I recently used Mirror Image on a caster versus my players, and they more or less ranted the rest of the session about the spell. Not it's power as a level 2 spell, but as how it doesn't make any sense.
The spell is mechanically simple. It is meant for casters to have a measure against target attacks only, not AoE without the AoE spells ruining it.
How do you explain a trample not destroying all of the fakes? Or you were able to grapple them last turn, but this turn you missed even though you knew where they were? If you don't know where they are, how do you explain figment being broken on a missed attack, but not a direct hit like magic missile or another AoE?
I explain it like what it sounds, there are now (2-?) figures moving identically in the square, you do not know which one.
A trample targets one.
As far as grappling them last turn, now this turn, you have to be more precise.
Is the caster now OUT of grapple and you are trying to re-aquire? Easy-peasy, in the movement of battle and distractions, you did not keep looking right square at the caster for the entire turn, and now there are many of him.
If the casting was successful WHILE in a grapple, then logic takes over, the caster is still in the grapple.
"Missed attack" is the wrong word to use. The attack was successful, it hit a figment.
Someone else will have to tackle AOE and MM. I don't have an issue RAW, but I cannot give a logical answer, as it is magic and I accept it as that where the OP does not for the same reason (it is magic.)
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I started a similar thread last month: Envisioning Mirror Image.
My opinion (not RAW) is that Mirror Image figments are destroyed by disbelief like other figments such as Silent Image, but for convenience Mirror Image itself dropped the regular opportunity to disbelieve and replaced it with the faster and simpler system that a successful (or nearly successful) hit and only a successful hit counts as evidence to disbelieve. The simpler system is too simple and has contradictions.
I envison Area of Effect as affecting everything in the square equally, so it gives no evidence that the figments are not real. They look like the real person, so they look equally singed by a fireball or equally bruised by a trample. Figments are not destroyed by damage, because figments are not real and cannot take damage. They are destroyed only by being hit by an attack roll. Trample lacks an attack roll.
Magic Missile is not allowed to target a figment, because Mirror Image says, "Spells and effects that do not require an attack roll affect you normally and do not destroy any of your figments." Somehow the missiles home in on the correct person but without giving away which image is the correct person. Maybe the Mirror Image makes figments of the missiles to fool people.
As for a grapple, if someone successfully grappled the real person, the mirror images still fool other people. I don't know why. Maybe they add an image of the grappler to every figment.
The grapple is weird. It was spheres of might, you get a swift action touch attack to snag an opponent by the collar or something similar, giving them a -2 to CMD. The player missed the follow up grapple and tried again next turn, failing to hit.
Thank you Mathmuse. It doesn't make a whole lot of sense that player A disbelieve a figment then player B also disbelieve the same figment, but it is a better idea than what normally goes on.
I have a similar question. I've given up trying to use this spell against my players for the inevitable 'Why can't I just do a sweeping horizontal slash?'
I recently used Mirror Image on a caster versus my players, and they more or less ranted the rest of the session about the spell. Not it's power as a level 2 spell, but as how it doesn't make any sense.
The spell is mechanically simple. It is meant for casters to have a measure against target attacks only, not AoE without the AoE spells ruining it.
How do you explain a trample not destroying all of the fakes? Or you were able to grapple them last turn, but this turn you missed even though you knew where they were? If you don't know where they are, how do you explain figment being broken on a missed attack, but not a direct hit like magic missile or another AoE?
Repeat after me, "It's magic, I don't have to explain *beep*."
I have a similar question. I've given up trying to use this spell against my players for the inevitable 'Why can't I just do a sweeping horizontal slash?'
Because you could come too short and not hit the actual caster in the back? Or too close, hit with your pommel, and bounce off the total that totally exists on this mage.
@Brother Fen. That doesn't help a ton, because most other magic makes sense. Oh god, what did I just type?
A fireball is a fireball. Channel energy is channeling. Mirror image is "wut?".
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I have a similar question. I've given up trying to use this spell against my players for the inevitable 'Why can't I just do a sweeping horizontal slash?'
There is no way to attack like that, and if so it wouldn't be as accurate as a normal weapon strike or do normal weapon damage. In addition a 5 by 5 foot area is still pretty big. In real life you can fit several people in a 5 by 5 foot area, so even if you tried to do something like that you could still miss the actual target.
You players are also in their own 5 by 5 foot area, and the game doesnt allow you to choose where you are. Otherwise people with reach weapons could say they are standing at the far edge of their square to avoid being hit by someone with a weapon that has no reach.
Basically trying to bring absolute realism into the game causes more problems than it solves.
I have a similar question. I've given up trying to use this spell against my players for the inevitable 'Why can't I just do a sweeping horizontal slash?'There is no way to attack like that, and if so it wouldn't be as accurate as a normal weapon strike or do normal weapon damage. In addition a 5 by 5 foot area is still pretty big. In real life you can fit several people in a 5 by 5 foot area, so even if you tried to do something like that you could still miss the actual target. ...
Let me theorycraft a houserule for a sweeping horizontal slash. As wraithstrike said, it would not be as accurate as a normal weapon strike, because otherwise the fighters would use the sweeping horizontal slash regularly. In addition, a sweep is a lengthy process, so it would be a full-round action and not a full-attack action that allows iterative attacks.
Since the sweeping horizontal slash covers an area, I could adopt area of effect rules. The attacker does not make an attack roll; instead, everyone in the square makes a Reflex save. But wait, Mirror Image says that the figments are destroyed only by attack rolls. Oops, let's look for a different method.
Some firearms have the scatter weapon quality. Maybe I can adapt that.
Scatter Weapon Quality: A weapon with the scatter weapon quality can shoot two different types of ammunition. It can fire normal bullets that target one creature, or it can make a scattering shot, attacking all creatures within a cone. Cannons with the scatter weapon quality only fire grapeshot, unless their descriptions state otherwise. When a scatter weapon attacks all creatures within a cone, it makes a separate attack roll against each creature within the cone. Each attack roll takes a –2 penalty, and its attack damage cannot be modified by precision damage or damage-increasing feats such as Vital Strike. Effects that grant concealment, such as fog or smoke, or the blur, invisibility, or mirror image spells, do not foil a scatter attack. If any of the attack rolls threaten a critical, confirm the critical for that attack roll alone. A firearm that makes a scatter shot misfires only if all of the attack rolls made misfire. If a scatter weapon explodes on a misfire, it deals triple its damage to all creatures within the misfire radius.
That line about "Effects that grant concealment, such as ... mirror image spells, do not foil a scatter attack," I interpreted as not hitting the figments, but we can change that. In other discussions of mirror image, people have suggested throwing a handful of gravel at the images. I would interpret that as an improvised weapon that makes a scattering shot that deals 1 bludgeoning damage.
Sweeping Horizontal Slash: A character wielding a one-handed or two-handed melee weapon that deals bludgeoning or slashing damage can make a sweeping horizontal slash as a full-round action. This attacks all creatures in a single square threatened by the weapon. It makes a separate attack roll against each creature within the square. Each attack roll takes a –6 penalty, and its attack damage cannot be modified by precision damage or damage-increasing feats such as Power Attack. Effects that grant concealment, such as fog or smoke, or the blur, invisibility, or mirror image spells, do not foil a sweeping horizontal slash. Figments from mirror image can be hit. Creatures with cover, partial cover, or soft cover cannot be hit by a sweeping horizontal slash. If any of the attack rolls threaten a critical, confirm the critical for that attack roll alone.
This special attack looks fun to use against invisible creatures or in total darkness, too. The whopping -6 penalty is because the wielder is putting more effort into sweeping the entire square rather than hitting any target, but we could invent a feat, Improved Sweeping Horizontal Slash, that reduces the penalty to -2 and ignores partial cover. And I would also create a feat, Giant Sweeping Horizontal Slash, that lets a Huge or bigger creature hit every creature in a 10-by-10 square.
EDIT: Realized light weapons are too short to use in a sweeping horizontal slash.
I find myself thinking of mirror images like this:
When you try to hit the character with a sword and hit an image instead, the image disappears in a puff of smoke, but it's substantial enough to stop the attack going any further and hitting the real target. It's effectively a semi-real object with one hit point.
When you hit the PC with an area effect attack, the images are smart enough to know they're not going to be of any use here, so they become completely insubstantial. They can't block the attack, but they aren't harmed by it either.
I suspect this is contradicted by the illusion rules, but it works for me.
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There is a single creature with one head and one torso and two arms and two legs that casts mirror image and gets 4 images. There is now a single creature that appears to have five heads and five torsos and ten arms and ten legs, but you can't tell which head goes with which torso or pair of arms or pair of legs.
There is only one targetable creature, not five independent targets. If you attack it, you might miss completely, might degrade the image, or might hit the actual creature. If you AoE the square, all five heads and five torsos and ten arms and ten legs appear to take damage. If you were to somehow mark one of the heads (say a magus with arcane mark attacks and actually hits the primary), all of the heads appear to gain the mark.