Has anyone come up with a good (simple) way to adjudicate this spell?
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It works against any effect requiring an attack roll to hit. It is not cleared by area effects like blade barrier or fireball because they don't require an attack roll. When an attack roll takes place, I roll a dice, re-rolling if the number is higher than the number of images plus 1. If a 1 is rolled, the caster is hit. Otherwise, an image is hit. (If there are 4 images, I roll a d6, re-rolling 6's. If a 1 is rolled, the caster is hit, otherwise I tick off one image)
The spell description states that once the real caster is hit, it's possible for the attacker to continue swinging at the real caster, negating the need for rolling to see what is hit. A 5' step is enough to force the attacker to strike random images again.
As for what to do if the attacker shuts his eyes, I really don't know. The odds of hitting the actual caster at that point is more likely (50% chance to miss rather than rolling a 1 on a dice), but I'm tempted to rule that the attacker is blind and loses Dex until their next turn (even though opening and shutting eyes is a free action). That's definitely up to interpretation. The spell description says that the caster can't be distinguished using sight or hearing, so simply closing your eyes may not be enough.
Has anyone come up with a good (simple) way to adjudicate this spell?
I agree with Pygon, however I'd like to add, that for ease of use with minis, we consider all of the images to occupy the same square and be constantly dancing around like a boxer (though doing whatever the caster is doing). So it'd kinda look like one of those images from the Matrix movies when Neo moves so fast it looks like there's 3 or 4 of him doing something (usually doding or blocking I think).
That negates the ability to track which one you hit and hurt before as well, though you have a chance to hurt the caster each time, you can't track him without some kind of supernatural sense (blindsight, blindsense).
So I don't quite use the letter of the RAW, but what I do, I do for simplicity on the spell.
-c
Has anyone come up with a good (simple) way to adjudicate this spell?I agree with Pygon, however I'd like to add, that for ease of use with minis, we consider all of the images to occupy the same square and be constantly dancing around like a boxer (though doing whatever the caster is doing). So it'd kinda look like one of those images from the Matrix movies when Neo moves so fast it looks like there's 3 or 4 of him doing something (usually doding or blocking I think).
That negates the ability to track which one you hit and hurt before as well, though you have a chance to hurt the caster each time, you can't track him without some kind of supernatural sense (blindsight, blindsense).
So I don't quite use the letter of the RAW, but what I do, I do for simplicity on the spell.
-c
My method closely mirrors freeclints. All images are in the same squares as the caster, and bob and weave making it impossible to distinguish which is which. Only direct attacks can get rid of an image, so the old "I throw 50 copper pieces at him" trick does not get the job done. I do allow the "I close my eyes and swing at him" trick, but if the attacker misses in this fashion, I do not allow for any of the mirror images to be removed.
Actual dice rolls are (5 images plus the caster for example) : Attacker rolls to hit and annouces what AC he struck. If it matches the Casters AC then the Attacker rolls a d6 and the Caster rolls a d6, if both rolls come up the same number, the caster is struck. If not, an image is taken away. If the Attacker missed with their attack, but the miss could have hit the Casters Touch AC, a roll is called for because this is the AC of the images.
All in all, this method has worked very well for us, bringing balance and fast play to the spell.
-Roth
I might mention that the above are fine houserules, but an attack roll is not necessary, merely a directed attack is. My wife stumbled on a way to fairly effectively neutralize mirror image, magic missile. Send a missile at each image, and if they are fake the pop and if it is the real mage they get hit (assuming they don't have shield cast or a brooch of shielding). Since this is not an area effect, but directed attacks they do destroy the false images, and no dice roll necessary.
We also just treat all of the images to be in the same square, which got a little humorous in the last session when the mage had multiple castings going, a small army in one square. You could spread them out farther, but I would reserve that for special boss type situations (e.g. Conan the Destroyer scene with the mirrored room type of thing).
I might mention that the above are fine houserules, but an attack roll is not necessary, merely a directed attack is. My wife stumbled on a way to fairly effectively neutralize mirror image, magic missile. Send a missile at each image, and if they are fake the pop and if it is the real mage they get hit (assuming they don't have shield cast or a brooch of shielding). Since this is not an area effect, but directed attacks they do destroy the false images, and no dice roll necessary.
We also just treat all of the images to be in the same square, which got a little humorous in the last session when the mage had multiple castings going, a small army in one square. You could spread them out farther, but I would reserve that for special boss type situations (e.g. Conan the Destroyer scene with the mirrored room type of thing).
I had a player try to make this argument to me but had to throw up the following question... Can you use Magic Missiles on illusions? MM only does damage to real creatures....
RPG Superstar 2009 Top 32, 2010 Top 8
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I'd say the Mirror Image text:
Enemies attempting to attack you or cast spells at you must select from among indistinguishable targets. Generally, roll randomly to see whether the selected target is real or a figment. Any successful attack against an image destroys it.
(emphasis mine)
Superceeds the magic missile text:
The missile strikes unerringly, even if
the target is in melee combat or has less than total cover or total concealment. Specific parts of a creature can’t be singled out.
Inanimate objects are not damaged by the spell.
Since the magic missle's target is 'creature(s)' I'd say you can't target "images 1, 2, 4, and 5" you target the wizard and roll to see for each missile.
Similar to how the shield spell specifically calls out magic missle as a special circumstance, mirror image doesn't list any special rules for 'auto-hit' target spells.
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My wife stumbled on a way to fairly effectively neutralize mirror image, magic missile. Send a missile at each image, and if they are fake the pop and if it is the real mage they get hit (assuming they don't have shield cast or a brooch of shielding)...We also just treat all of the images to be in the same square, which got a little humorous in the last session when the mage had multiple castings going, a small army in one square.
Since MM has no effect on inanimate objects, you can split the missiles, and hope one of them hits the real caster, but all the others are wasted, with no images removed.
Secondly, you can't create an 'army' of images, since the multiple castings don't stack (standard stacking rules; if you roll poorly first time, you can cast again, and take the best result). This is something very commonly forgotten (see also the common abuse of Ray of Enfeeblement...).
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RPG Superstar 2009 Top 32, 2010 Top 8
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Since MM has no effect on inanimate objects, you can split the missiles, and hope one of them hits the real caster, but all the others are wasted, with no images removed.
See the problem I have with your ruling, Snorter, is that MM targets specifically 'creatures' and hits 'unerringly'. so if you can target the images then they should go 'pop' if you target the mage since the missiles target the creature they should hit unerringly.
Mirror Image is a defensive spell, cast on the caster. Magic missile has to breach defenses to harm the caster.
Here's Matt logic in a flow chart.
BBEG casts Mirror Image, gets 5 images.
Hero casts Magic Missile, targeting BBEG as the 'crature'. Magic Missile autohits the mage's defenses. he gets 3 missiles.
BBEG is in shadows, doesn't matter.
BBEG is displaced, doesn't matter.
BBEG is wearing chainmail, doesn't matter.
Magic Missile specifically bypasses all the above.
Mirror Image is not specifically bypassed by magic missile, Since they all hit at once, our plucky young hero rolls 1d6 rolling 1, 2, and 2. Mage takes 1 missle hit (the one) image 2 gets hit by the spell (an 'attack') twice and goes pop. 4 images left.
My wife stumbled on a way to fairly effectively neutralize mirror image, magic missile. ...Since MM has no effect on inanimate objects, you can split the missiles, and hope one of them hits the real caster, but all the others are wasted, with no images removed.
Secondly, you can't create an 'army' of images, since the multiple castings don't stack (standard stacking rules; if you roll poorly first time, you can cast again, and take the best result). This is something very commonly forgotten (see also the common abuse of Ray of Enfeeblement...).
MM definitely counts as "an attack", you don't need an attack roll to make an attack (see Invisibility). Whether a MM is "successful" against a figment is up to the DM - I allow it personally, even if it's a bit cheesy.
I just roll a d6 (or d8/d10 if needed) as above to see which image/caster is targeted for each attack to be made, then let the player roll them out. I stop if the caster is targeted (as they will continue to hit him, if the attack hits)
Definitely agree regarding creating an army, and also on Ray of Enfeeblement - it's a penalty, not ability damage! :)
Since MM has no effect on inanimate objects, you can split the missiles, and hope one of them hits the real caster, but all the others are wasted, with no images removed.
Actually it does not say it has "no effect", it says it does no damage. The question then is "popping" an image considered damage? Does a mirror image have hp, like say a table? I will admit this is an issue of interpretation about what it means to do "damage".
As for the targetting "creatures" and whether an image is an object or not, well I will agree it is questionable. Since it says it does no damage, not that it can't be targetted, I will say the door is open to either interpretation. But all of this does not negate my point that an attack roll is not necessary, merely a specific attack. Whether magic missile works here is a secondary issue.
Secondly, you can't create an 'army' of images, since the multiple castings don't stack (standard stacking rules; if you roll poorly first time, you can cast again, and take the best result). This is something very commonly forgotten (see also the common abuse of Ray of Enfeeblement...).
This is a separate issue from the "army". It is multiple illusions, or are you suggesting that you can't have two of the same figment spells going? What you are suggesting is akin to saying that if you cast a summon monster 3, you can't cast another one and get more monsters.
EDIT: Good point Matthew, if you can't target the images, then that means the missiles will always hit the caster since he does not have total coverage or concealment. Sure it wouldn't get rid of the images, but it would allow hitting the caster.
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RPG Superstar 2013 Top 4, RPG Superstar 2011 Top 16
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A mirror image can be targetted by a magic missile, but the missile does no damage. However the image goes "pop" if it successfully attacked, not successfully damaged. So MM is a valid strategy to deal with MI.
We run MI with all images in the casters square moving around constantly. The attacker rolls a die that corresponds to the number of images there are. So if the caster has 6 images up you roll a d6 when attacking and the caster is always 1.
Having the caster and attacker both roll to see which is hit makes MI far more powerful than it should be. If the caster is always 1 you always know what to roll for and speeds things up nicely at the table, and leaves the rolling to the attacker (like miss chances).
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RPG Superstar 2009 Top 32, 2010 Top 8
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EDIT: Good point Matthew, if you can't target the images, then that means the missiles will always hit the caster since he does not have total coverage or concealment. Sure it wouldn't get rid of the images, but it would allow hitting the caster.
That's one way of looking at it, yes. I though think magic missile is good enough without it defeating mirror image as well.
Here's the way I look at it. Magic Missile will 'pop' an image at random as it's a spell effect on the target. just as Shield will block a magic missile as it's a spell effect on the target. Bill the black mage is the 'target' in either case, and in either case the spell must contend with the defences of the target.
Does that make my point clearer?
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RPG Superstar 2013 Top 4, RPG Superstar 2011 Top 16
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EDIT: Good point Matthew, if you can't target the images, then that means the missiles will always hit the caster since he does not have total coverage or concealment. Sure it wouldn't get rid of the images, but it would allow hitting the caster.That's one way of looking at it, yes. I though think magic missile is good enough without it defeating mirror image as well.
Here's the way I look at it. Magic Missile will 'pop' an image at random as it's a spell effect on the target. just as Shield will block a magic missile as it's a spell effect on the target. Bill the black mage is the 'target' in either case, and in either case the spell must contend with the defences of the target.
Does that make my point clearer?
If MI's are legal targets for Cleave then they must be legal targets for MM too.
Contributor, RPG Superstar 2008 Top 6
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If MI's are legal targets for Cleave then they must be legal targets for MM too.Did we get a FAQ ruling that they're cleave bait?
Yes, both magic missile and Cleave against mirror image are addressed in the FAQ. Both work (and remove images), and you can spread-target the magic missile. Magic missile, great cleave and whirlwind attack are the easiest ways to nuke images.
Yes, both magic missile and Cleave against mirror image are addressed in the FAQ. Both work (and remove images), and you can spread-target the magic missile. Magic missile, great cleave and whirlwind attack are the easiest ways to nuke images.If MI's are legal targets for Cleave then they must be legal targets for MM too.Did we get a FAQ ruling that they're cleave bait?
Wow, ok. Well, if this is cannon, then I will change my game asap. Good discussion guys!
-Roth
I can't see the 'at the table' difference between targeting images with magic missiles and just targeting the mage. If you have 4 missile fired one at 4 different images then the 4 images will go pop unless one of them is the mage. If you fire 4 magic missiles at the mage and roll randomly to see if you hit the mage or the images most of the time you going to get a lot of images and maybe once hit the mage. The only possible difference in effect would be with a really lucky (unlucky?) roll with the magic missiles that just kept hitting the mage and not the images. A result thats uncommon enough that it really should almost never come up in actual game play - and on those few occasions that it does, well I think that would be kind of neat with the mage player swearing at his 'lucky' dice. Sounds like good gaming to me.