Casting Silence

[Darkbru]

Quick question. Can I cast silence on a moveable object? For example could I cast it on my own dagger and carry it around to silence my movement? Additionally, could I cast it on an enemy's clothing/weapon/whatever so they can't just move out of the sphere?

[Talionis]

This is an interesting question. Silence says that you pick a point for the sphere. The spell Darkness uses the same language but explicitly adds language that says that for darkness you may attach the Darkness to point on an object. Darkness emanates like light.

As a rules, lawyer I would argue that since they added the language for Darkness but didn't for Silence, that they knew how to make it clear that you could attach Darkness to an object and did not use the same language in Silence. RAW I think it attaches to a fixed point in space and not an object.

Silence is a more devastating spell to Casters, so it maybe that this is an important balancing for a 2nd level spell.

[PhantomSoul]

For point spells, it really is a point in space (PHB 204):


Typically, a point of origin is a point in space, but some spells have an area whose origin is a creature or an object.

[Darkbru]

This is an interesting question. Silence says that you pick a point for the sphere. The spell Darkness uses the same language but explicitly adds language that says that for darkness you may attach the Darkness to point on an object. Darkness emanates like light.

As a rules, lawyer I would argue that since they added the language for Darkness but didn't for Silence, that they knew how to make it clear that you could attach Darkness to an object and did not use the same language in Silence. RAW I think it attaches to a fixed point in space and not an object.

Silence is a more devastating spell to Casters, so it maybe that this is an important balancing for a 2nd level spell.

I too interpreted it this way, but I was trying to think of out-of-the- box uses for it. My wizard found a spell scroll of silence and I'm trying hard to make it more useful than negating an area for enemy casters.

[Vogie]

Quick question. Can I cast silence on a moveable object? For example could I cast it on my own dagger and carry it around to silence my movement? Additionally, could I cast it on an enemy's clothing/weapon/whatever so they can't just move out of the sphere?

Not by RAW. It's defined as a point:


For the duration, no sound can be created within or pass through a 20 foot radius Sphere centered on a point you choose within range

That being said, you could certainly ask your DM if they'd allow it to act like the spell darkness, which explicitly states:


If the point you choose is on an object you are holding or one that isn’t being worn or carried, the darkness emanates from the object and moves with it.

They may give it to you for free, or require a higher level spell casting, or require some sort of ranged spell attack to pull that off.

They may also only allow it on a magical weapon that they design for you - a Dagger of Silence, for example, that gives the silence spell localized on it, and can be carried or thrown to move.

Fans of the first Critical Role campaign may remember that the gunslinger character had a gauntlet that would create a zone of silence around him (to muffle the noise of Bad News, his sniper rifle, going off).

[saucerhead]

I don't think this works RAW, but it is an interesting idea.
If you want the area to move like darkness when it's on an item, wouldn't you be able to cover it just like darkness? Thereby blocking/muffling(?) the silence? :smalltongue:

"Completely covering the source o f the darkness with an opaque
object, such as a bowl or a helm, blocks the darkness."

[Tanarii]

Silence is immobile. That limits its effectiveness as an anti caster spell to some degree.

But its worth noting sound cant pass through it. Placed strategically in a narrow location it blocks off sound from a direction entirely. Very useful ritual for dividing and conquering somewhat nearby groups of enemies you might otherwise draw with the sound of combat.

[solidork]

It worked this way in 3.5 but not in 5e, iirc.