Message spell - alternate use

[Baskineli]

Message spell is a cantrip (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/spells/message.htm).

It is usually used to talk with your comrades over distances, without alerting others to your presence.

What if I cast it on an enemy? Will I be able to hear what they say?

[Erk]

One would think they'd be alerted to your casting, since they would at the very least hear your breathing in their ear.

Clever idea though :)

[Torek]

Message spell is a cantrip (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/spells/message.htm).

What if I cast it on an enemy? Will I be able to hear what they say?

I would interpret it as: Only if he wants to send you a whispered message.

The spell description says:

The creatures that receive the message can whisper a reply that you hear.

That is a can (as it is if you want to whisper messages to him). So you and the enemy must willingly message-whisper to be able to hear each other.

You might could use it for extreme taunting though, if your enemy flees behind a locked door ;)

[Indon]

PC: "Hey, C'thalln! It's your conscience! Gosh, it's dark in here. I've come back from vacation to tell you that maybe 1,000 ritual sacrifices are bad!"

Lich: "Why does my conscience sound like that damned bard?"

*a couple rounds later*

PC *w/ Glibness*: "I don't know what you're talking about."

[Baskineli]

How about using message to make a caster to do concentration rolls? I am sure it is harder to cast when you have someone taunting you right in your ear...

[ZeroNumerous]

PC: "Hey, C'thalln! It's your conscience! Gosh, it's dark in here. I've come back from vacation to tell you that maybe 1,000 ritual sacrifices are bad!"

Lich: "Why does my conscience sound like that damned bard?"

*a couple rounds later*

PC *w/ Glibness*: "I don't know what you're talking about."

This is about the best use you're gonna get out of Message.

[kellandros]

I had seen a similar spell(a bit stronger than a cantrip, where distance/line of sight is not an issue) in a Slayers d20 book. The description is that a small orb of light appears next to the the target and follows them around, and you talk through that.

We had a fun argument about casting message on the recurring villain who was sneaking around to ambush us, spotting the glowing ball of light next to a bush, and then pelting the general area with magic.

[Tellah]

PC: "Hey, C'thalln! It's your conscience! Gosh, it's dark in here. I've come back from vacation to tell you that maybe 1,000 ritual sacrifices are bad!"

Lich: "Why does my conscience sound like that damned bard?"

*a couple rounds later*

PC *w/ Glibness*: "I don't know what you're talking about."

Please come play in my campaign.

[Swooper]

Please come play in my campaign.

Wait, is that the D&D equavalent of "Please bear my children."?

[LongVin]

You could use it to drive NPCs insane. Bonus Exp to the first person to have an NPC start screaming "The Voices! The Voices! Make them stop!"

[Shhalahr Windrider]

Wait, is that the D&D equavalent of "Please bear my children."?

I believe it is.

The spell description consistently refers to whispering to sending messages—both to send and reply. So we can assume if you talk louder than a whisper, nothing is sent.

Whether or not you send any sort of message is clearly meant to be voluntary action, from the tone of the descriptions.

And it seems only the caster can choose to send messages without replying to one he or she has recieved. Anything any target sends has to be a reply to a message he or she recieved.

[Isomenes]

Message is great for targeting specific bad guys. If you want to, say, fascinate select members of an audience, then suggest they do something, it's got no save and you don't risk the chance of tipping off other, potentially more alert members. That won't work in combat, but you can use it in combat to prevent other enemies from overhearing, say, a rushed Diplomacy check (with a decent DM who will allow at least the possibility of the action's success).

[Koga]

Best way to use message:

Send message saying something like "we're coming to gut ya'!"

Even if you're not really coming. Just scare the crap out of them, that's always fun...

[technomancer]

In one game I played, my psion used Missive to convince a half-orc that she was hearing the voice of grummish and sparked a rather nasty little skirmish between members of the orc tribe.

[Elven Paladin]

You could use it to drive NPCs insane. Bonus Exp to the first person to have an NPC start screaming "The Voices! The Voices! Make them stop!"

Heh heh...I did that. I was playing an evil Sorceror who had been arrested for killing a town guard. I fled the town, but was still caught, along with another man, an NPC who looked suspiciously like me. I cast Message and had him convinced he had gone mad; he then tried to break out of prison. Let's just say that I walked out later that day a free man.

[Meat Shield]

This just came up in my game Friday night. One of my players has a Beguiler and he has been casting message on the entire party to make sure messages can be relayed through the din of battle. Well, to surprise me he cast it on the minions of the BBEG, then said something to the effect of "You will die horribly and gruesomely after I finish your boss." It was so unexpected I gave him a circumstance bonus to the morale check I needed to make for them as the odds were swinging in the PCs favor. Two of the four ran away without firing a shot.