Is there any way to completely conceal spellcasting?

Question

I know several ways to conceal spellcasting, but I'm not really sure about where the crunch ends and the fluff begins, especially about including all the types of components into the concealing.

Out of my mind, there's...

• Disguise Spell (Complete Adventurer p.108) - it is a feat but the spell can't be recognized with spellcraft even if the enemies pass the Spot check.
• Conceal Spellcasting (Complete Scoundrel) - a skill trick whose mechanical effects are well described (no countering and no opportunity attacks)
• a new use of Sleight of Hand (Races of Stone) - this explicitly includes making the verbal components less obtrusive
• the metamagic feats Silent Spell, Still Spell and Eschew Materials

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My own observations:

• Disguise Spell does not explicitly talk about hiding the verbal components. This is probably intended, since you're singing or dancing. Does this mean the other component is absent? (e.g. if you're singing, does the feat let you ignore somatic components? If you're dancing, does it let you ignore verbal components?)
  • Does Conceal Spellcasting effectively conceal anything? My impression is that it just makes it impossible to counterspell or to react with an attack of opportunity, but everyone can see the caster is casting, and they can even see the somatic and hear the verbal components necessary for making Spellcraft checks and recognizing the spell.
  • The SoH use from RoS is the most clear: it does not hide material components or focuses. Do the other two methods still require you to keep them in sight?

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I am fully aware that D&D rules don't always match up with realism expectations, and that calling a feature "conceal spellcasting" does not mean "it has to work this way, otherwise it doesn't do what's written on the tin."

Answer 1

The question really comes down to what you mean by "conceal spellcasting." Do you want no one to know you're casting a spell or no one to know you're doing anything at all?

Hide the spell, not the actions

Disguise Spell does this well. Everyone is aware that you're doing something ostentatious: you're dancing around and speaking in a loud voice. A skilled observer can still puzzle out that you're doing something strange and an unexpected showy performance can easily be out of place, garnering you an unfortunate amount of attention.

Hide both the spell and action

For this, you'll need one or more of Silent Spell, Still Spell and Eschew Materials to cover the spell's components. This can jack up the spell slot needed to cast the spell, but it will give you almost total stealth for your spellcasting. Focus components can't be hidden, though. You still need concentration to cast the spell, so someone might catch you staring intently for 6+ seconds.

I'd be inclined to allow a Bluff check to play it off as confusion or deep thought. Say, DC 15, plus 5 for every round of casting after the first. Try staring at someone intently for a solid 6 seconds and see if they don't think it's creepy.