So I was gaming last night and phantasmal killer was cast. The monster made it's will save so it disbelieved the illusion. We then had an argument over whether the second fort save was appropriate and then if it failed that if the monster would still take damage. Unfortunately the wording is such that it's not clear (or so the players argued). If anyone could help that would be appreciated.
"You create a phantasmal image of the most fearsome creature
imaginable to the subject simply by forming the fears of the
subject’s subconscious mind into something that its conscious
mind can visualize: this most horrible beast. Only the spell’s
subject can see the phantasmal killer. You see only a vague
shape. The target first gets a Will save to recognize the image as
unreal. If that save fails, the phantasm touches the subject, and
the subject must succeed on a Fortitude save or die from fear.
Even if the Fortitude save is successful, the subject takes 3d6
points of damage."
Cheers
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.
A successful saving throw against an illusion reveals it to be false, but a figment or phantasm remains as a translucent outline.
A failed saving throw indicates that a character fails to notice something is amiss. A character faced with proof that an illusion isn't real needs no saving throw. If any viewer successfully disbelieves an illusion and communicates this fact to others, each such viewer gains a saving throw with a +4 bonus.
If they make the Will save, they recognise it as an illusion, and therefore "false". Since they know it's not real, they do not even need to make the Fort save, so that save is neither successful nor failed, it simply doesn't happen. As such, making the Will save prevents the PK from doing anything at all.
Illusion
Illusion spells deceive the senses or minds of others. They cause people to see things that are not there, not see things that are there, hear phantom noises, or remember things that never happened.
Phantasm: A phantasm spell creates a mental image that usually only the caster and the subject (or subjects) of the spell can perceive. This impression is totally in the minds of the subjects. It is a personalized mental impression, all in their heads and not a fake picture or something that they actually see. Third parties viewing or studying the scene don't notice the phantasm. All phantasms are mind-affecting spells.
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.
A successful saving throw against an illusion reveals it to be false, but a figment or phantasm remains as a translucent outline.
A failed saving throw indicates that a character fails to notice something is amiss. A character faced with proof that an illusion isn't real needs no saving throw. If any viewer successfully disbelieves an illusion and communicates this fact to others, each such viewer gains a saving throw with a +4 bonus.
its not really spelled out but if you pass the will save = no fort save is required is pretty well implied
The target first gets a Will save to recognize the image as unreal. If that save fails, the phantasm touches the subject, and the subject must succeed on a Fortitude save or die from fear. Even if the Fortitude save is successful, the subject takes 3d6 points of damage.
If the will save is not failed then there is no fort save required and no consequences for the fort save (either saved or failed). I'm not really sure how anyone can read that sentence and argue otherwise.
Agreed with all the above. Successful will save means no other saves or damage received.