Our bard cast Dissonant Whispers at an ogre he could not see. The player could see where the ogre was via the map and minis, the bard did not have a clear line of sight to the ogre. In fact, the bard did not know if the ogre was present at that location. So, my question is, does Dissonant Whispers work like Vicious Mockery where you do have to have a view of the target? Or is it a Hail Mary type of spell and you hope for the best? Thanks!
The spellcasting rules don't require seeing your target. Specific spells can have sight requirements, but Dissonant Whispers doesn't. Casting it on an enemy you can't see is fine.
It says "one creature of your choice within range", not "one creature you can see within range".
However, if they didn't even know the orc was there, because it was hidden or something, then they shouldn't have had the character knowledge to make the decision to cast the spell.
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I was gong to ask this same question. The way we run this in my game is that I dont have to see the target at the moment of casting, but I have to have seen the target at some point before, and I have to know it is there.
So, we fought a hag once. I laid eyes on her, and did some casting that required sight. She escaped.
A few days later, she ambushed us. I was upstairs and out of sight of her, but I knew she was one floor down. I cast the DW spell, and my DM ruled that since I knew her and knew that she was close (I heard her fighting with another party member) I was able to stay upstairs and cast the spell a few times, completely removed from the fight.
Even though this was quite a necro... from the PHB:
A Clear Path to the Target
To target something, you must have a clear path to it, so it can't be behind total cover. If you place an area of effect at a point that you can't see and an obstruction, such as a wall, is between you and that point, the point of origin comes into being on the near side of that obstruction.
Several posts are are conflating line of sight and clear path to the target, but they are not the same thing.
a Clear path means a straight line connects you and the target, full stop. All spells need the clear path per the PHB
A Line of sight is a clear path where you can see and the target is visible. If you are blind, and/or the target is invisible, you don't have line of sight. Only spells that require you to see a target require line of sight.
So for dissonant whispers you do need a clear path, but you do not need line of sight, so you can cast the spell while blind, or at an invisible target, and as long as the clear path itself exists, the spell will work and find its target.
So no casting the spell from a floor above, no casting through a door or around a corner, but yes to casting while blind or casting at an invisible target.
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Our bard cast Dissonant Whispers at an ogre he could not see. The player could see where the ogre was via the map and minis, the bard did not have a clear line of sight to the ogre. In fact, the bard did not know if the ogre was present at that location. So, my question is, does Dissonant Whispers work like Vicious Mockery where you do have to have a view of the target? Or is it a Hail Mary type of spell and you hope for the best? Thanks!
The spellcasting rules don't require seeing your target. Specific spells can have sight requirements, but Dissonant Whispers doesn't. Casting it on an enemy you can't see is fine.
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ModeratorIt says "one creature of your choice within range", not "one creature you can see within range".
However, if they didn't even know the orc was there, because it was hidden or something, then they shouldn't have had the character knowledge to make the decision to cast the spell.
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I was gong to ask this same question. The way we run this in my game is that I dont have to see the target at the moment of casting, but I have to have seen the target at some point before, and I have to know it is there.
So, we fought a hag once. I laid eyes on her, and did some casting that required sight. She escaped.
A few days later, she ambushed us. I was upstairs and out of sight of her, but I knew she was one floor down. I cast the DW spell, and my DM ruled that since I knew her and knew that she was close (I heard her fighting with another party member) I was able to stay upstairs and cast the spell a few times, completely removed from the fight.
God damn I love this spell.
Even though this was quite a necro... from the PHB:
A Clear Path to the Target
To target something, you must have a clear path to it, so it can't be behind total cover. If you place an area of effect at a point that you can't see and an obstruction, such as a wall, is between you and that point, the point of origin comes into being on the near side of that obstruction.
Several posts are are conflating line of sight and clear path to the target, but they are not the same thing.
a Clear path means a straight line connects you and the target, full stop. All spells need the clear path per the PHB
A Line of sight is a clear path where you can see and the target is visible. If you are blind, and/or the target is invisible, you don't have line of sight. Only spells that require you to see a target require line of sight.
So for dissonant whispers you do need a clear path, but you do not need line of sight, so you can cast the spell while blind, or at an invisible target, and as long as the clear path itself exists, the spell will work and find its target.
So no casting the spell from a floor above, no casting through a door or around a corner, but yes to casting while blind or casting at an invisible target.