Out of Charges (OOC thread)

[DM Dougfan]

No problem.  Just making sure I wasn't losing my mind.  

I have a question about the combat.  Nexendia/Scarf is first in line for initiative.  So Nex cast her Silent Image first and since she can effect up to five 10'x10' cubes she was targeting all of the boars.  But instead it seems that Eran cast his color spray first so her spell only effected two boars.  Assuming all the Boars would fail their save which statistically (75%-ish) is a pretty good bet, then Eran wouldn't need to waste a Color Spray.  So I ask...
1) Was my order in initiative skipped because Eran posted his full action while I was waiting for a response to my question?  I have heard some DM's do this to try to speed game play.
or
2)  You decided that the Area of Effect for my Silent Image couldn't include all 4 boars so you decided to let me effect 2 instead?

My second question has to do with Silent Image.  I was at first going to have pits open up under the boars.  I figured that 3 of the boars could have been dropped into a 10'x10' pit and the 4th boar closest to her would be dropped into a 10'x20' pit.  This would equal Nex's five 10'x10' cubed area of effect.  Would that have worked?  I decided not to because since Silent Image isn't mind effecting I didn't think it would do any damage.  Even if they fell and took no damage they would end up just accidently jump out of the image when/if they decided to try to get out by jumping against the walls and there really aren't any. 

Thanks

It's a bit of both, actually, plus a fair amount of DM error in not waiting for that init block to complete before posting a result.  I use Init blocks for combat due to the nature of PbP.  I only had your Image affect two of them because I could conceive of a situation in which there were two buckets connected by a pole (think Kill Bill when the Bride is training with Pai Mei and carrying the water up the stairs), but not four.  As I understand the spell, it is one continuous visual illusion that occupies four 10' cubes + 1 cube/level.  That means that it doesn't affect all four.  Even if I had waited and allowed your Silent Image to affect all four, Eran would still have cast Color Spray and two of them would be unconscious anyway.

As to your second question: yes, pits would work.  Silent Image restricts sound, smell, texture, and temperature, not gravity (apparent or otherwise) or balance.  The semicircular canals (those things in your inner ear which govern the sensation of falling) are not really involved in hearing.  I'm not saying that Silent Image could be used to simulate altered gravity, mind you, just the disorientation that comes with the illusion of it.  In terms of them jumping out of the illusion, you tell me.  If it's a visual illusion, would they jump out of it and see everything normally or just more pit?