Technical question.<br/><br/>Does a  spell, cast outside of combat still take an action? IE: Does it still take time to cast, or does it go off instantly?<br/><br/>The question is, can Drip block the whole, or even part of her comment after she speaks? As she was speaking in a conversational voice, and there's several people around them, it is a party after all, is she completely blocked? He would have to hear some of it in order to justify the spell.<br/><br/>Another question, they are certainly within 20 feet of each other, so if he cast the spell on Natasha herself, he's also trapped in the spell effect. Does that negate the spell? Or, is everyone, including him, within 20' also silenced?<br/><br/>Regardless of if he targeted Natasha or an area, he's caught a significant part of the room, including any discussions of who's doing what that night. I'm not objecting to the spell, just want to make sure that I'm correct on how the spell works in 5e. Even if he excludes allies, he's still gotten the majority of the people in the room. No defensive spellcasting if a bunch of bullies decide to crash the party with surprise.