Vicious Mockery

OW!!

did you just critical fail?

Not at all, the spell says the creature doesn't even need to be able to hear you

And if you ask me, casting Viscious Mockery by physically making fun of them is way better

As the only component of the spell is verbal would onlookers be aware that an attack occurred? Would the target be aware of from where the attack occurred? If only the target is aware of the origin of the attack, AND they reacted with violence would it not appear that the recipient just attacked without just cause and merely because their feelings were hurt?

Quote from GalenDracos1167 >>

As the only component of the spell is verbal would onlookers be aware that an attack occurred? Would the target be aware of from where the attack occurred? If only the target is aware of the origin of the attack, AND they reacted with violence would it not appear that the recipient just attacked without just cause and merely because their feelings were hurt?

I think the answers to all those question are highly situation-dependent.

If you're in the middle of a noisy crowd of people, and you target one of them with this spell, it seems highly likely you could get away without anyone knowing it was you. If you barge into a room where three people are quietly talking, say a verbal spell component, and one of them suddenly cries out in pain, it's going to be obvious that it's your fault.

Ironically, yet unsurprisingly, it seems nobody really "understood" what I meant when I said this. I'm not saying the creature needs to hear you, see you, or share a language, just that it needs to "understand" that you have hostile intentions, after all, you can't insult a regular door to death, it's why the spell cannot target objects because it can't "understand" you.

Side note, and to kind of further explain what I mean. Think of it like using the Influence action and casting the spell at the same time, and if it makes the target react in a hostile manner (I.E failing the save) the spell is a success and deals the damage.

Quote from TheWanderer_217 >>

Ironically, yet unsurprisingly, it seems nobody really "understood" what I meant when I said this. I'm not saying the creature needs to hear you, see you, or share a language, just that it needs to "understand" that you have hostile intentions, after all, you can't insult a regular door to death, it's why the spell cannot target objects because it can't "understand" you.

 

Side note, and to kind of further explain what I mean. Think of it like using the Influence action and casting the spell at the same time, and if it makes the target react in a hostile manner (I.E failing the save) the spell is a success and deals the damage.

None of that is a change from the old version of the spell, though.

What did change is that the target no longer needs to be able to hear you (and it does more damage now).