Pathfinder Still Spell and Arcane Failure Chance

[artimus261]

So I'm curious about how these two interact. From what I'm aware Arcane Failure Chance brought on by armor is caused by it constricting the movements of an arcane caster that are required for their somatic components. Still Spell removes somatic components so I'm curious if that removes any Arcane Failure chance brought about by armor. I can't seem to find it anywhere but the two seem heavily involved in the same area so I'm wondering what most people would say.

[Anonymouswizard]

I have never owned Pathfinder, but in 3.5 spells without Somatic Components didn't suffer from ASF.

[Psyren]

It works just like in 3.5: no somatic components = no ASF.

This also applies to spells like Teleport, or Psychic Spells, that natively have no somatic components.

[GunDragon]

Somatic components for spells are the reason Arcane Spell Failure chance exist.
That's why wizards and sorcerers have to walk around in robes and divine casters can quite happily walk around in armor.
I believe Clerics, Paladin, and Ranger spells don't have somatic components, only verbal ones, but they do require a holy symbol.
As for the Still Spell metamagic feat, it is useful because it allows a sorcerer or wizard to cast spells while they're wearing armor without having to worry about that pesky Arcane Spell Failure chance.
Only thing is, Still Spells occupy a spell slot one level higher than they normally would.
So Still Spell is good if you want to play an armored wizard or sorcerer. Personally I think it is not worth it, since wizards and sorcerers tend to be in the back of the formation, and don't need a really high AC because they're not tanking. Still, enemies can target wizards and sorcerers anyway. That's what Mage Armor, Shield, Blur, Displacement, Mirror Image, etc. are for.

[Anonymouswizard]

Divine spells do have somatic components. They're just assumed to not be as complex as Arcane ones (getting your hand in a succession of different specific positions versus gesturing with your holy symbol).

[Mystral]

Somatic components for spells are the reason Arcane Spell Failure chance exist.
That's why wizards and sorcerers have to walk around in robes and divine casters can quite happily walk around in armor.
I believe Clerics, Paladin, and Ranger spells don't have somatic components, only verbal ones, but they do require a holy symbol.
As for the Still Spell metamagic feat, it is useful because it allows a sorcerer or wizard to cast spells while they're wearing armor without having to worry about that pesky Arcane Spell Failure chance.
Only thing is, Still Spells occupy a spell slot one level higher than they normally would.
So Still Spell is good if you want to play an armored wizard or sorcerer. Personally I think it is not worth it, since wizards and sorcerers tend to be in the back of the formation, and don't need a really high AC because they're not tanking. Still, enemies can target wizards and sorcerers anyway. That's what Mage Armor, Shield, Blur, Displacement, Mirror Image, etc. are for.

Still spell is mostly seen as usefull not because it allows a caster to wear armor, but because it allows him to cast spells while entangled, grappled or otherwise immobilisied, or to cast a spell without it being obvious. A stilled, silent enchantment spell is almost undetectable and can cause havoc in any social setting.

That said, it's still not an awesome feat. It's best to have a metamagic rod handy for this, if you want to utilise it at all. Many casters never bother and still are doing quite well.

[ATHATH]

Somatic components for spells are the reason Arcane Spell Failure chance exist.
That's why wizards and sorcerers have to walk around in robes and divine casters can quite happily walk around in armor.
I believe Clerics, Paladin, and Ranger spells don't have somatic components, only verbal ones, but they do require a holy symbol.
As for the Still Spell metamagic feat, it is useful because it allows a sorcerer or wizard to cast spells while they're wearing armor without having to worry about that pesky Arcane Spell Failure chance.
Only thing is, Still Spells occupy a spell slot one level higher than they normally would.
So Still Spell is good if you want to play an armored wizard or sorcerer. Personally I think it is not worth it, since wizards and sorcerers tend to be in the back of the formation, and don't need a really high AC because they're not tanking. Still, enemies can target wizards and sorcerers anyway. That's what Mage Armor, Shield, Blur, Displacement, Mirror Image, etc. are for.
I thought that divine spells still had somatic components, but didn't have to deal with ASF by virtue of being divine spells (and not arcane ones).

Why isn't this in the appropriate subforum?

[Anonymouswizard]

Still spell is mostly seen as usefull not because it allows a caster to wear armor, but because it allows him to cast spells while entangled, grappled or otherwise immobilisied, or to cast a spell without it being obvious. A stilled, silent enchantment spell is almost undetectable and can cause havoc in any social setting.

That said, it's still not an awesome feat. It's best to have a metamagic rod handy for this, if you want to utilise it at all. Many casters never bother and still are doing quite well.

Yeah, depending on the game Still Spell is either invaluable or near-useless, depending on how often losing the use of your hands comes up. Unfortunately many campaigns it's only useful for hiding that your casting, in which case you have to decide if a two spell level increase is worth it.

This is why 5e's Sorcerers are better in this case. If you pick Subtle Spell you can use it on the fly with the only cost being Sorcery Points, no increased spell levels, no increased casting time, just the ability to use other metamagics. It's not the best metamagic combat-wise, but it's worthwhile if your group gets into situations where subtle casting is useful.

[LibraryOgre]

Why isn't this in the appropriate subforum?



The Mod Wonder: Because, at the time, it was in General Role-Playing, while being about something rather specific to 3.x. It has been moved. Pay attention to your subforums, kids!