DirkTyrant |
2 people marked this as a favorite. |
I have seen these threads before and usually get disappointed... when guys list grossly elaborate combination of illusions... illusions upon illusions... pit traps over pit traps, etc., etc... that are WAY too complicated to get off at early levels... so, I am suggesting a few more simple uses... based on the Player being clever... and not conjuring up a relative circus:
1) a fake rock(or brick) wall - this is the most common... because in dungeons... walls are common... and seeing yet another one gives no cause for suspicion. An oldie, but a goodie. Same for Trees in a forest situation, thorn bushes, or spider webs(pre-supposes that there are spiders hidden)...maybe boulders in others. Although, a boulder at the top of a cliff... only requires the caster to point a quarterstaff at it's base and then threaten to Roll it off the cliff upon an enemy.
2) a skunk - humanoids are pre-conditioned to pause/panic at the sight of a skunk... and NOT GO NEAR it... consequently... no saving throw... and a delay for the bad guys. A porcupine might also work.
3) a shark fin - not a whole shark (not needed)... and when it disappears shortly after... what do people think? That's right - that it went UNDERWATER. So, you don't need to concentrate very long to sustain the illusion of danger. this trick also works with...
4) Pseudodragon - it is small... and more importantly... it can cast INVISABILITY... so, when it disappears moments later... the badguys think it is STILL THERE, but invisable... and continue to look for it.
5) stone statues - this works best in front of a dark cave mouth. Better still... use Dancing lights to make two Red Eyes... staring out from within the cave.... NOW, you have an illusionary Basilisk!! Run! Run away!
6) balista - for a pirate campaign on board ship. Fake balistas with real men with flaming torches ready to light them... just might garner the surrender of a whole ship. and again... because you are away from the target... they can't touch it, nor would they have cause - so, no save.
7) fake powder keg - works better if you purchase long, real fuses and light them. Who would ever run up to them... just to CHECK to see if they are real? Humanoids are pre-disposed to run away.
These are all VERY simple... and take advantage of psychology to make them work... not elaborate set-ups. Can YOU think of any?
Gignere |
Make sure you and your fellow PCs speak an obscure language. Before you throw up an illusory black dark smoke using silent image, you free action and tell them using said obscure language that you are casting an illusion.
This way your guys get a +4 to their will saves to disbelieve while the baddies don't. By playing the odds and casting it on the right type of the enemies you can bascically blind most of the mobs barring extreme GM luck and have most of the PCs unaffected.
Being able to cast an AOE blind at level 1 that allows a much higher odds of saves from allies is pretty damn amazing.
tonyz |
The fake bridge over the pit/gorge/muddy stream/moat filled with piranha. Just getting one guy to step on it and plunge to his doom would be hilarious.
An illusion of lots of bodies and skeletons under the bridge, to make people think the real bridge is an illusion.
Summon a real monster. The summon an illusionary one. Or vice versa.
You've got most of the classic ones, I admit, and you've got the main point of successful illusion work, which is to let the target's own mind do most of the work.
A summoning circle onthe ground with a BIG demon inside it. How eager will people be to investigate THAT closely, or even throw lots of stuff around in case they break the circle?
Petty Alchemy RPG Superstar Season 9 Top 16 |
Well, a few of those are pretty situational.
Will commoners avoid a skunk? Most likely. Will Orc Warriors recoil from battle just because there's a skunk? I doubt it.
Creating illusions of monsters that can go invisible also relies on the enemy identifying that monster.
I usually prefer Ghost Sound for frightening off enemies, even if they automatically get a will to disbelieve.
You could do any number of impressive things with Silent Image though, like raising a circle of burning rune-etched pillars around yourself and pretend to charge up some serious magic.
Velcro Zipper |
2 people marked this as a favorite. |
The illusion of clothes when you aren't actually wearing any is always fun.
If you're a safe distance away from your opponent and you're familiar with their family, the illusion of having their mother in a scandalous and immodest position while you smile and wave at them is fun too.
An illusion of a mime is pretty good. Most creatures will either instinctively attack it on sight or try to avoid it because they know it won't leave them alone until they put a coin in it's stupid hat. Except for Boggards and Grippli. For some reason, they really like mimes.
Malag |
You can't simulate clothing with Silent Image, but you could with Disguise Self.
Some Silent Image uses:
Create a object with hole for watching through. Tree with hole in to so you can enter, hide, and watch your enemies.
Create a cage or even better create a cage full of sharp spikes. You might discourage your opponent on touching the cage.
Create a monster of utter fear to 1 species (might require knowledge check). For example goblins are afraid of harpies.
Create a wall. Already said in topic.
Create a cover over the pit. Let enemies drop in it. Note that you cant create a fake pit itself.
Create a spikes or fire wall(unsure if you can) to scare NPCs to keep their distance.
Create a illusionary fog/smoke. This a debate. I'v seen people saying that you can't make a figments seem to be something else. Problem is that mist for example is a water in tiny form of drops. You just created 1million of them in the air so I don't understand it quite.
Love the topic, +1.
Greycloak of Bowness |
Fill the edges of a room with illusory foliage so the rogue can hide in it
Rather than a simple wall, make it one with arrow slits
There's the always popular illusory sneaking halfling archer(s). They're supposed to be quiet after all.
Illusory iron wall covered in sharp spikes coated in some greenish liquid.
Corlindale |
One use I've seen suggested is to "summon" incorporeal undead to frighten/distract enemies. Since they don't make sounds, their silence is not suspicious.
A similar use is to summon a translucent, black chain filled with nasty spikes and have it spin around an enemy, completely imprisoning them. They would probably be scared of touching it.
Anything involving fire scares most low-Int foes, though the smarter among them may suspect the lack of sound/heat. Higher level images may work better for this.
Abandoned Arts RPG Superstar Season 9 Top 32 |
The best images to create with a silent image are those that your enemies won't want to interact with. A spiked barricade, an acid pool, a lurking panther, a cage of thorns, a prismatic wall, a shark just below the surface of the water...
That sort of thing!
Daron Woodson
Abandoned Arts
VRMH |
An archway, appearing right in the middle of a street with the centre all black as if it's a portal to some dark place. Step through, hide somewhere and then dispel the illusion. Your enemies will think you just took a portal to the Gods only know where...
Sky writing. Sure, everyone will make their save, but that still leaves the letter outlines legible. So in a big city, everybody can read your rebellious message, no-one knows who did it (you just need to keep line-of-effect) and it's too high up to dispel.
boring7 |
I am reminded of this old bit of fiction where a wizard was giving a workshop on illusions, his first statement was, "the most important thing in illusions is tricking your target into believing, and they aren't going to DO that when you call yourselves 'the illusionists' guild' or make it clear what they are seeing isn't real."
He went on to describe many important ideas, such as the fact that "less is more" and a horde of pursuing kobolds will slow down whether they are facing a suddenly-appearing Dragon or a suddenly-appearing fully-kitted orc barbarian, the orc is FAR more believable and much easier to do.
The story ended with the revelation that he had trapped all of them in cage that had been covered by illusions and charged them another speaking fee to let them out. The illusionists were thoroughly impressed and made his book required reading.
Anyways, ideas:
For permanent illusions (expensive but relevant) less continues to be more. Cover up important things like your trap-switches, pressure plates, spare key box, and the holes for poison darts, arrows, and the like with smooth stone until the first round of damage. Likewise an adventuring party will usually grab first and ask questions later when the small iron box full of green slime looks like it's full of gold, or the alarm stone that looks like the way to open a secret door.
For things you cast while busy, or better yet for things you cast as a PC, less is still more. Making the party's equipment glow like you're so kitted out that your SOCKS are +5 magic items should offer bonuses to intimidation. Changing your heraldry so the approaching enemy band sees you as friendly, or as some neutral party (possibly worth hiring) can lead to opportunities or at least let you control when and how the fighting starts, and no one is going to interact with the "pustules and sores" you place on your "plague victim" who is sneaking out of the city.
And if the opposition is so educated and smart that they cannot be fooled by images of summoned soldiers or other things that "magic doesn't work like that" for? Take "impossibly large objects" out of your "bag of holding" then dangle the bag over your "portable hole" and say, "I'll &*^%ing do it!"
Malag |
I just had a flash in head for 1 interesting question.
If you create multiple orc illusions from 1 silent image spell, does target upon disbelief ,disbelief all of them? I can imagine situation when you summon 2 fire beetles and 2 illusionary fire beetles. It seems hard and confusing to know which 1 is real unless physically interacted with.
Axebeard |
I just had a flash in head for 1 interesting question.
If you create multiple orc illusions from 1 silent image spell, does target upon disbelief ,disbelief all of them? I can imagine situation when you summon 2 fire beetles and 2 illusionary fire beetles. It seems hard and confusing to know which 1 is real unless physically interacted with.
The creature would disbelieve the entire illusion after one saving throw.
As to your fire beetles statement, that's why you're only allowed a save on some illusion spells when you interact with them. Of course, there are other ways to tell that the spells are different from one another: The summon monster spell would have a full-round casting time, and a spellcraft check would identify the spell you're casting as an illusion at the time of casting. Also, fire beetles summoned with a silent image spell would also not make any noise. If a creature passed a perception check (probably equal to the will save DC of the silent image spell), I'd allow them a saving throw as they recognize that those beetles aren't making noise and thus something is wrong.