Question about Invisibility Sphere

[SteveMaurer]

In game, my character has had a number of experiences in which people have made claims that her invisibility sphere is harming party coordination by either, A] Making everyone invisible, and/or B] Preventing people from healing themselves or each other.

In the LORE, the spell description is as follows:

Invisibility Sphere
(View Printable or Source)
      
Caster Level(s): Bard 3, Wizard / Sorcerer 3
Innate Level: 3
School: Illusion
Descriptor(s):
Component(s): Verbal, Somatic, Material
Range: Personal
Area of Effect / Target: Caster, 15ft Radius
Duration: 1 Turn / Level
Additional Counter Spells: Invisibility Purge
Save: Harmless
Spell Resistance: No
Material Component: Gum Arabic

The caster brings into being a zone of invisibility that travels with him for the duration of the spell. All allies within the spell's area of effect are rendered invisible, but not to each other. Those that leave the sphere are visible once more.    (emphasis added)

- - - - -

From the reading of the spell description, this doesn't match up with what people are saying.   Is this an error in the LORE, the game, or people's perceptions?

[Alatriel]

I think the problem is more that not everyone is within th sphere, so the people outside the sphere can't see the people inside the sphere, and no one knows where the sphere is or if they're outside of the sphere, when the caster of the sphere moves, so therefore, it causes a lot of issues when you can't see half of the party.

Hope that helps!

[ShiffDrgnhrt]

Also, it is good to tell your party what you plan to do, so they know what happened.  If your in the middle of a fight, and suddenly your Cleric can't see the person about to die well...  

Communication is key to Coordination.  So just tell people what you plan to do.  Some times we don't want to be invisible.

[miltonyorkcastle]

IG, a 15 radius is rather small. You can fit about three, maybe four people in the sphere before bumping someone out. Worse, there's already an invis "bug" (bioware issue) that's not something we can fix, where monsters "see" you despite invis. It seems the few times I've used the sphere, my character always get seen by the monsters if they get too close, as though once inside the sphere they could see you, which is not the way I think the spell is supposed to work. Essentially, I think it's a bit buggy, and therefore few people use it (much like the magic circles of protection).

[ycleption]

Several spells, like invisibility sphere, depend on the party dynamics more than any particular attribute of the spell. If the party is all on the same wavelength, and people know how to use the spell, it can be very effective.

If people aren't thinking together, it can lead to disasters.

[SteveMaurer]

Well to answer my own question a bit, I did a little experimenting, and it does seem that NwN has some issue with casting spells on cohorts within an invisibility sphere.    My PC cast the spell, but then was unable to cast an Endurance spell on her familiar.   So the effect IS real.

I'm kind of torn between wanting to see these things spelled out, and just learning them in-game.   Learning in-game seems most the most RP-authentic experience, but it leaves people who are new to the game at a disadvantage compared to people who know all the quirks of the game engine.

Another quirk - that gave my PC her second death - was that spells immediately disappear when starting to rest, rather than living out their duration, which is what you would expect.   She had been knocked around a bit, so I rested her in a safe-rest area, and was told she died.   Her Endurance spell which had several hours of in-game duration left on it was immediately dispelled as soon as she rested, which knocked her into negative HP and killed her; this isn't stated anywhere.

Maybe I should make up a list of these gotchas as I go along.  It might be helpful to people just picking up the game and/or Layonara.

[miltonyorkcastle]

If you compile a list, PM it to me, we'll (the GM team) review it and if it looks useful without giving something away that "shouldn't" be given away until being IG, I'll add it to the help guides on LORE.