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AttilaTheGeek
2013-05-30, 06:52 PM
I'm going to be playing an illusionist in an upcoming game, and I'm looking for ideas. I figured this thread would be a good way to catalogue the playground's favorite illusions. I'll start.

1) A wall. Is it real or isn't it? Waste time finding out?

2) A mask, of someone else's face over your own. Easiest disguise ever.

3) An empty archway where there is actually a wall. Watch enemies run into it, roadrunner style.

4) An illusion of an extradimensional pit often works just as well as an actual pit.

Kaun
2013-05-30, 07:14 PM
5) an illusion over a stair case that makes the steps look an inch higher then they actually are.

Slide
2013-05-30, 07:45 PM
6) A wall again... six inches in front of a rogue's dagger. I'd say having a wall suddenly stab you counts as flatfooted, yes?

7) Wall of Fire/Ice/Iron/Stone/Force, Web, Grease. I'd give a bonus to disbelief for the fire because it's not actually hot, but a Wall of Iron is something most perfectly rational people who have encountered a wizard won't try to walk through.

8) Prismatic Wall/Sphere. "Will save if interacted with", huh? Nobody in their right might who knows what one of these things is will interact with it.

9) A big, black, featureless orb. You frown, squint, and it slowly starts inching towards your enemies.

10) Forcecage

Jay R
2013-05-30, 07:47 PM
6a. An illusion of caltrops all over a battlefield.

6b. Once they figure it out, a bunch of real caltrops in the middle of the field will be far more effective.

Water_Bear
2013-05-30, 07:57 PM
(I'm counting Jay R's #6 as #11a and b)

12. An illusion of the caster on the opposite side of the room as the actual caster, who is invisible. If possible, cast silently and have the illusory caster make any needed gestures and noises.

13. An illusion of a wall covering a wall with a vision-based trap on it (Explosive Runes, Mirror of Opposition, Symbol of Death, etc), to take care of meddling spellcasters.

14. An illusion of a monster attacking the party... right before an actual monster of that type attacks the party.

15. An illusion of a Ghost or other incorporeal creature.

Amaril
2013-05-30, 08:16 PM
16. An illusion of a closed door, cast in the same space as an actual door the party is about to open.

(Yes, I know the Giant came up with this one, or at least I got it from the comics, but somebody had to post it :smalltongue:).

Jay R
2013-05-30, 08:26 PM
17. A real chasm spanned by an illusory bridge. Ideally, the first ten feet of the bridge are real.

TuggyNE
2013-05-30, 10:24 PM
18. An obviously illusionary wall covering a prismatic wall. (Thanks, AGC!)
19. An illusion of a pit over a real pit, but a few feet narrower.

HuskyBoi
2013-05-30, 10:38 PM
19. The illusion of a large monster (or horde of monsters) to drive the enemy somewhere they really would rather not go (down a sewer entrance, into the dungeon of doom, etc).
20. Use an illusion to convince the opposition that everything is normal- no dead bodies in here, see the (illusory) guard patrolling the area just like normal!
21. Illusory treasure as bait inside a trap.
22. One interesting use is to use illusions to put pressure on people and make them more likely to fail skill checks. A rogue has no trouble unlocking a stuck door, but how would he fare if there's a horde of orcs charging down the corridor and he only has a few rounds before they reach him?
23. This one takes a lot of set-up and time, but can be put to interesting use. A shut-in character who doesn't get out much (like a wizard studying in his tower- these seem to be a staple of DnD) can, over time, be fooled into believing that night is day and day is night, confusing his perception of time. How you use this is up to you, but if you can persuade a character he is twelve hours out of sync with the actual time, there's a lot of room for creative tricks (this idea courtesy of Jonathan Creek).

imaloony
2013-05-30, 11:50 PM
A friend of mine told a story about how a 1st level illusionist successfully got a Young Blue Dragon to flee from a fight where it definitely would have won.

The illusionist created an illusion of an Adult Green Dragon flying in and landed to intimidate the smaller Blue Dragon. While the Illusionist couldn't make the dragon attack for real, he could shoot an acid-tipped arrow through the back of the illusions head, making it look like the Green Dragon just attacked the blue dragon.
The Young Blue Dragon, terrified that it was about to get destroyed, turned tail and ran.
Again, I must point out that this illusionist was FIRST LEVEL, and had that Blue Dragon managed to get one attack off on him, you would have been scraping him off the floor.

Lvl45DM!
2013-05-30, 11:59 PM
A friend of mine told a story about how a 1st level illusionist successfully got a Young Blue Dragon to flee from a fight where it definitely would have won.

The illusionist created an illusion of an Adult Green Dragon flying in and landed to intimidate the smaller Blue Dragon. While the Illusionist couldn't make the dragon attack for real, he could shoot an acid-tipped arrow through the back of the illusions head, making it look like the Green Dragon just attacked the blue dragon.
The Young Blue Dragon, terrified that it was about to get destroyed, turned tail and ran.
Again, I must point out that this illusionist was FIRST LEVEL, and had that Blue Dragon managed to get one attack off on him, you would have been scraping him off the floor.

Dunno what system or spell he was using but a soundless, scentless dragon should've have almost no effect on a blue dragon especially if that illusionist had never seen one before.

Always go otherworldly, ghosts and wraiths over other options, since it explains many things.


24) Illusionists can work wonders in tandem with other party members:
The fighters sword starts to glow brighter and brighter, his eyes start to match, and he swells slightly. An audible glamer to make a rumbling sound start to come from every direction and his war cries become a terrifying shriek.

If there's a mage or cleric who conjures monsters, you create a bunch of copies next to them.

25) If the group attacking you has a clear leader and you're outta offensive spells, cast invisibility on him, then an illusion of dust blowing in the wind while you laugh maniacally.

Edge of Dreams
2013-05-31, 02:35 AM
26) Appear to be unharmed by any wounds or attacks against you.

Lvl45DM!
2013-05-31, 02:42 AM
26) Appear to be unharmed by any wounds or attacks against you.

Wouldn't that require a different illusion spell for every wound?

BWR
2013-05-31, 03:16 AM
27) a dragon of one color uses illusions to appear as another color. It also uses spells (and possibly metabreath feats) to make its breath weapon match.

Lord Raziere
2013-05-31, 04:05 AM
28. Appear to be harmed by wounds or attacks against you
29. make the cleric invisible.
30. The key to the door you need to find is invisible. or appears to be a dead rat.
31. Make the fighter appear to be the wizard, and vice versa.
32. Make someone see a color as another color for various effects.
33. Make yourself seem two steps to the left of where you actually are
34. Make them start hearing voices in their head.
35. Twist someones words into something completely else at the exact right time.

HuskyBoi
2013-05-31, 04:55 AM
36. Change the time shown on a clock face to deceive people.
37. Mess with people's perception of size- make the room they have to search appear a thousand times larger than it is, and full of junk.
38. Or make them see the world as though they have been shrunk to the size of a mouse.
39. Or grown to the size of a titan.
40. Team up with a wizard or sorcerer to oppose an enemy caster- your ally dispels the enemy's spellcasting attempts, while you creature the illusion that the spell was successfully cast (get them to waste spells thinking they're making progress).
41. Change someone's perception of gravity, so they believe the battle is being fought on the ceiling.
42. Make someone believe time is passing really slowly (with a slow-moving illusion) or really quickly (with a sped-up one).

Really, the more fundamental the perception you alter, the greater the havoc you can wreak on someone's mind and tactics.

FlyingScanian
2013-05-31, 05:09 AM
27) a dragon of one color uses illusions to appear as another color. It also uses spells (and possibly metabreath feats) to make its breath weapon match.

I actually have this planned for my group (in combination with albinoism). They're going to THINK they're up against a white dragon...

It's red

43) An illusion of a floor. Over a pit :p

imaloony
2013-05-31, 08:17 AM
Dunno what system or spell he was using but a soundless, scentless dragon should've have almost no effect on a blue dragon especially if that illusionist had never seen one before.

Sometimes people on this forum seem to take every rule to the extreme...
It was a Young Blue Dragon, which makes it no older than 25. While Dragons certainly mature quickly, it was still essentially a snot nosed child, and when this larger, angrier, and more powerful dragon opens fire, you generally don't stick around to double check that it's real.

PersonMan
2013-05-31, 09:00 AM
Sometimes people on this forum seem to take every rule to the extreme...
It was a Young Blue Dragon, which makes it no older than 25. While Dragons certainly mature quickly, it was still essentially a snot nosed child, and when this larger, angrier, and more powerful dragon opens fire, you generally don't stick around to double check that it's real.

Eh, I think it's less "they take rules to extreme" and more "this 'cool thing' shouldn't have worked in the first place". If someone says 'hey isn't this cool', a lot of people get disappointed when the thing, in their eyes, isn't actually especially cool because it shouldn't really work. Sort of like that story in Races of the Wild (IIRC) where a halfling tricks an old blue dragon out of its gold and kills it - with a method that shouldn't have worked unless the dragon was more like a vegetable than a flying lizard.

You don't "stick around to double check", you just notice. Like if you're going somewhere and a tank suddenly rolls around the corner - you'll probably jump back at first, but if it keeps moving and is utterly silent and you live in a world where illusions exist, you'll probably poke it to find out at some point.

Especially how the dragon should notice someone chanting magic from inside/behind the dragon before a bolt of acid flies from its head.

Yora
2013-05-31, 09:16 AM
Oh, I was thinking of just such a thread when trying to figure out what types of illusion spells I would need for my custom spellcasting system:

Cast a silent image of a wall about 30 cm in front of an actual wall. Hide yourself in the emtpy space between while guards are passing through, and hope they don't notice the room being a bit smaller than usual.

Cast the illusion of a pit over the opening of an actual pit. If others see the illusions, they think it's just solid floor and they can simply walk over it.

37. Mess with people's perception of size- make the room they have to search appear a thousand times larger than it is, and full of junk.
It's a painting... (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fdjf4lMmiiI)

geeky_monkey
2013-05-31, 09:17 AM
44) Make the enemies look like the party members for a confusing melee. Particularly if you match it up with some sort of silence spell to stop the characters/players talking to each other.

44a) Or like their loved ones if you want to psychologically torture them and make them strike down their wives and childhood friends.

Lord Torath
2013-05-31, 09:17 AM
44) Turn the heavy metal plate covering the female fighter's midsection invisible. Sexy, and effective! (make certain it's only the part covering her midrift! She'll probably skewer you if you 'accidentally' aim to high or low!)

45) Create a few dozen warriors coming up behind your group as reinforcements when you're trying to cow the opposition. (As they are behind your group, they don't need to be as detailed.)

46) Send a "Decoy" party ahead of you to spring ambushes harmlessly.

47) "Move" a real pit a few feet closer to the bad guys. Even if they are familiar with the area, you should be able to trick them into falling in.

48) Create an illusion that you just cast a spell to create a deep pit, if you need some breathing room.

Yora
2013-05-31, 09:27 AM
49: Invisible spiked barricades with subtly marked "safe zones" for you to run through at full speed whily chased by enemies.

killem2
2013-05-31, 09:37 AM
50. An Illusion of Mirrors, in a vampire loaded castle :)

Jay R
2013-05-31, 10:05 AM
51. In a large battle, a force of swordsmen on the ridge, just to keep the enemy off that ridge.

imaloony
2013-05-31, 11:13 AM
Eh, I think it's less "they take rules to extreme" and more "this 'cool thing' shouldn't have worked in the first place". If someone says 'hey isn't this cool', a lot of people get disappointed when the thing, in their eyes, isn't actually especially cool because it shouldn't really work. Sort of like that story in Races of the Wild (IIRC) where a halfling tricks an old blue dragon out of its gold and kills it - with a method that shouldn't have worked unless the dragon was more like a vegetable than a flying lizard.

You don't "stick around to double check", you just notice. Like if you're going somewhere and a tank suddenly rolls around the corner - you'll probably jump back at first, but if it keeps moving and is utterly silent and you live in a world where illusions exist, you'll probably poke it to find out at some point.

Especially how the dragon should notice someone chanting magic from inside/behind the dragon before a bolt of acid flies from its head.

By that definition AD&D illusionists are there to pick their noses and blow spit bubbles.
It wasn't a "Cool thing" it was an illusionist thinking on his feet and getting out of a hairy situation. I for one encourage the attitude of using creating thinking, since bashing something into submission or throwing a horrendously overpowered primary caster at something is the lazy man's way out.

Okay, so the Dragon notices someone chanting a spell. Has no idea how strong of a caster this person is, and if they potentially just summoned a dragon that they control. You don't risk a fight with something that will kill you for the off-chance of killing some random dude chanting spells. Dragons don't get to the Ancient Age category by picking fights with things that they're aware can kill them.

Lvl45DM!
2013-05-31, 11:21 AM
By that definition AD&D illusionists are there to pick their noses and blow spit bubbles.
It wasn't a "Cool thing" it was an illusionist thinking on his feet and getting out of a hairy situation. I for one encourage the attitude of using creating thinking, since bashing something into submission or throwing a horrendously overpowered primary caster at something is the lazy man's way out.

Okay, so the Dragon notices someone chanting a spell. Has no idea how strong of a caster this person is, and if they potentially just summoned a dragon that they control. You don't risk a fight with something that will kill you for the off-chance of killing some random dude chanting spells. Dragons don't get to the Ancient Age category by picking fights with things that they're aware can kill them.

Here's the thing. That illusion doesnt strike me as creative since a large Green dragon would solve most goddamn problems. My problem is less the player managing it than him managing it with a first level spell. If he can already fake a convincing dragon at 1st level where does he go after that?

PersonMan
2013-05-31, 11:48 AM
By that definition AD&D illusionists are there to pick their noses and blow spit bubbles.

I've never played AD&D, but if Illusionists can't make good illusions, then why should the world react as if they do? Do you let someone with a horrible attack bonus crit all the time because otherwise he's just there "to pick [his] nose and blow spit bubbles"?


I for one encourage the attitude of using creating thinking, since bashing something into submission or throwing a horrendously overpowered primary caster at something is the lazy man's way out.

I'm also for creative thinking, but halfway decent thinking on your feet shouldn't result in immersion-shattering failure of an enemy to react in a manner that fist them.


Okay, so the Dragon notices someone chanting a spell. Has no idea how strong of a caster this person is, and if they potentially just summoned a dragon that they control. You don't risk a fight with something that will kill you for the off-chance of killing some random dude chanting spells. Dragons don't get to the Ancient Age category by picking fights with things that they're aware can kill them.

Spellcraft DC to identify a level 1 illusion is 16. A Young (minimum HD) Blue has 105 skill points, with a maximum of 15 points in class skills and 7.5 in cross-class. In the world of magic, it makes sense to max Spellcraft so you know what is and isn't a mighty caster summoning your doom. So, with a bonus of +8, it had a 65% chance of identifying the spell.

In this case, 'creative thinking' via just casting a basic illusion is really 'hope you get lucky and the dragon whiffs their roll and doesn't notice that the illusion is an illusion despite it being pretty obvious'.

Also, high-power casters are generally rare - extending your argument a bit means that nobody will ever attack anything, since they could be a high-level whatever going incognito or a polymorphed dragon or a demigod or...

It makes more sense to wait for proof (like, you know, an actual high level spell) to assume that you're up against a powerful caster than to just go "oh uh, he's chanting, better run" all the time.

How do you think dragons get and keep their hoards? It certainly isn't by running away from anything that wiggles fingers at them.

EDIT:

On topic:

52: Illusions of yourself, covered in obvious buffs (a la Blur, Displacement and Mirror Image) moving along the edge of the battlefield away from the others, casting a spell. Then you, formerly invisible, appear somewhere else. Obvious illusion is obvious - they go for "you". And of course you glow Illusion under Detect Magic, you're covered in illusion buffs, after all!

imaloony
2013-05-31, 12:12 PM
Spellcraft DC to identify a level 1 illusion is 16. A Young (minimum HD) Blue has 105 skill points, with a maximum of 15 points in class skills and 7.5 in cross-class. In the world of magic, it makes sense to max Spellcraft so you know what is and isn't a mighty caster summoning your doom. So, with a bonus of +8, it had a 65% chance of identifying the spell.

In this case, 'creative thinking' via just casting a basic illusion is really 'hope you get lucky and the dragon whiffs their roll and doesn't notice that the illusion is an illusion despite it being pretty obvious'.

How do you think dragons get and keep their hoards? It certainly isn't by running away from anything that wiggles fingers at them.

Dragons don't get their hordes when they're still so young. And again, the dragon did not run because someone "Wiggled their fingers at them" he ran because an older Green Dragon landed in front of him an attacked him. Perfectly rational for the Dragon to get the hell out of dodge.
Thinking on your feet is realizing that Green Dragons HATE Blue Dragons. There would be a reason for said dragon to go out of his way to come wreck a Blue Dragon's face, especially one so clearly weaker than him. By fortifying the belief of said illusion with an attack that said dragon could produce (Acid), it's a very clever way to get a powerful evil creature to back off. That is what we called a believable illusion. Note that he didn't defeat the dragon, he found a way to survive with limited resources.
As for the spellcraft roll, it's another reason that I try to avoid anything beyond AD&D, since when you get to epic level creatures nothing short of the power of CoDzilla or something else horrendously powerful in combat can stop them. Powerful creatures have so many skill points and Sense Motive, Spot, Listen, and Spellcraft can pretty much stop any clever way of dealing with a powerful threat.
AD&D promotes role playing more than "Hey, I rolled an 89 on my Sense Motive so I know you're lying no matter what."

53. Classic fake cave-in.

galan
2013-05-31, 04:39 PM
Dragons don't get their hordes when they're still so young. And again, the dragon did not run because someone "Wiggled their fingers at them" he ran because an older Green Dragon landed in front of him an attacked him. Perfectly rational for the Dragon to get the hell out of dodge.
Thinking on your feet is realizing that Green Dragons HATE Blue Dragons. There would be a reason for said dragon to go out of his way to come wreck a Blue Dragon's face, especially one so clearly weaker than him. By fortifying the belief of said illusion with an attack that said dragon could produce (Acid), it's a very clever way to get a powerful evil creature to back off. That is what we called a believable illusion. Note that he didn't defeat the dragon, he found a way to survive with limited resources.
As for the spellcraft roll, it's another reason that I try to avoid anything beyond AD&D, since when you get to epic level creatures nothing short of the power of CoDzilla or something else horrendously powerful in combat can stop them. Powerful creatures have so many skill points and Sense Motive, Spot, Listen, and Spellcraft can pretty much stop any clever way of dealing with a powerful threat.
AD&D promotes role playing more than "Hey, I rolled an 89 on my Sense Motive so I know you're lying no matter what."

53. Classic fake cave-in.

epic level? what epic level? it's level 1!

And there is a diffrence between "hey, i just used my limited resources to do something cool" and "hey, i have two spells that look kinda like to spells that can actually solve this problem. good thing my dm let me do it anyway". if he used a higher level illusion and a bigger acid attack (idk, acid area attack or something), as a dm i would approve. but right now thats a much weaker, diffrent thing- acid arrow and acid breath probably feel like diffrent things when they hit you. one hit only in one spot, the other is not. an hologram of a dragon can't mimic other senses- and dragons have *great* hearing and smelling senses.

Lord Torath
2013-05-31, 04:56 PM
And there is a diffrence between "hey, i just used my limited resources to do something cool" and "hey, i have two spells that look kinda like to spells that can actually solve this problem. good thing my dm let me do it anyway". if he used a higher level illusion and a bigger acid attack (idk, acid area attack or something), as a dm i would approve. but right now thats a much weaker, diffrent thing- acid arrow and acid breath probably feel like diffrent things when they hit you. one hit only in one spot, the other is not. an hologram of a dragon can't mimic other senses- and dragons have *great* hearing and smelling senses.I kind of agree with this. Phantasmal Force does visuals only, no sound, smell, etc. And Melf's Acid Arrow is a 2nd Level spell, which means said illusionist must have been at least 3rd level. Which would then allow access to Improved Phantasmal Force, which includes sound as well as sight. Which would make it much more believable. (Plus, a 1st level illusionist gets one spelll per day, making it difficult to both create the illusion and cast Acid Arrow). Although he'd need to be at least 4th Level to be able to do both an Improved Phantasmal Force and Melf's Acid Arrow.
So I'm guessing ImALooney was told an almost accurate version of the story.:smallwink:

imaloony
2013-06-01, 12:08 AM
epic level? what epic level? it's level 1!

And there is a diffrence between "hey, i just used my limited resources to do something cool" and "hey, i have two spells that look kinda like to spells that can actually solve this problem. good thing my dm let me do it anyway". if he used a higher level illusion and a bigger acid attack (idk, acid area attack or something), as a dm i would approve. but right now thats a much weaker, diffrent thing- acid arrow and acid breath probably feel like diffrent things when they hit you. one hit only in one spot, the other is not. an hologram of a dragon can't mimic other senses- and dragons have *great* hearing and smelling senses.

I said epic level creatures.
I don't understand why people have such a big problem with this. It wasn't the player abusing the system to get some epic gear or to destroy a much more powerful enemy, it was a low-level caster who improvised with his pool of next to no spells to avoid getting roasted from a dragon's breath weapon. There weren't many options for the player to get out, and his solution was a clever one. To me, the mark of a good DM isn't "Well, that's a good idea but it isn't good enough so you get eaten" nor is it "Well that sounds sort of cool so I'll let it fly." This was a DM rewarding a player for making the best of a hopeless situation.
Pulling the "Lawl, not good enough you get to die" card is the mark of a pretty poor DM, to be honest.

54.Displace a door and make the poor sucker run straight into a wall.

Lakaz
2013-06-01, 12:32 AM
55 (I think): Illusiory clones of the enemy party who claim that the enemy party are illusiory clones.
56: Invisibility+illusiory clone of yourself.. If you want to betray a friend, have them talk to the clone (Using throw voice) while you sneak up behind them with a dagger/pistol.
57: Create an illusion of the paladin's corpse next to the paladin when he wakes up in the hospital after being badly wounded so that he thinks he is having an out of body experience (For bonus points: Convince the medics to pretend to be unable to see him/make him invisible)

HuskyBoi
2013-06-01, 12:42 AM
55 (I think): Illusiory clones of the enemy party who claim that the enemy party are illusiory clones.
56: Invisibility+illusiory clone of yourself.. If you want to betray a friend, have them talk to the clone (Using throw voice) while you sneak up behind them with a dagger/pistol.
57: Create an illusion of the paladin's corpse next to the paladin when he wakes up in the hospital after being badly wounded so that he thinks he is having an out of body experience (For bonus points: Convince the medics to pretend to be unable to see him/make him invisible)

You can really go to town with 57. If your skill is high enough and your target's will save is low! For example:

58: When an enemy wakes, convince them they are undead.

There's a Tom Holt book that did this in a very macabre and kind of funny way- rather than turning people into toads (which was beyond their power), a witch would convince a man that he had been turned into a toad (through enchantment magic) and convince everyone who looked at him that he was a toad (with illusions). Doesn't sound too bad, until you imagine a grown man trying to live on nothing but flies he's caught with his tongue.

Exediron
2013-06-01, 01:26 AM
I said epic level creatures / I don't understand why people have such a big problem with this.

You may have said it, but nobody else did. The discussion on skill checks was for a dragon of the correct age - not an epic creature.

I don't think most people have a big problem with the scenario given - just a little one. The problem is that many of us don't feel it should have worked, and having something that shouldn't have worked held up as clever is bound to annoy. In my opinion, one of the DM's responsibilities is to run the world and make sure it functions properly, part of which is disallowing ideas from the players that wouldn't work.

He'd have been better off making a sufficiently large green dragon just do a fly-over or appear on the horizon; probably still scares the younger dragon off, and less sound or smell to worry about.

59: Put an illusion of a trap over the real trap, and a mechanical fake where the illusion isn't. Only works on parties who have a good chance of perceiving the illusion, but who aren't powerful enough to dispel it out of hand.

HuskyBoi
2013-06-01, 02:31 AM
60. You see an infested, poisoned, stinking marsh full of dead animals and rotted plants. Your enemy sees a clear spring that's perfectly safe to drink from. Kill them with dysentry.

Lvl45DM!
2013-06-01, 02:40 AM
I don't think most people have a big problem with the scenario given - just a little one.

This. Its just more of a DM's saving throw to avoid a 1st level party getting killed by a too powerful creature. I have no problem with THAT. It just shouldn't work often.

My 1st level party once got attacked by a vampire, and so my 1st level mage hit it with a light spell and it ran off. Fair enough but I don't think it should work that way most times.

61. Invisible weaponry. Always good for a laugh. Anyone seen that bit in Losers where Chris Evan's character pretends to be psychic while his buddy snipes people? Like that. "Im such a powerful warrior I can kill you without touching you" *swings invisible sword and dudes head falls off*

galan
2013-06-01, 04:48 AM
nope, i wouldn't kill the chracter either. there is a reason a dragon would not fall for this trick- he is a much stronger creature than the charecter- very young blue dragon is an appropriate (i probably messed this word by a lot) challange for four four (lol) level adveturers. this is a first level wizard alone. of course he can't win this! he shouldn't!
instead of bending the rules for letting him doing something, you should let him face weaker challanges.

llamamushroom
2013-06-01, 09:40 AM
62. Battle in the clouds - illusion the ground into being the sky (perhaps mark any obstacles as clouds or something). Not sure what it'd accomplish, beyond striking fear and vertigo into your opponents' hearts.

63. "Teleport" the battle elsewhere, and claim to be a vastly more powerful wizard than you are.

PersonMan
2013-06-01, 09:50 AM
62. Invisible illusions. Invisible Spell (for 3.5) or similar to make your illusions invisible. This is, of course, after a few rooms full of invisible enemies. Pepper with actual invisible enemies/furniture to taste. Serve.

Razanir
2013-06-01, 10:51 AM
65) Illusion of a pit on a regular floor. They waste resources trying to cross it.
66) Illusion of lava on a regular floor. "The floor is lava!"

Nizaris
2013-06-01, 02:57 PM
[all of these are from my 5e playtest with just Minor Illusion]

67: Boxes of food and supplies over the bodies of recently slain kobolds

68) Illusion of yourself to converse with the guy you expect to stab you during a negotiation

69) Illusionary band for when you perform in a tavern and stage effects

Taet
2013-06-02, 06:47 PM
Does your system allow for illusions of all senses?

70. In the dungeon, an adventurer's ankle feels the touch and resistance of a tripwire--but 'the party does not find any traps'.

71. An unexplained blast of hot air, warm and rhythmical as a dragon's breath, puffs through an enclosed place.

72. The monster reeks of rotting flesh, but once its opponent comes within melee range, drops the pretense of being undead and mindless.

73. His victory literally turns to ashes in his mouth. Bonus points for casting the illusion upon liquids and mimicking the feel of swallowing a flow of ash.


If it does not, use these instead:

70. The end of a broken tripwire whips out from underneath an adventurer and retracts into the wall--but 'the party does not find any traps'.

71. The locomotive's light gleams from further down the tunnel. Meep meep. :smallamused:

72. Cast a visual that matches the visual display of Detect Evil, if there is one.

73. Turn all the shadows 90 degrees from their proper orientation.

Lvl45DM!
2013-06-02, 09:06 PM
Does your system allow for illusions of all senses?

70. In the dungeon, an adventurer's ankle feels the touch and resistance of a tripwire--but 'the party does not find any traps'.

71. An unexplained blast of hot air, warm and rhythmical as a dragon's breath, puffs through an enclosed place.

72. The monster reeks of rotting flesh, but once its opponent comes within melee range, drops the pretense of being undead and mindless.

73. His victory literally turns to ashes in his mouth. Bonus points for casting the illusion upon liquids and mimicking the feel of swallowing a flow of ash.


If it does not, use these instead:

70. The end of a broken tripwire whips out from underneath an adventurer and retracts into the wall--but 'the party does not find any traps'.

71. The locomotive's light gleams from further down the tunnel. Meep meep. :smallamused:

72. Cast a visual that matches the visual display of Detect Evil, if there is one.

73. Turn all the shadows 90 degrees from their proper orientation.

Dunno about puny 3.x and 4e but mighty AD&D has a sight illusion a sound illusion a sight and sound illusion and a sight sound smell and thermal illusion

I like the faux undead one, awesome

TuggyNE
2013-06-02, 09:21 PM
Dunno about puny 3.x and 4e but mighty AD&D has a sight illusion a sound illusion a sight and sound illusion and a sight sound smell and thermal illusion

3.x does indeed have illusions that can mimic any normal human sense. (Well, except maybe touch/taste.) Smell, heat/cold, sound, sight, intelligible speech are all included by level 5 at the latest.

geeky_monkey
2013-06-03, 08:15 AM
75. A really easy to spot tripwire. About 5ft down the corridor from the much better hidden real trap.

killem2
2013-06-03, 02:12 PM
75. A really easy to spot tripwire. About 5ft down the corridor from the much better hidden real trap.

This sort of implies that there is a judgement between illusions. Even the easy to spot one can still fool someone into thinking it is still a tripwire, except one that was set by a moron. :smallbiggrin:

It doesn't however make the next one that much easier to miss or be able to disable. :smallwink:

Crazyfailure13
2013-06-03, 02:39 PM
76. Illusion of yourself charging at the enemy, while the real you creeps up behind invisibly to sneak attack.

Lvl45DM!
2013-06-03, 08:27 PM
This sort of implies that there is a judgement between illusions. Even the easy to spot one can still fool someone into thinking it is still a tripwire, except one that was set by a moron. :smallbiggrin:

It doesn't however make the next one that much easier to miss or be able to disable. :smallwink:

Yeah that one just puts people on their guard for more traps.
77. Convince the vampires that you'll help them destroy their enemies IN DAYLIGHT and fake a solar eclipse. Tsssssssssss

geeky_monkey
2013-06-04, 04:55 AM
This sort of implies that there is a judgement between illusions. Even the easy to spot one can still fool someone into thinking it is still a tripwire, except one that was set by a moron. :smallbiggrin:

It doesn't however make the next one that much easier to miss or be able to disable. :smallwink:

I should have been clearer. The illusionary 'obvious trap' is further away and is just a decoy from the real trap - the trap-disarmer is so focused on it they walk straight into the real trap.

Raimun
2013-06-04, 06:36 AM
78. An illusion of a member of the opposite sex, who's flirting with the target of the illusion! Or a litter puppies! (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0066.html)

DigoDragon
2013-06-04, 06:44 AM
79. Cast polymorph on your rogue to make him/her look like the party wizard. Then cast an illusion over that to make the rogue look like the rogue. Repeat with other members of the party. Then see if the BBEG's minions don't get a headache tryng to figure out who is who.

In other words, sometimes disguising yourself as yourself causes the enemy to believe you're not you. :smallsmile:

ReaderAt2046
2013-06-04, 07:47 AM
Illusionary air in a vacuum-sealed room.

Illusion of vrocks, who already have at-will Mirror Image (to explain why you attacks keep hitting air).

Lvl45DM!
2013-06-04, 08:28 AM
Illusionary air in a vacuum-sealed room.

Illusion of vrocks, who already have at-will Mirror Image (to explain why you attacks keep hitting air).

Illusionary...air...

All of my what.

HuskyBoi
2013-06-04, 08:49 AM
79. Cast polymorph on your rogue to make him/her look like the party wizard. Then cast an illusion over that to make the rogue look like the rogue. Repeat with other members of the party. Then see if the BBEG's minions don't get a headache tryng to figure out who is who.

In other words, sometimes disguising yourself as yourself causes the enemy to believe you're not you. :smallsmile:

I once played an arcane trickster who wore a mundane disguise, cast alter self, and then projected an image over himself. The three layers of disguise against a variety of different-CR opponents left a lot of debate as to who actually robbed them!

LokiRagnarok
2013-06-04, 10:15 AM
Illusionary air in a vacuum-sealed room.



Credit where credit is due (http://agc.deskslave.org/comic_viewer.html?goNumber=56).

TeChameleon
2013-06-04, 06:44 PM
82. An illusion of the room you're in that is very slightly wrong- eg. the corners join at, say, an 85-degree angle (assuming they joined at a 90-degree angle in reality), furniture looks like it was bought at IKEA and assembled by somebody who was just a little too drunk to be doing it, the shadows point the wrong way...

Any enemy that's fighting you in that room would be lucky to hit the broadside of an oliphaunt, much less your party, even if they don't have a single illusion on them!

83. Have the room/scenery spin around your opponents like a tilt-a-whirl. At higher levels, have different bits spin in different directions. Saving throw vs. nausea, anyone?

84. I am not left handed- just mirror-image everything. Watch your opponents go insane trying to compensate.

85. Alternatively, just flip everything upside down. It's been done in real life with special glasses- from what I recall, the people they put it on basically just collapsed, vomiting. It took them something like a week plus to adjust- their brains actually flipped things for them... and then when the glasses were removed, they collapsed, vomiting, all over again, since everything was once again upside-down!

86. The infinite hallway- cast an illusion of the party over top of the party, then make the party invisible. Have the illusion retreat at the enemies' move speed, so that the enemies think that they're never getting closer. Point and laugh as they sprint headfirst into a wall/pit/the fighter's great cleave/whatever.

Kane0
2013-06-04, 07:09 PM
Is it possible to use multiple illusions to make an illusion within another illusion to get some inception style antics going? If so, I submit that as number 87.

88. An illusionary double of you casting illusion spells, or just normal spells for that matter.

89. Casting illusions of you casting illusion spells. Make them paranoid!

90. Illusion of a cloud of poison gas or similar substance filling the room. Extra points if you can manage to pull off a liquid version.

DigoDragon
2013-06-05, 06:47 AM
90. Illusion of a cloud of poison gas or similar substance filling the room. Extra points if you can manage to pull off a liquid version.

I had created a real jerk-move trap with a similar concept.

A room in a dungeon was divided by a thick glass wall. The PCs entered on one side and they saw some villagers on the other side of the wall slowly being poisoned by a green gas.
The PCs smashed the glass wall to save the villagers, but the victims were only an illusion. The green gas was also an illusion. It was green slime. :smallbiggrin:


91. Proximity triggered illusion by way of a pressure plate. The illusion makes the sound of some turning gears behind a nearby wall, but this only serves to fuel the party's paranoia.

MirddinEmris
2013-06-05, 11:30 AM
92 Make an illusion of a big scary monster on a...big scary monster (same one, or different kind, depending on a situation), works wonders against an opponent, who knows that you are illusionist.

Being an illusionist is all about information control - what you know, what your opponent know, what your opponent know about what you know, etc. Double bluff, triple bluff, misdirection, throwing your opponent off balance, disinformation - that's and many other strategies and tactics are you weapons, know them well and, more importantly, know when and against whom to apply them.

P.S. What so particulary clever about making an illusion of a big monster to scary a smaller one? It's pretty straightforward and blatantly obvious (not to mention, poorly implemented).

P.P.S. Many kudos to posters in this thread - now i'm bent on playing illusionist again, in the next game i'll play :smallbiggrin:

illyrus
2013-06-05, 11:47 AM
93. Put an illusion over a symbol trap.
94. Create an illusion of a battlemap for commanding troops.
95. Create a ghost sound of moans and muffled beating at the graveyard to scare the peasantry.
96. Create an illusion of water flooding a ship during a storm so they abandon it.
97. Use a thermal capable illusion to create a fire that causes people to abandon a building.
98. Mirage arcana (it has tactile) a mansion and sell it.

SethoMarkus
2013-06-06, 09:53 AM
99. Illusory reinforcements: ships off in the distance, cavalry cresting a hill, or shadows with appropriate sounds of more adventurers coming down a tunnel around the next corner. Might help in negotiations or intimidation to scare off the last few enemies.

(I feel something special should take the 100 spot and I don't have anything, so just this one for now!)

Razanir
2013-06-06, 10:13 AM
100. As illusion of Colossal titans sitting around a table controlling the world by throwing stone structures as large as humans and narrating what happens.

(I hope some 4th wall breaky goodness is special enough for #100)

Kami2awa
2013-06-06, 06:47 PM
101. Illusions of really impressive natural phenomena e.g. eclipses to convince enemies you are a god.

Erik Vale
2013-06-06, 11:28 PM
102. Against wizards/other with active detect magic, illusions of boulders falling onto them. With actual boulders just behind the illusionary ones so they are concealed.

Wizard thinks it's a illusion, but the real will splatter him.

Cookie for the person who names the book I got it from.

HuskyBoi
2013-06-06, 11:30 PM
102. Against wizards/other with active detect magic, illusions of boulders falling onto them. With actual boulders just behind the illusionary ones so they are concealed.

Wizard thinks it's a illusion, but the real will splatter him.

Cookie for the person who names the book I got it from.

Can I have a cookie? Sounds a lot like Trudi Canavan's trilogy, the Magician's Guild!

Actually, a lot of the tactics used in those books could well be decent illusion tricks.

Erik Vale
2013-06-06, 11:33 PM
You can get half a cookie for narrowing it down.

HuskyBoi
2013-06-07, 01:41 AM
Then it's got to be when Sonea's doing her more advanced training, but not trying to overcome Regin so... High Lord? Bit of a guess there I'm afraid, but an educated one!

103. Illusory weather- a heavy rainstorm churning up mud might prevent a caravan from attempting a journey, a distant typhoon could cause a ship to change course (delaying it), and so on.

Geddoe
2013-06-07, 04:40 AM
The clever monster that is using an illusion to look like a pile of 100 babies.

SethoMarkus
2013-06-07, 10:01 AM
(Assuming that Geddoe's post was #104)

105. Illusory floor segments (multiple 5"x5" or 10"x10" "floors") in a room. Some segments have pitfall traps under them, other segments have some type of visually triggered trap (explosive runes, any "symbol of...", etc).

It isn't so much creative use of an illusion than creative combination, but still :smallbiggrin:

Notreallyhere77
2013-06-07, 10:24 AM
The clever monster that is using an illusion to look like a pile of 100 babies.

Hahahahahahahaha!
I know what you've been reading!
(It's okay, I'm a fan, too.)

illyrus
2013-06-07, 10:45 AM
106. An illusion of subtitles for deaf/mute party members (or when you want to be silent).

Lvl45DM!
2013-06-08, 02:38 AM
107. If theres multiple opponents make an auditory illusion of one of their voices thinking traitorous thoughts in voiceover

Samshiir
2013-06-08, 03:38 AM
108: I once was DMing a game, and I had the group come to a turn in the dungeon they were exploring. There was a shadow of a large dragon on the wall, and the sound of it roaring at them. I had them roll a fear save against it.

Little did they know, however, the dragon wasn't real, in a way. It was a small psuedodragon around the corner that had casted Light just behind itself, casting a larger shadow against the wall so the oncoming group could see. Then it casted Ghost Sound to sound like a dragon roaring. Two cantrips and an "illusion" that any caster with access to these simple spells can achieve!

Belril Duskwalk
2013-06-08, 05:59 AM
109: Stealing this one from a friend who actually did this in game: 'Showing' a non-spellcaster how to cast Phantasmal Force. Then, when he tries to mimic your actions and cast the spell, you cast it for real and thus convince the non-caster that he just cast a spell.

A Tad Insane
2013-06-08, 01:12 PM
110: Make some one decked out in +5 magical gear look as if they're in lvl 1 stuff

AttilaTheGeek
2013-06-12, 02:37 PM
111) An illusion of a blindfold over the enemy's eyes works just as well as the real thing.

112) An illusory lantern still makes light.

113) A very thin illusion, like a painting, of the background behind you. As long as the enemy doesn't move, it can turn Silent Image into Invisibility.

Erik Vale
2013-06-12, 05:40 PM
Then it's got to be when Sonea's doing her more advanced training, but not trying to overcome Regin so... High Lord? Bit of a guess there I'm afraid, but an educated one!


The Problem is that your thinking of the wrong people learning of it, however without actually consulting the books, enjoy your cookie.

TeChameleon
2013-06-12, 11:46 PM
112) An illusory lantern still makes light.

... wait, does that work? Even if (or maybe especially if) it doesn't, that leads to a wonderfully nasty possibility...

114. An illusory lantern that, when lit, shows an entirely false view of the room it's lit in. "Hey look! It's the treasure roo*SPLUTCH*

115. A HUD for each party member. Could be distinctly useful if you created some spells that tied into the HUD, like a mapping spell that displayed on the illusion, rather than on a piece of paper, or something that showed the vital signs of each party member, or even tremorsense/blindsight that showed on the HUD.

Vovix
2013-06-13, 12:10 AM
116.Illusion of a blindfold cast on enemy's eyes.
117.Illusion of a solid hemisphere cast over the only source of light in the room. Since you automatically disbelieve your own illusion, you see a well lit room. Your enemies are in pitch darkness.

Silva Stormrage
2013-06-13, 01:14 AM
116.Illusion of a blindfold cast on enemy's eyes.
117.Illusion of a solid hemisphere cast over the only source of light in the room. Since you automatically disbelieve your own illusion, you see a well lit room. Your enemies are in pitch darkness.

I don't think #117 works. Light has mass correct? I don't think your illusions can stop anything that has actual mass.

TuggyNE
2013-06-13, 01:37 AM
I don't think #117 works. Light has mass correct? I don't think your illusions can stop anything that has actual mass.

Rest mass of a photon is zero.

Whether that's true in D&D I don't know; it seems like a slightly cheaty way to get darkness. Probably it should just be dark inside that, but not necessarily outside.

AttilaTheGeek
2013-06-13, 05:49 AM
It's got to work - if light could pass through illusions, then they'd all be transparent.

118. To really terrify someone, show them an illusion of their own dead body.
118a. Better yet, show them an illusion of a dozen horribly mutilated bodies, but on close inspection, the target realizes there are a dozen of his own body.

119. Make a simple quarterstaff look like an archmage's staff.

120. Silent Image of Color Spray?

MirddinEmris
2013-06-13, 10:42 AM
It's got to work - if light could pass through illusions, then they'd all be transparent.


But the ARE transparent) The only seem not when you fail a save, so, there will be no light in the sphere, but outside of it area will be litten. After all, you wouldn't say that illusion of a lead wall will block fireball, they do not break the line of effect, the can only break lne of sight if save is failed

Lord Torath
2013-06-13, 11:13 AM
I'd actually say they block line of sight until the victim makes his save. The default assumption is that they work, correct? It's not even until the victim states that he's disbelieving that he actually gets to roll a saving throw.

On the other hand, turning a lantern or a torch Invisible does not turn its light invisible. I wonder if there's anything in the Sage Advice columns regarding this...

Ionbound
2013-06-13, 11:53 AM
121: Illusion of enchanted gear lying in a dungeon. Think Emperor's New Clothes

Kazemi
2013-06-13, 02:03 PM
122: Cast an illusion on some copper pieces to turn them to gold pieces. Lay them outside your target store and if someone fails their save, uses them, and gets caught, you can use the ensuing chaos to nick something yourself (and at the very least they got in trouble for trying to cheat).

123: An illusory, sleeping adult dragon. It's a realistic challenge for lower level PCs, since their goal becomes avoiding the confrontation rather than killing it.

124: When ambushing an enemy camp, illusory zombie-dragons, gorillas, etc charge down several rounds in a row from different directions to attack their leader. When they start letting their guard down ("It's just another stupid illusion! Don't let them fool you!"), let your Animated dragon/animal companion/dominated monster charge in and murder their boss. Spring the rest of your attacks right at the same time to give it the chance to escape (if you care about it).

125: Half a dozen illusory walls set up in layers, with the last one sitting at the edge of a cliff or other trap. Each wall should ideally be harder to overcome than the last. The first one draws their interest, then they continue through the second. Hopefully they'll fail their will saves, but keep trying to just walk through them and into whatever pit or trap you want :smallbiggrin:

127.a: Invisibility+Disable Spell=Apparent Planeshift/Disintegrate/Teleport. The disable can be a Hold Person, Suggestion, Dominate, etc. As long as it stops the person from giving away that he's not actually here.

127.b: Invisibility on a Macguffin to make it seem like you teleported it out of there. If you manage to flee out of that room, the enemy might not even see it wink back into existence.

128: Several basic illusory effects at once and a few Dominate Person spells. A slew of Will Saves could get the players/NPCs thinking that they're only dealing with illusions.

Lakaz
2013-06-13, 03:47 PM
118. To really terrify someone, show them an illusion of their own dead body.


Or a variation, show them YOUR dead body, to trick them into thinking you're dead. IT worked well enough for Batou in Ghost In The Shell

Mighty_Chicken
2013-06-13, 04:01 PM
130) Illusory baby/child hostage. Great for villains to bribe heroes or for characters of any alignment to escape from authorities.

130a) Illusory important object: a bomb, a flask of alchemical fire, something valuable being hold in a way it could be destroyed, etc.

131) Claiming to be an illusionist as sell your services to a king that needs a powerful illusionist. But having illusion as a forbidden school and doing everything you claim to be illusions with "actual" spells.

132) Pretend to have the weapon an intelligent monster is weak againt; or to have a physical proof that a noble is guilty of a crime.

133) Serve poisoned wine. Drink from illusory cup.

133a) Eat illusory food to proove it's safe or tasty. Make people eat actual food. Profit.

134) Mess with navigation instruments to cause the ship you're in to get lost.

135) Mess with kitchen ingredients so the cook makes terrible food and loses his job; or poisons everyone.

136) Get all covered on illusory blood. Make law officer arrest you. Make blood disappear as soon as his superior is present. Complain about how the law officer is insane.

136a) The relic that noble secretly stole from the sanctuary? Make someone tell him a thief entered his headquarters, but didn't succeed to enter anywhere important. Then appear to him and let you see the illusory relic, but just for an instant. He will go home after his precious relic and you'll know where does he keeps it.

137) Everyone sees the adult red dragon that guards the Fortress of Villainness. But the red dragon is illusory; there's another creature, with different strenghts and weaknesses, and the invaders are caught flat flooted.

Mnemophage
2013-06-13, 11:49 PM
138: A persistent illusion over a large and dangerous weapon to make it appear small and innocuous. Hey, there's a courier running over here with a scroll tu-and, greatsworded.

139: One of the more fun ones I pulled off was to Disguise Self myself into a rakshasa. A doppelganger would also work. At that point, no one is sure what in the heck you're supposed to be.

140: As an addendum to 133, present things that aren't potions as potions. This can, technically, be done off a Prestidigitation. This is why my vindictive 18-charisma Bluff-maxed social sorcerer went around with bottles full of lye.

141: Suddenly, your opponent is not wearing clothes.

HuskyBoi
2013-06-14, 12:05 AM
142. Have an illusory orchestra (or band, or whatever you prefer) play a fanfare as you enter the city, to give the impression you are a figure of great importance.

geeky_monkey
2013-06-14, 09:49 AM
143: A dent in the suit of armour you are haggling over. Or a fly in your soup. Anything that gets you a discount from the shopkeeper for selling you 'flawed' goods.

SethoMarkus
2013-06-14, 10:07 AM
144. An illusory chest of precious gems (actually ordinary rocks for weight). Open the chest and take the one real gem off the top, hand that to the merchant to inspect and disallow him to view the others until he pays you. Lock the chest and give him the key, then skip town.

Alex12
2013-06-14, 10:26 AM
145: A dragon using normal mundane paint to appear as a dragon of a different color, with illusions to hide the minor details like eye color.

"I've got my ice sword and fireproof armor, I'm ready to take on the red dragon!"
And then it turns out that it's a green dragon instead.

geeky_monkey
2013-06-14, 10:43 AM
145: A dragon using normal mundane paint to appear as a dragon of a different color, with illusions to hide the minor details like eye color.

"I've got my ice sword and fireproof armor, I'm ready to take on the red dragon!"
And then it turns out that it's a green dragon instead.

I've used something similar to that in a game, but rather than being an illusion it turned out the villagers who'd paid them to kill the dragon all suffered from hereditary red-green colour-blindness.

Mean, but the players had been meta-gaming all session and using game knowledge their low level characters would have no way of knowing.

Kazemi
2013-06-14, 12:06 PM
146: Use a glamer on a large crowd to shout out comments, as if one of the villagers was calling it out. This can be used to rile them into a frenzy for whatever purpose you choose. Given the situation, very few people (if any) should get a will save against it.

147.a: Change the text on signs by putting an illusion over it
147.b: If you can expect they will pass their will save, replace the sign with a fake sign before placing the illusion of the correct sign over that. They'll disbelieve the real sign.

148: Make an illusion of an Explosive Rune or Sepia Snake Sigil (Are there other text-based traps?)

Ionbound
2013-06-14, 01:19 PM
I've used something similar to that in a game, but rather than being an illusion it turned out the villagers who'd paid them to kill the dragon all suffered from hereditary red-green colour-blindness.

Mean, but the players had been meta-gaming all session and using game knowledge their low level characters would have no way of knowing.

This took place in fantasy Georgia, right?

149-Making a really nasty rune trap look like your signature Arcane Mark.

TuggyNE
2013-06-14, 04:29 PM
148: Make an illusion of an Explosive Rune or Sepia Snake Sigil (Are there other text-based traps?)

Illusory script with a nasty suggestion imbedded. The symbol spells.

racnor
2013-06-14, 07:57 PM
149. Copy the voice of the enemy commander/ imitate signals to split up an enemy force.

150.Generate extra enemy casualties to inflate your reputations and break enemy moral. ("There where twenty burning corpses, sir! And three of them had bite marks! I'm not going in there!)

151. Flying? what do you mean, flying? I am clearly standing on this very solid piece of stone/wood jutting over the canyon/ sea/ wall. You should charge at me.

152. If there are two groups of enemies fighting together(or even a single group with chronic backstabbing disorder) then stage a backstabbing. It can be as simple as someone pulling a wand instead of a wallet on someone else in a deserted warehouse, or you can create two combatants and a whole dramatic scene.

The last one is shamelessly lifted from a fantasy book. Internets for the one who figures it out.

Kazemi
2013-06-14, 11:44 PM
152.b: Apply this logic to your own party.

153: Use an illusion of nothing on nothing to make an enemy spellcaster detect illusion magic and think that something is there (additional reinforcements, a bridge, etc). Although your mileage may vary depending on what passing the will save would do...

154: Use an illusion of taste to improve those disgusting rations. Or to give that snobby noble a taste of his own medicine!

Brennan1214
2013-06-16, 03:25 PM
155. Innocent civilian into sword-waving psychopath/evil demon/something bad. Make the paladin fall!

156. Ruin a tense diplomatic negotiation with illusory speech.

In tribute to racnor, 156 was also lifted from a fantasy book. Same prize.

LokiRagnarok
2013-06-16, 04:22 PM
155. Innocent civilian into sword-waving psychopath/evil demon/something bad. Make the paladin fall!

...I am pretty sure paladins cannot fall if they objectively believe there is an imminent threat and they have no other way of acting except sheer force.

TuggyNE
2013-06-16, 05:11 PM
...I am pretty sure paladins cannot fall if they objectively believe there is an imminent threat and they have no other way of acting except sheer force.

They might actually fall, but atonement would not cost any XP.

Jay R
2013-06-16, 06:00 PM
142. Have an illusory orchestra (or band, or whatever you prefer) play a fanfare as you enter the city, to give the impression you are a figure of great importance.

Great. Now I have "Prince Ali" from Aladdin running through my head.

mjlush
2013-06-17, 01:35 AM
157) an illusion that makes a real person look like there walking 1 inch off the ground or removes their shadow or gives them slight perspective flaws. Anything that makes them look like an illusion.

Zweisteine
2013-06-17, 05:52 AM
I have conducted a check of the count, and discovered that some illusions went uncounted.

An unnumbered illusion in post 20 (the other in the post was a repeat).
Post 22 recounted 44 (which was counted, in post 20, where it should have been 45).
An unnumbered illusion in post 98 was skipped over.
Post 99 (besides skipping 98), recounted 149.

The next person to post an illusion should be posting illusion number 162

Gravitron5000
2013-06-17, 08:29 AM
I have conducted a check of the count, and discovered that some illusions went uncounted.

An unnumbered illusion in post 20 (the other in the post was a repeat).
Post 22 recounted 44 (which was counted, in post 20, where it should have been 45).
An unnumbered illusion in post 98 was skipped over.
Post 99 (besides skipping 98), recounted 149.

The next person to post an illusion should be posting illusion number 162

162) An illusion of extra illusions in an illusion list.

AttilaTheGeek
2013-06-17, 08:44 AM
163) An epic meta-illusion that tricks some poor character with a low will save 162 1000 different ways. They'd just be so confused.

164) An illusory chair when someone goes to sit in it. Har har.

165) There's something following you, but it's always just behind you. (Because it actually exist, of course.)

Mighty_Chicken
2013-06-17, 11:09 AM
Great. Now I have "Prince Ali" from Aladdin running through my head.

Same thing here. Except in Alladin, the djinn actually created those people, didn't he...?

138+164 to kill people. "Dont mind it mylord, let me help you stand up."

illyrus
2013-06-17, 02:27 PM
166 (or is the number an illusion too?): There are a few helpful symbols such as symbol of mirroring. Paint those on your clothes and then put a disguise self over it, convince your allies it is an illusion so they can see through the illusion and gain the benefit of the symbol.

167) Paint a bunch of harmful symbols on yourself or your clothes. Have illusionary clothes on top of that. When fighting the big bad dismiss the illusion (or watch his true seeing selectively do that for you).

hamishspence
2013-06-17, 02:50 PM
...I am pretty sure paladins cannot fall if they objectively believe there is an imminent threat and they have no other way of acting except sheer force.

This WOTC article (Save My Game: Lawful & Chaotic) says they shouldn't:

http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/sg/20050325a

Though a paladin must always strive to bring about a just and righteous outcome, she is not omnipotent. If someone tricks her into acting in a way that harms the innocent, or if an action of hers accidentally brings about a calamity, she may rightly feel that she is at fault. But although she should by all means attempt to redress the wrong, she should not lose her paladinhood for it. Intent is not always easy to judge, but as long as a paladin's heart was in the right place and she took reasonable precautions, she cannot be blamed for a poor result.

Zweisteine
2013-06-17, 05:17 PM
168. The illusion that an evil cleric's holy symbol is that of a good deity (especially that of the party cleric's).

169. When a paranoid adventurer's NPC (or maybe even PC) companion dies, superimpose the image of a dead doppelganger over them.

AttilaTheGeek
2013-06-18, 04:38 AM
This WOTC article (Save My Game: Lawful & Chaotic) says they shouldn't:...

Can we please not turn this into another Paladin argument.

Bulhakov
2013-06-18, 05:09 AM
170. When running away cast multiple illusions of yourself running in different directions.

171. Cast an illusion of a monster over your barbarian/fighter party member to drop enemy morale or make the enemy choose an ineffective strategy.

172. Illusion of rapidly regenerating wounds (a nasty trick to convince the players an NPC is much more powerful than he really is).

Kazemi
2013-06-18, 12:13 PM
173: An illusion of a gorgon facing a door, so whoever opens the door and looks in panics. Perhaps also an illusion of a construct that can only move when nobody is looking at it, but is incredibly fast and skilled at snapping necks. I'm not sure if D&D has one of these yet, but it could use it.

174: A three dimensional illusional map of caverns and dungeons that you're exploring. Craft a magical device that can project this and save your progress as you explore to make dungeon diving and searching for secret passages much easier for people who can't tell depth just because they're dwarves.

Crazyfailure13
2013-06-18, 06:01 PM
173: Perhaps also an illusion of a construct that can only move when nobody is looking at it, but is incredibly fast and skilled at snapping necks. I'm not sure if D&D has one of these yet, but it could use it.


Yay weeping angels:smallbiggrin:

Also:

175. An illusion of an empty well-lit room, that actually has a symbol of death of the opposite wall from the door.

The_Scourge
2013-06-18, 06:34 PM
176: When an enemy that can see in darkness casts a darkness spell and you can't see, cast an illusion of a daylight spell. You won't see it but the enemy will see a blinding light and will think their advantage is lost.

Lvl45DM!
2013-06-18, 09:34 PM
149. Copy the voice of the enemy commander/ imitate signals to split up an enemy force.

150.Generate extra enemy casualties to inflate your reputations and break enemy moral. ("There where twenty burning corpses, sir! And three of them had bite marks! I'm not going in there!)

151. Flying? what do you mean, flying? I am clearly standing on this very solid piece of stone/wood jutting over the canyon/ sea/ wall. You should charge at me.

152. If there are two groups of enemies fighting together(or even a single group with chronic backstabbing disorder) then stage a backstabbing. It can be as simple as someone pulling a wand instead of a wallet on someone else in a deserted warehouse, or you can create two combatants and a whole dramatic scene.

The last one is shamelessly lifted from a fantasy book. Internets for the one who figures it out.

Dresden Files Ghost Story?

Molly is great for these kind of ideas. Illusory copies, illusory fire illusory constabulary

Dundee15
2013-06-19, 12:29 AM
177: Illusion of a murder of crows flying at and attacking an opponent... to disguise the knives that you throw at them.

OverdrivePrime
2013-06-19, 10:59 AM
178. Summon Photoshop: You and everyone in your party are immaculately retouched - blemish free, higher cheekbones, no cellulite where you don't want it, etc.

Kazemi
2013-06-19, 12:16 PM
176: When an enemy that can see in darkness casts a darkness spell and you can't see, cast an illusion of a daylight spell. You won't see it but the enemy will see a blinding light and will think their advantage is lost.

I don't think this would work because you can't see color in darkvision. However, since the problem is visual, we can fix this.

179: Filter color out from everything to change them greys and make it seem like everyone is using darkvision. Cast it first while its dark, then cast Light. Your enemies (and allies?) may think that the Light spell is actually an ILLUSION of a light spell. Use this and 176 on recurring villains. Just to mess with them.

180: An illusion of everyone bloating up horribly and exploding into gooey bits. No game effect, just to mess with the (N)PCs.

EDIT: Actually, filtering colors might be pretty cool in the right situation.

Lord Torath
2013-06-19, 01:36 PM
I'm pretty sure than Illusionary light sources provide real light. The only "Illusionary" light I've ever possibly heard of is the Thief's Hand, that thing that provides light only for the bearer. It could be said that it creates an illusion of light only believed by it's bearer. Sort of like a Sollipsism spell.

Falcon777
2013-06-20, 11:10 PM
181: use 170 plus invisibility while dismissing your copies that are running away.
181a: use 170 plus a silent teleport/dimension door/greater teleport while shouting out invisibility and dismissing your copies.

Kazemi
2013-06-20, 11:42 PM
181: use 170 plus invisibility while dismissing your copies that are running away.
181a: use 170 plus a silent teleport/dimension door/greater teleport while shouting out invisibility and dismissing your copies.
181c: Be a Warlock :smalltongue:

182: Swap out a Druid's armor with armor which contains manufactured metal, then cloak it to look like his normal armor.

183: Use an illusion to broadcast what you see via a divination spell or familiar.

184: Use illusions in lieu of drawing when profiling a suspect to be able to identify them on sight.

Lord Torath
2013-06-21, 11:18 AM
183: Use an illusion to broadcast what you see via a divination spell or familiar.

184: Use illusions in lieu of drawing when profiling a suspect to be able to identify them on sight.I really like those last two!

Also great for showing the inside of a building you've been scouting, or any other visual information you need to share!

Zweisteine
2013-06-21, 12:30 PM
I'm carefully watching this thread for identical repeats and missed numbers.

I suggest not doing ###a or ###b, and just making them separate illusions. After the first two hundred suggestions, most will probably be new applications of other illusion tricks.


185. When a wizard casts a spell, make it appear to be a much stronger spell that has a similar or identical effect.
Some potential applications:
fireball becomes meteor swarm
lightning bolt becomes chain lightning
ray of frost becomes [I]polar ray[/]

QuidEst
2013-06-21, 08:02 PM
186. An illusion of a displacer beast. It's always nice to provide an explanation for why their sword is going through something. Major Image doesn't disappear if you cause it to react appropriately- in this case, not at all.

187. An illusion of a sword sticking out of you. If you need to play dead, do it in style. Alternatively, an illusion of dozens of arrows sticking out of you makes you look like a juggernaut. You might be able to do the arrow one with Disguise Self, freeing concentration.

188. a. Cast an illusion of food. No real tactical advantage, but it's great to mess with people. Pretend to eat it.

188. b. Cast an illusion over rotten food. Dispelled as soon as they bite down.

189. Create an illusion of any object. You can now make that object disappear whenever you want.

Kazemi
2013-06-21, 11:18 PM
I see where you're coming from with the a, b, c thing, Zweisteine. I've been reserving them for illusions that really ought not to be separate illusions, but I'll be a bit more conservative with them.

190: Ghost sound of guards rushing towards a bunch of thugs during a mugging. Actually, this might make a pretty useful minor magic item. Something to create the sound of steadily louder running and people calling out "Over here! Quickly! Don't let'm get away!". It'd be like having one of those hand-held police sirens, ring it off whenever you want someone to panic about incoming law enforcement.

Jay R
2013-06-22, 11:04 AM
191. In a mass battle, an audio illusion, right behind the enemy unit, of the command "Ignore those caltrops; they're an illusion! Charge!"

192. A twenty-foot long swath of illusory caltrops, followed by real ones.

Kazemi
2013-06-22, 11:40 AM
193: Using illusion to hide a minor monetary exchange (such as when racketeering).

194: Leave an illusion of yourself working in the window of a home/shop/inn while you go around to sneak up on the guy watching you.

195: If you notice that you're being shadowed by someone and you can get out of line of sight for a moment, an illusion of yourself entering an alley can allow you to either lose them or trap them when they follow "you" (make sure they don't see you when they pass).

Taet
2013-06-22, 10:02 PM
I'm still laughing over #162.

196. Create fake stabbing pains in the feet of the enemy before they reach that field of caltrops. Pain is natural. Is your first response when feeling pain to check whether or not it's an illusion?

197. Is your enemy vulnerable to a certain type of metal? Cold iron has a stink all its own. Silver has a faint scent. Suppress it.

198. Sour your blood when the monster bites you and hope it doesn't enjoy sour flavors.

Kazemi
2013-06-22, 10:47 PM
198. Sour your blood when the monster bites you and hope it doesn't enjoy sour flavors.
If I ever get the chance in a campaign with a vampire, I'm going to have a the Wizard cast Permanency on a Prestidigitation to make my blood taste and smell of garlic from then on. It also creates interesting role playing situations whenever I get wounded.

Alex12
2013-06-23, 12:30 AM
199: Prestidigitation can make things appear to change flavors. Change the flavor of someone's saliva into skunk spray.
200: Wall of Force, illusioned to look like it's made of something else.
201: Make traffic lights, traffic signs, etc. appear to be different. Endless opportunities for fun here.

ReaderAt2046
2013-06-23, 03:40 PM
152. If there are two groups of enemies fighting together(or even a single group with chronic backstabbing disorder) then stage a backstabbing. It can be as simple as someone pulling a wand instead of a wallet on someone else in a deserted warehouse, or you can create two combatants and a whole dramatic scene.

The last one is shamelessly lifted from a fantasy book. Internets for the one who figures it out.

Margaret Katherine Amanda Carpenter, Princess of Air And Darkness, Queen To Come of the Unseelie Fae, Lady of Winter.

QuidEst
2013-06-23, 04:00 PM
If I ever get the chance in a campaign with a vampire, I'm going to have a the Wizard cast Permanency on a Prestidigitation to make my blood taste and smell of garlic from then on. It also creates interesting role playing situations whenever I get wounded.

Prestidigitation doesn't affect living material for taste, nor can it do smell. They had to make some attempt to keep it from breaking the game and making 9th level spells too jealous.

202. The old arrow-through-the-head trick. Probably a Bard staple.

paddyfool
2013-06-23, 04:15 PM
203. An illusory betrayal: works especially well where you have an "unlikely alliance" going on between different villainous groups. If such a betrayal is set up so as to seem to require urgent action, you can maybe solve a good share of your problems. (e.g. by convincing Xykon he needs to kill Redcloak right away... a sufficiently high quality illusion of Redcloak simply turning towards Xykon and saying "Destruction", while also hitting him with a silenced Destruction, might do it, perhaps... if that spell actually works vs the undead, one of Xykon's less likely defences would be a death ward, after all)

204. An illusory villain: works especially well for villainous parties. Kidnap person X, disguised by illusion as some setting-appropriate bad guys, generic or otherwise. Be first in line to pick up the quest to rescue person X, maybe go off and beat up said bad guys, collect the reward and the gratitude of your victims. (Keep the abductee asleep and in sensory deprivation throughout, naturally).

QuidEst
2013-06-23, 04:19 PM
205. The illusory hostage. I like combining this with the illusory villain.

SethoMarkus
2013-06-24, 08:37 AM
206. An illusory adventuring party!

Combined with 204 and 205 you can create the illusion of a dramatic fight over the fate of the world, all while enjoying the profit of selling good-luck charms to commoners!


207. Illusory play on a stage; actors, special effects, music, the whole shebang! Coupled with a bard's Perform(Oratory) you can really spice up and enhance a one-man (or woman) performance!


208. During times of war, an illusion of drought and famine over a small village or town. Raiders and invading armies will skip right over the area, thinking it not worth their time!

QuidEst
2013-06-24, 06:26 PM
209: Wear a real mask, with blank features. Use illusions (or Prestidigitation) to change the face on it.

Kazemi
2013-06-25, 01:29 AM
209: Wear a real mask, with blank features. Use illusions (or Prestidigitation) to change the face on it.

Rorschach!

210: Use a glammer to create sunglasses in your hand, put them on, and say DEAL WITH IT at opportune times. Also, to create the sunglasses on you just to take them off dramatically.

211: Make it look like you're wearing a hat that changes when nobody is looking. Think Igor's hump from Young Frankenstein. Works perfectly as a magic item.

EDIT: Hey, Atilla, if you're still reading this, wanna put the first 200 into a Spoiler on the first page?

Dundee15
2013-06-25, 03:55 PM
212: An illusion over your weapon/armor, making it appear to be of low quality, or in poor shape. Lure your enemy into a false sense of security.

213: An illusion over your weapon/armor, making it appear to be of a much higher quality, great for threats but... some may try to kill you for such a weapon.

214: Catch a thief by making an item appear far more tempting than it actually is, when they come to steal it... SURPRISE! IT'S A BOMB/POISON/ALARM.

Kazemi
2013-06-25, 05:04 PM
215: I suppose we should at least mention Girard's Epic Dream from the recent OotS comics.

216: Some form of glammer to trigger on an intruder to clearly mark them as such, including purple skin, Light, etc. Use a high enough spellcaster to guarantee duration.

217: A combination of Divination and Illusion spells to create a replica of the intruder, just standing in the room. Use a high enough spellcaster to guarantee duration.

Kazemi
2013-06-26, 10:57 PM
218: Setting up a large number of illusions of yourself doing various things with various people in your place of residence. Even if someone pierces the anti-divination wards, it can cause enough initial confusion or misinformation to buy you time to wrap up and prepare to deal with the threat.

Shadow Viper
2013-06-27, 05:53 AM
I kind of agree with this. Phantasmal Force does visuals only, no sound, smell, etc. And Melf's Acid Arrow is a 2nd Level spell, which means said illusionist must have been at least 3rd level. Which would then allow access to Improved Phantasmal Force, which includes sound as well as sight. Which would make it much more believable. (Plus, a 1st level illusionist gets one spelll per day, making it difficult to both create the illusion and cast Acid Arrow). Although he'd need to be at least 4th Level to be able to do both an Improved Phantasmal Force and Melf's Acid Arrow.
So I'm guessing ImALooney was told an almost accurate version of the story.:smallwink:

Depends on what edition they were playing at the time.

TeChameleon
2013-06-27, 05:27 PM
*snerk* Okay, this could be a fun one...

219. Infiltrate the BBEG's fortress. Steal his hat while he's sleeping and leave a Helm of Alignment Reversal disguised as it in its place. If you can steal it and replace it while he's awake, you probably don't need to bother with disguising it with illusions :smalleek:

hewhosaysfish
2013-06-28, 06:43 AM
Prestidigitation doesn't affect living material for taste, nor can it do smell. They had to make some attempt to keep it from breaking the game and making 9th level spells too jealous.

However, I do believe that there's a level 1 (or possibly 2) spell in the SpC called Horrible Taste...

Tarqiup Inua
2013-06-28, 08:01 AM
220. Disguise acid for normal drink... alternatively, disguise holy water for alcohol and invite your decadent vampire buddy for a drink.

221. Want to forge a document? Disguise its writing for something else and let the nobleman sign it.

222. Illusion of guard sleeping on watch, if you are expecting an ambush.

Kazemi
2013-06-29, 03:21 AM
However, I do believe that there's a level 1 (or possibly 2) spell in the SpC called Horrible Taste...
:D
I have hope!


220. Disguise acid for normal drink... alternatively, disguise holy water for alcohol and invite your decadent vampire buddy for a drink.

...wat? This...this is...

223: Illusion of guards standing in place (perhaps even chatting) after you've already done away with them.

224: Illusion of glowing eyes in the darkness. As many as you want, whether it be one pair or hundreds. Include a creature to go on the eyes if the victims have dark vision or low light vision. You can also just opt for the sounds instead

225: Set up illusions to change the apparent effect of a given spell. ie Disintegrate dissolves the target into worms, a fireball burns the flesh away from its dead victims whose skeletons burn with ghastly green flames, etc. Warning: May upset the party Paladin.

paddyfool
2013-06-29, 01:33 PM
:D
...wat? This...this is...


Been done in comics before.


Well, technically it was the Devil, not a vampire (John Constantine pulling a fast one, again).

Trickquestion
2013-06-29, 04:48 PM
226:If a large, carnivorous monster is trying to eat use, cast an illusion of being on fire. That should keep its tongue in its mouth.

Kazemi
2013-06-29, 10:12 PM
Been done in comics before.


Well, technically it was the Devil, not a vampire (John Constantine pulling a fast one, again).


My confusion sprouts from:

Having a decadent vampire friend
Vampire drinks alcohol, not blood
Giving your friend something to ingest that will cause burns

Although if he had been drinking vodka and he'd already had a lot to drink, you may be able to kill him with the pings of 1 damage before he sobers up :smallbiggrin:

227: Changing billboards for advertisements.

228: Illusory smoke signals.

229: Change the text of someone's book as they're reading. Works with cue cards as well.

avr
2013-07-01, 02:58 AM
230: Apparent invisibility fail. Create illusions of footprints, scuffmarks etc to make people think an invisible opponent is around.

231: Tastes like ... wine. I don't think anyone's mentioned the old standby of changing the taste of poison.

232: Voices in the head. Convince people they're going insane or haunted with sounds or sights only they perceive.

hoverfrog
2013-07-02, 04:42 AM
233. Improved invisibility on the monster with an illusion of the monster actually fighting. When he gets beaten up have the illusion flee in one direction and the monster flee in the other. This worked on my party when we were fighting a Pit Fiend. We all chased after the illusion and let the fiend escape.
234. Illusion of cover. In an arrow fight it will still count as concealment.
235. Summon a monster. Then "summon" the same monster but as an illusion.
236. An audible illusion of the enemy commander issuing orders that help you. "These aren't the droids we're looking for, move along."

TuggyNE
2013-07-02, 06:05 AM
236. An audible illusion of the enemy commander issuing orders that help you. "These aren't the droids we're looking for, move along."

That right there? Pure brutal genius. +1 evil overlord helmets (with clear faceplate for easy identification!) to you.

Legbreaker
2013-12-14, 06:51 AM
237: Illusion of ballista bolts firing over the battlements when they're really just archers arrows.

238: Fighter type looks death knight/demon/magic aura/etc

Jay R
2013-12-14, 11:44 AM
239: A line of shieldmen in front of the enemy, facing you, wearing the colors of foreign mercenaries. Now their front line thinks they have a line of mercenaries in front of them. They don't know that they are the front line, and when you attack, they aren't expecting to absorb the first shock.

240: On a much smaller level, at a moment when morale is shaky for both sides, an illusion of the opposing prince riding up to the top of a hill (for greater visibility) and then dying. Or better yet, surrendering.

ReaderAt2046
2013-12-14, 09:36 PM
241: Illusionary vrocks (or something else that has Mirror Image/Displacement). It could take quite a while before the enemy works out why they are only hitting air.