If you want to use Major Image in combat what fun ideas can you come up with. Remember that with Major Image it does not disappear when hit as long as you are still concentrating on it and cause it to react. (IE your monster gets hit with a lighting bolt so you cause it to crackled with electricity and roar.) Of course they have then interacted with and get a save to disbelieve.
Obviously the goal of this is to pull attacks from bad guys, maybe make them flee.
Ideas?
EDIT: Major image includes sound, smell and thermal
Any ideas? This is one of my favorite tactics, any suggestions?
My favorite:
A wall. simply put it a few feets before the normal end of the corridor and you have the perfect hiding place.
(also doable with furniture "Was the big closet always here?" "Maybe the dutchess bought another one for here second lover to hide HAR HAR")
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We prefer to spring attacks with my illusory figures. Image spell goes out ahead of the scout, and any ambushers pounce on it.
I have also seen walls or "building on fire" put to good use, both to funnel a foe a certain direction or hide the party.
You can provide special effects for plays or musical acts, perhaps adding some bonuses to the bard's performance or diplomacy checks. A few fireworks or moving backgrounds could really sell Hamlet or The Seven Trials of Larazod nicely. The party rogue could have some fun lifting wallets in the crowd, even.
Providing portable, mutable, effective cover to your ranged party members is usually enough. I haven't been casting major image much as a 16th level Illusionist, but it sure can do a lot more than my standard silent or minor image spells after all.
Providing signaling for a major offensive, or while at sea would be nice. Large letters and arrows would help direct the flow of battle, especially since you're presumably highly intelligent (as a Wizard) or have intelligent friends (as a Sorcerer/Bard) and most likely flying. Landing areas, targeting coordinates for siege weaponry, or other indirect fire missions can be called in rather easily, as well.
Really outlandish stuff usually puts the GM off his game a little bit, too. It's a bit meta, but if you have a "GM favorable to PC craziness" or "I wanna make the GM go bonkers" opportunity, you can make all sorts of wacky, but potentially believable things happen. I like to conjure up a major demon or devil, with huge summoning runes, lightning bolts, crashing waves of doom and the whole shebang. Peasants flee in terror, heroes are attracted to the devil-worship-summoning-thing happening, plot happens.
Then you slip a REAL summon monster or gate spell into the illusory effect, and surprise the heck out of everyone.
Creating an illusion of the party, many times over, to fill up the entire area. Deciding which ones are the real ones can be really confusing.
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Works best with (a) a wand of fireball or (b) a stick and an actual fireball spell.
Use the wand/cast the fireball while brandishing stick; then use major image to simulate further fireballs from the 'wand,' magic or not.
The toasty, bacony smell from the initial fireball is a wonderful persuasion that the illusory fireballs are also real... after a few rounds of fake fireballs, the foe is usually unconscious, easily searched and bound, or eliminated.
Works best with (a) a wand of fireball or (b) a stick and an actual fireball spell.
Use the wand/cast the fireball while brandishing stick; then use major image to simulate further fireballs from the 'wand,' magic or not.
The toasty, bacony smell from the initial fireball is a wonderful persuasion that the illusory fireballs are also real... after a few rounds of fake fireballs, the foe is usually unconscious, easily searched and bound, or eliminated.
Unless you are using shadow evocation, the major image does not actually do damage. No matter how hard you believe.
Creating an illusion of the party, many times over, to fill up the entire area. Deciding which ones are the real ones can be really confusing.
I once had a kind GM who ruled that defeating one aspect of the illusion did not defeat the rest of it. The enemy had to go through the images one at a time.
Made it crazy powerful. Mirror Image on deity-level-steroids.
I played in a game the other night where we were being charged by about 30 orcs riding wargs and my illusionist used Major Image to make it look like he opened a huge ravine in the ground between the party and the orcs. Stopped them cold!
My favourite is an image of a prismatic sphere, very few npc's are willing to interact with it to disbelieve and you can walk through it freely since thats how the spell your pretending to cash works anyway.
I played in a game the other night where we were being charged by about 30 orcs riding wargs and my illusionist used Major Image to make it look like he opened a huge ravine in the ground between the party and the orcs. Stopped them cold!
How did he do that with a figment?
Because figments and glamers are unreal, they cannot produce real effects the way that other types of illusions can. Figments and glamers cannot cause damage to objects or creatures, support weight, provide nutrition, or provide protection from the elements. Consequently, these spells are useful for confounding foes, but useless for attacking them directly.
A figment's AC is equal to 10 + its size modifier.
What's more, if they know what a prismatic sphere is, they likely know what a major image spell is (and how to identify it).
I think we can do a lot better as far as suggestions go.
Here's a really fun thread where roleplayers discuss clever uses of illusion spells both on the side of the player and the GM. Perhaps you could mine a few ideas from there?
I use major image to create incorporeal creatures (such as spectres, wraiths, shadows, and ghosts); that way the lack of touch (visual, audio, smell, and thermal) when their weapons pass through the 'incorporeal' beings doesn't strain their sense of disbelief.
Master Arminas
I use major image to create incorporeal creatures (such as spectres, wraiths, shadows, and ghosts); that way the lack of touch (visual, audio, smell, and thermal) when their weapons pass through the 'incorporeal' beings doesn't strain their sense of disbelief.
Master Arminas
I was just about to mention this. With the thermal effect you can make them "feel" deathly cold too. Makes for a great distraction + fear effect against lots of mooks.
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Beefing up apparent security around the walls of the castle.
Illusionary bodyguard to protect you while your real summoned critters go to town on the enemy. Granted, it's not going to be able to fight anyone that gets close, but it may dissuade them from approaching if it looks mean enough.
HALL FULL OF SPIDERS WITH BABY HEADS! Really, who wants to go through that? Helps if they have previous experience with things-that-must-not-be.
Arminas beat me to the punch with the ghosts and haints concept.
The illusion of an authority figure interrupting whatever shenanigans the opponents might be up to. "Oh crap; it's my parents! Party's over!"
Unless you are using shadow evocation, the major image does not actually do damage. No matter how hard you believe.Works best with (a) a wand of fireball or (b) a stick and an actual fireball spell.
Use the wand/cast the fireball while brandishing stick; then use major image to simulate further fireballs from the 'wand,' magic or not.
The toasty, bacony smell from the initial fireball is a wonderful persuasion that the illusory fireballs are also real... after a few rounds of fake fireballs, the foe is usually unconscious, easily searched and bound, or eliminated.
No, but if they believe the illusion, they'll end up unconscious anyway.
No, but if they believe the illusion, they'll end up unconscious anyway.Unless you are using shadow evocation, the major image does not actually do damage. No matter how hard you believe.Works best with (a) a wand of fireball or (b) a stick and an actual fireball spell.
Use the wand/cast the fireball while brandishing stick; then use major image to simulate further fireballs from the 'wand,' magic or not.
The toasty, bacony smell from the initial fireball is a wonderful persuasion that the illusory fireballs are also real... after a few rounds of fake fireballs, the foe is usually unconscious, easily searched and bound, or eliminated.
No, they won't. This worked in AD&D 2nd Edition. It doesn't work in Pathfinder.
Dammit. Haven't caught up with all the 'this is the same/this is different' stuff. :(
crackling burning fire that smells of brimstone.
The trick: the thermal effects go to the limits of spell where they are quite low, then the closer you get to the imaginary fire it gets hotter until the spell maximum is reached. Most people will accept that it burns so hot they can't get close that they'll go away without getting so close to notice that it's all fake.