkie-talkie items is on hand, it could essentially get the benefits of words of creation without taking the feat (i.e. "Hey, its me. Do you know what they call a Quarterpounder with Cheese in the Words of Creation?")

2. Having access to words that only a miniscule fraction of all creatures can even attempt to speak seems like something that could be quite useful to the perpetually paranoid. Password to your secret vault? Command word for your wands? Hell, if you could somehow change your actual name into something in the words of creation; people might have a pretty hard time gathering information on you via divinations.

So I'm curious, what do people think of the above, and can anyone think of any other fun applications?

[Necroticplague]

Is the punishment for an Evil character speaking it only for Evil that doesn't know the right Words, or for all Evil? If it's the former, sounds like it could be a useful thing for assassins.
Assassin:"Hello, name's [Word of creation]"
Evil target:"Hold on, not sure I got that one right, [Word]?"
*drops dead*

And of course, if they aren't evil, they're only a moderate INT poison away from being in a coma. So, a poisoned ring with a little bit of INT poison, and you've turned what looks like a friendly greeting into a possible murder or incapacitation. Especially if it's a casual setting, where the incapacitation can be explained by drunkeness (and thus, just making you look like a good samaritan when you carry him off to somewhere he can sleep one off).

[Gemini476]

You don't get the benefits of the feat without taking the feat, and unfortunately the feat is [Exalted].

Also, of course, this sentence after the one you quoted:

Fortunately, it is impossible to make someone speak the Words of Creation against his will, because their pronunciation is so exacting.

[Inevitability]

You don't get the benefits of the feat without taking the feat, and unfortunately the feat is [Exalted].

Also, of course, this sentence after the one you quoted:

The point is that the WoC feat doesn't grant you the ability to speak the words: only to do so without going insane and use them in more ways. If nongood creatures couldn't speak the words at all, why bother having a clause that describes what happens to evil speakers?

[weckar]

You can't make them be spoken against their will, but could you trick an Evil character into speaking them if they don't know what they are?

You know, because CG is G too!

[Jowgen]

According to the beginning section of the text explaining the WoC, Evil creatures can't stand the sound of them, so that might cause issue with tricking them into trying to repeat the name. Then again, the same section says that "no mortal mind" can comprehend more than 4 words, which seems outright wrong considering that one of the uses allows you to research creature true names (suck it Truenamer), which in itself requires knowing a whole "incantation" to finalize the process.

I've had a quick look through spells that require target names, as to see what merit there is in having yourself re-named in the words of creation. Spells that target a specific known individual seem to always allow one to identify it by description if name isn't an option. Only imprison Soul and Trap the soul seem to specifically require the actual name be spoken, and those spells still work without it.

The only fun I can see is if some evil caster who's mad at you casts commune or contact other plane, and demands to know your name. Whatever evil deity or fiend answers will look rather silly when they're unable to give said name.

[Name1]

The point is that the WoC feat doesn't grant you the ability to speak the words: only to do so without going insane and use them in more ways. If nongood creatures couldn't speak the words at all, why bother having a clause that describes what happens to evil speakers?

Well, I'd assume that a Void Disciple could use Moment of Clarity to grant a nongood character an exalted feat, since it specifically mentions that it can grant all feats that aren't ancestor feats. Since you don't loose exalted feats for being evil, but only for commiting an evil act (which normally would make you fall from the only alignment that can normally aquire them: Good), you'd have an evil character that has yet to perform an evil act to loose the exalted feat. Of course, this assumes that a character who has yet to atone only looses the benefits of the exalted feats he has while he did the vile deed...

Eh, I dunno. It's BoED's version of Dark Speech.