This spell is dumb and no one should ever pick it because it is such a dumb spell. It should be ashamed of itself for even calling itself a spell. 

It should take 1d6 psychic damage for being so dumb.   :D 

Funny 

so based on how this is worded a creature now needs to be able to understand you... lame

this is how vicious mockery was discovered.

"Hi"

"Hi"

"I just insulted a goblin and it just died"

"Whaaaaaaat"

"You ugly"

1d6 damage

not really it just means they have to be in earshot whilst being in range still, so you can still affect deaf people etc

That...doesn't imply that at all.

It doesn't say they have to hear you, it just says that you need to be able to see/hear them. It's the words themselves that deal damage, not the hearing of the words.

does targeted creature need to understand the same language as we do to make this spell work?

Quote from EternalRemnant >>

does targeted creature need to understand the same language as we do to make this spell work?

No. If that were the case, the spell would say that — there are several spells that do have that requirement, but this isn't one of them.

Why did they remove the requirement for the target to hear you? Can you just hear someone in the room next to you, call them a ****, and they die? How is mocking them effecting them if they don't even know it's happening?

Quote from Ameritrash_Panda >>

Why did they remove the requirement for the target to hear you? Can you just hear someone in the room next to you, call them a ****, and they die? How is mocking them effecting them if they don't even know it's happening?

The spell deals psychic damage and is under the Enchantment school, so I think it's reasonable to consider it more of a telepathic effect than that the actual words you're speaking cause damage. And most other telepathic spells do not require the target to be able to hear you.

Also, there has been a general trend in the 2024 material to better support the use of sign languages by player characters, and this may be part of that.

Why the hell is this a wisdom saving throw?

You are mocking someone and attacking their self esteem. Should be a charisma save.

Casting Spellwords are:

Travestium Perversus

Oh so if I'm deaf I can't insult them, but if they're deaf I can insult them just fine.

Come on WOTC...

If you are both deaf and blind you can't insult them.

"Stick and stones can break my bones but words can never...oh wait...OUCH!"

your mom

I had an idea for a terrible character that could only speak in Vicious Mockery due to a curse. Every attempt at speech turns into a Vicious Mockery-style insult. Even casual conversation sounds like magical trash-talk.