illusionist help

[seto83]

About to start a new age of worms campaign. I want to play an illusionist was looking for ideas as far as class and race, as none seem to really be stand out as far as this goes.

[akolbi]

Gnomes are still decent, especially as a sor.

[seto83]

akolbi wrote:

Gnomes are still decent, especially as a sor.

A gnome sor seems popualar from what I have read, any triats and what bloodline?

[tonyz]

Well, an illusion-specialist wizard, or a sorceror (illusions are inherently very flexible so the lack of spell slots is not a big problem).

Probably a gnome with their racial bonus to illusion magic, though honestly any race with a stat bonus to your main spellcasting stat is good (high DCs become important in illusion magic)

But the single most important thing about being an illusionist is that you and your GM are on the same wavelength with how illusions work and what you can and can't get away with, when people need to make saving throws and so forth.

The second most important thing about illusionists is very high situational awareness -- you want to create illusions that are so plausible that nobody even thinks to investigate them or make a saving throw against them, and that shape the world or the battlefield in ways that you want without your enemies even realizing they are being deceived.

The third most important thing about illusionists is that some foes won't be affected at all, and eventually even the dumbest idiot will roll a natural 20 on their save. So you need to have a way to deal with those sorts of foes. (Other party members are a very good bet, but you will want some spells that are NOT illusions. Plus the occasional real wall of fire makes the illusionary ones that much more effective.)

[Kieviel]

I ran a gnome, illusionist Sorc for 10-12 lvls and he was disturbingly effective as long as I was creative. Flying enemy the melee centered party can't reach? Flaming barbed-wire floating above the monster's head that slowly descends! Got too many enemies? Illusionary walls off stone to keep them seperated! Illusionists function the best when you are creative. I also mixed in the pit spells for some dmg and crowd control and some party buffs for when the will saves got good.

Illusionists also make great spys as they always have ways to avoid being seen.

There is a feat that lets your illusions threaten for a flanking bonus which can be useful.

Silent spell and or still spell are also useful for situations in which you want to use illusions but not let people know you are casting them.

After doing a rediculous amount of research into which bloodline to take I found the arcane sorc bloodline to be the best for illusions.

And like tonyz said, mixing real spells with illusions of spells can be very effective.

Good luck!

[Snow_Tiger]

I like human wizard specializing in illusions, where for each spell level you have 1 or two 2 slots dedicated to illusions like silent image, minor image, etc, and maybe one more to illusion attack spells, such as color spray, the rest go into other battlefield control, Mage armor, 1 or two solid damage spells, etc...

The idea is to use silent image is to create barriers, like one time on a boat, I caster silent image to make it look like part of a sail had fallen down, acting sort of like a curtain. This way you can temporarily separate enemy combatants from the fight. The extended time is also useful for having two illusions at once. The blinding ray attack scales well too, because there is no save.

The reason I'm against a sorcerer is because you have limited spell slots for your highest level spell, which can cause some problems at first and second level, and third level, as you may run out of stuff to do and may need to rely on dagger/crossbow/claws for rest of fight.

[seto83]

My dm has house ruled that you have to spend a standard action to disbelieve any illusion, so direct interaction dosent auto give you a chance to disbelieve. I think that will make him pretty potent.

[Thaliak]

Gnomes or humans with Racial Heritage can take Effortless Trickery, which will allow you to concentrate on illusions as a swift action. This might not be necessary for an Illusionist Wizard, but it should be helpful for other illusionists.

Bards make decent illusionists. While they have access to fewer spells then a sorcerer or wizard, they can pick up the iconic spells, including the battlefield bluff spells Silent Image, Minor Image, Major Image, and Persistent Image; the stealth spells Vanish, Invisibility, Invisibility Sphere, and Greater Invisibility; the defense spells Blur, Mirror Image and Displacement; the intrigue spells Disguise Self and Disguise Other; and the ever-versatile spell Shadow Conjuration. They also get some of the illusion battlefield control spells, including Silence, which few arcane casters can access.

Of course, bards get access to spells slower than dedicated casters and have fewer spells. You might also find yourself casting buffs like Haste or less situational battlefield control spells like Glitterdust and Slow more often than illusions. That has been my experience with the Bard illusionist I'm playing in a friend's campaign.

Since your DM requires enemies to use a standard action to disbelieve illusions, you might get more mileage out of your illusionist. Even with less forgiving rules, I've managed to use illusions to keep enemies from escaping, protect villagers from an angry dragon, trick enemies into attacking thin air, neutralize archers, and force giants to choose between fighting on their knees or fighting blind.

From a roleplay standpoint, I like Bards for a few reasons:
1. Since they're entertainers, they have a reason to learn illusion magic that doesn't require a fondness for trickery.
2. They know a little bit about everything, so it makes sense that they can make convincing illusions of everything from goblins and kobolds to dragons and beholders. They're also likely to know which illusions will frighten different foes.
3. They have perception as a class skill, so it's easy to imagine them noticing details about the world that allow them to create realistic illusions.
4. They're a charisma-based class with Bluff as a class skill and access to Glibness, so they're great at convincing skeptical guards they are who they say they are. On a good day, they might even be able to convince the local to kneel to heed the words of Puff the Illusionary Dragon.

From a mechanical standpoint, I like bards because they're versatile enough to contribute in any situation. They're also some of the best buffers in the game, so unless you have a caster-heavy party, the other players will love having you at the table.