I rolled a tiefling for a gestalt game (swashbuckler/fighter) who is designed on having high ac. I am investing in bluff with the class features, and the gm allowed me to roll on the d100 to replace the spell like ability.
I got minor image 3/day, and I've never used this spell, in fact I've rarely used spells in pathfinder. I would like advice for using this ability in game inside and out of combat. Creative ideas that are practical or ridiculous are all appreciated as long as they can mechanically work. I imagine using my bluff skill could be enhanced with this spell, and vice versa.
Minor image can be very useful against people without spellcraft. Those with spellcraft will just roll it and discover that you cast minor image, and start working to get a save to disbelieve.
Some of my preferred uses of minor image are the following:
Blade Barrier illusion - is it really worth risking damage o try passing through?
Pit with something real nasty in it (just not lava)
Wall that looks like a mirror - the enemy will probably waste a turn trying to break it until they can disbelieve
Windfall - make those archers reposition rather than keep shooting
|
- Cast it before people see you, so that they're less likely to suspect things aren't what they seem. Once cast, you can concentrate to move the image around, so it's fine to start it out of sight and then move closer.
- To keep the illusion going a long time, you need to come up with something people won't want to directly interact with. Blade Barrier is a nice one, because people will generally not want to touch it. Lava pits aren't as good because Minor Image doesn't have any temperature so that's suspicious.
- Minor Image can't do understandable speech, so stay away from things that would need to do so. Ninjas can be quiet, but from barbarians you expect war cries.
- Figments have AC 10 + Size modifier, so it's very easy to hit your illusion. That grants people a saving throw due to interaction. So you want illusions people don't want to actually attack. Oozes known for splitting/ruining weapons for example.
- Sometimes it's enough to fool people only for a short moment. Present something that they need to react to immediately, like a team of ninjas "failing to sneak up" on the enemy wizard. He needs to blast them (not you) immediately or they'll be flanking him. It'll only work for one round but that's one fireball not cast at you.
- If enemies don't know that there should no wall there, then you can hide in a side passage hidden behind an illusory wall.
- Stuff with bridges is classic. You can't make a bridge disappear, but you can make it look unsafe. Or make an unsafe bridge look safe. Or even make an entirely fake bridge. It won't fool people who step onto it normally, but if someone is counting on running across the bridge to escape your party, it's hilarious. Likewise, you can hide Pit spells, Grease and so forth by laying an image over it.
- If an enemy is known to hate some enemies in particular, those can force priorities. The illusion of a horse might scare goblins.
Visual cover for an ambush; trees, undergrowth, extra walls, wagons, etc. Your friends should be able to disbelieve & so see thru the cover before engaging.
If the enemy can't see you then they can't use spellcraft to identify your SLA by any interpretation. Duck around a corner, cast the SLA, then have an image of yourself come out. Excellent for testing what the enemy has planned.
Work with your friends. An illusion of a swarm of bats is more convincing if there's already a swarm of bats nipping at your enemies. A few real caltrops can make a large field of them very believable.
Also, illusions are great for convincing people that you're a terrifying badass who just slew three ogres, or an altruistic idiot who just gave 5 platinum to a street urchin, or generally for building or destroying reputations.
|
RPG Superstar 2011 Top 32
|
If you suspect an observer you wish to fool has Spellcraft, you can use minor image a few rounds early then do nothing with it. Then, start making effects that could occur naturally and the enemy has no reason to link these effects with your illusion magic - or they become suspicious of everything that happens, even the real stuff, which can have its own advantages.
Illusion is especially fun to tag team with conjuration. You cast an illusion, your friend summons monsters, and look! The maximum number appeared! Which are real? Are any illusion? The only way to tell is to check them, which wastes enemy actions.
One of the best in combat uses my illusionist did, fairly frequently, was to shout out a bluff about creating a stone wall, then illusion a stone wall to block off or separate some of the enemies. You need to be careful with this though, as I have had some serious problems with players metagaming themselves into a headache.
them: "I stare at the wall trying to see through the illusion."
me: "Why would you do that? Why would you have any reason to assume that is not a real wall? You failed your sense motive check."
them: "Because a wall just appeared out of no where"
me: "HELLO! I'm a wizard!"
My bard had silent image and I used it to occasionally cast "wall" spells. The sad part is they also fooled our own party members sometimes. The first time I cast it everyone at the table looked at me and said "I didn't know you could cast that!" To which I answered, "I am full of surprises."
I graduated from wall of stone to wall of iron (still via silent image) and I jokingly said I would eventually work my way up to a wall of adamantine golems. Good times.
Two uses I'm fond of.
It makes a great universal communicator. My character will make cartoons of what he wants to say, like "let us across this bridge and please don't hurt us, we mean you no harm." Cartoons because you don't want to seem like you're trying to trick them.
The other is this.
Useless or ridiculous uses might be:
- Put a huge sign up in the sky, advertising your services. Complete with fanfare sounds.
- Put a huge sign up in the sky, advertising the BBEG's disreputable services. Complete with fart sounds.
- Mock people by creating an unflattering, babbling copy of them.
- Free lapdances.