Rewrite script Persistent Image

[bot]

Hey, I was wondering if it's possible to change the script of a
Persistent Image at will, or if it has to be decided entirely at the casting of the spell?


Persistent Image
Illusion (Figment)
Level: Brd 5, Sor/Wiz 5
Components: V, S, F
Casting time: 1 standard action
Range: Long (400 ft. + 40 ft./level)
Effect: Visual figment that cannot extend beyond four 10-ft. cubes + one 10-ft. cube/level (S)
Duration: 1 min./level (D)
Saving Throw: Will disbelief (if interacted with)
Spell Resistance: No

This spell creates the visual illusion of an object, creature, or force, as visualized by you. The figment includes visual, auditory, olfactory, and thermal components, and the figment follows a script determined by you. The figment follows that script without your having to concentrate on it. The illusion can include intelligible speech if you wish. You can move the image within the limits of the size of the effect.

[Deophaun]

Spell parameters are determined when the spell comes into effect, and the spell doesn't spell out any conditions under which you can change the script. So, it seems like a "no." But, DM interpretation.

[bot]

Spell parameters are determined when the spell comes into effect, and the spell doesn't spell out any conditions under which you can change the script. So, it seems like a "no." But, DM interpretation.

Yes ok, I suspected it was like that - we have always played it the other way around, but we of cause want to play it correctly :)

[Zaq]

Depending on the circumstances, I'd consider letting a player rewrite the script with a good Spellcraft check and an appropriate expenditure of actions, probably allowing anyone who already failed their saves against it to roll again. But that's strictly an ad-hoc ruling with no basis in RAW.

[Elric VIII]

Depending upon your Int/Wis score it is plausible that you can create a series of conditions upon which the script changes.

[nedz]

It doesn't define what it means by script.

Would that include a script for a finite state automata ?
Probably not, but if it did then you could have conditional steps.

IMHO Loops are normally fine — Guards walk too and fro etc. — so maybe, but even Programmed Illusion only includes a trigger. It's a shame really because the results could often be hilarious when, inevitably, the caster's assumptions turn out to have been wrong and the condition misfires.

In any event you would have to specify this all up front.

[Deophaun]

It doesn't define what it means by script.
The PHB version does by way of example. There are no For loops or If/Then statements. It is the Hollywood kind of script, not Silicon Valley.

[nyjastul69]

The spell also specifies a script, not scripts.

[Malroth]

still i think letting the image use programming scripting would be a great outlet for nerdy computer type players plus when the program encounters a situation where its not designed for watching it get more and more buggy would be halarious.

[Slipperychicken]

still i think letting the image use programming scripting would be a great outlet for nerdy computer type players plus when the program encounters a situation where its not designed for watching it get more and more buggy would be halarious.

I would love to play the DnD game where a carefully-programmed illusion begins belting out nonsense in response to invalid inputs. Also, Spellcraft checks to avoid errors like infinite loops, unclear trigger conditions, poorly-defined variables, and unclear instructions.

Pretty sure my brother once ran a social encounter like this once, only with a disguised Wight who was given a conversation tree. Sadly, he was amazing at predicting his players, so they didn't suspect a thing until the PCs were surrounded by disguised zombies.