This is that the prd has to say about disbelief
"Saving Throws and Illusions (Disbelief): Creatures encountering an illusion usually do not receive saving throws to recognize it as illusory until they study it carefully or interact with it in some fashion."
This is what the prd has to say about Illusory Wall
"This spell creates the illusion of a wall, floor, ceiling, or similar surface. It appears absolutely real when viewed, but physical objects can pass through it without difficulty. When the spell is used to hide pits, traps, or normal doors, any detection abilities that do not require sight work normally. Touch or a probing search reveals the true nature of the surface, though such measures do not cause the illusion to disappear. Although the caster can see through his illusory wall, other creatures cannot, even if they succeed at their will save (but they do learn that it is not real)."
So...
The spell itself makes no mention of the spell actually blocking sight but that seems like a reasonable assumption to make. If so, this seems like the ultimate anti-range spell. The caster can cast this infront of him and opponents will be unable to discern where he is.
Does shooting an arrow into the wall allow for a will-safe to disbelieve?
I'm looking into the detailed workings of this spell because my PCs are soon going to be up against an Aboleth and those creatures can use Illusory Wall as an at-will power.
The spell itself makes no mention of the spell actually blocking sight but that seems like a reasonable assumption to make.
It's not just an assumption. Walls block LOS, so do illusionary walls since they look exactly like real walls. If they don't look exactly like real walls, everyone would disbeleve. "Mommy, look at the funny wavy shimmery pretend wall over there!"
Sure, sure, you could make an illusionary wall of glass, for instance, but don't really see the point.
If so, this seems like the ultimate anti-range spell. The caster can cast this infront of him and opponents will be unable to discern where he is.
An excellent use. All tergeted spells need LOS to the target.
Does shooting an arrow into the wall allow for a will-safe to disbelieve?
When the arrow goes right through that solid wall, I would say that this counts as "encountering" the illusion.
However, who would actually shoot an arrow at it. Assume, for a moment, tht the illusionist in question is smart. He will make it look exactly like a real Wall of Stone (e.g.) spell, right? Same height, same length, same general appearance. Pretty much anyone on the battlefield will se a Wall of Stone appear right in front of them, and assume they have to find a way around. Who is actually going to shatter an arrow on it?
Yes, maybe someone gets angry and fires one out of spite. Or maybe someone shoots at an enemy near the wall but misses and hits the wall instead. There could be reasons. But I'm pretty sure nobody is going to "test to see if the wall is real" by shooting an arrow at it. Not if the illusionist was smart enough to make it look like a real wall AND look like a wall that could be created by a real Wall of X spells
I'm looking into the detailed workings of this spell because my PCs are soon going to be up against an Aboleth and those creatures can use Illusory Wall as an at-will power.
That brings up a good point. The first time an aboleth whips out an illusionary wall, the players are going to fall for it - just describe it as if the aboleth cast Wall of Stone. Don't give them any automatic disbelief saves.
But after they figure out it was an illusion, the next aboleth that tries it is likely to see its enemies walk right through it as if it was't there.
So you might want to throw in some aboleth that can actually cast Wall of Stone. Watch hilarity ensue when the PC barbarian charges right through that "illusory" wall to get to the aboleth on the other side, only to slam headfirst into actual stone...
Reread the spell. Read the last line - it says:
" Although the caster can see through his illusory wall, other creatures cannot, even if they succeed at their Will save (but they do learn that it is not real)."
That seems very, very, very clear to me that the caster can see through the wall, but others cannot - even if they make their will save (which is a very important point, since most other illusions stop blocking line of sight if the save is made.)
INTERESTING. Going to make good use of this spell with the aboleth then.
I'll just make sure to give him some skum as fodder in order to give him time to cast his spells.
