Silent Image for intimidation?

[GreyBlack]

Hey y'all! So this past week, I ran a session where the group of 7 players ran into a hoard of about 15 wolves. One of the players got cute and decided to create a Silent Image of a large, 15 foot tall bear to try and frighten the wolves away. I decided to roll with it (I like out of the box thinking from my players) and let her roll an intimidation check against the remaining wolves. She rolled a Nat 20 and the wolves had lost 50% of their pack, so I ruled that they disengaged and ran away.

Now, I'm actually happy with how it turned out; the players were engaged and having fun with the encounter which is my number one concern. However, looking back, I find myself wondering if anyone else would have handled it differently. In this situation, how would you, as a DM, handle a Silent Image?

[Vekon]

So, I'm not technically sure whether or not wolves would be afraid of a bear. I do know, however, that the wolves would not be able to smell the bear, or hear the bear making any threatening sounds. At the same time, they aren't the brightest creatures. It's still a giant bear image.. But a pack of 15 might be confident in their numbers to challenge and kill the bear.

Now, the spell says that it would be an Intelligence (Investigation) check on the part of the wolves, with a modifier of -4.

I would have the wolves all use their actions sizing up the illusion, and use some of their movement circling it or something. Give the characters an opening to run away. If they don't immediately, One or more of the wolves will get brave and try attacking the creature. Playing on the low intellect, they'll probably be dumbfounded for another few moments while they try to make sense of it all.

[GreyBlack]

So, I'm not technically sure whether or not wolves would be afraid of a bear. I do know, however, that the wolves would not be able to smell the bear, or hear the bear making any threatening sounds. At the same time, they aren't the brightest creatures. It's still a giant bear image.. But a pack of 15 might be confident in their numbers to challenge and kill the bear.

Now, the spell says that it would be an Intelligence (Investigation) check on the part of the wolves, with a modifier of -4.

I would have the wolves all use their actions sizing up the illusion, and use some of their movement circling it or something. Give the characters an opening to run away. If they don't immediately, One or more of the wolves will get brave and try attacking the creature. Playing on the low intellect, they'll probably be dumbfounded for another few moments while they try to make sense of it all.

I mean, to be fair, the characters were going to probably finish off the wolves within the next 1-2 rounds. The way I thought of it was that, even if they couldn't smell it, the loss of so much of their pack would have made them more cautious. That said, I do like your interpretation; I'll probably use that next time.

[Mordaedil]

Allow players to be wild with silent image, but if they overuse it, keep in mind the limitations of the spell. A silent image bear doesn't smell like a bear, it doesn't emit heat like a bear and it can't make sounds like a bear. Given the circumstances, it was perfectly natural for the animals to run away, but allow them to have a reason to upgrade to major image and persistant image and keep in mind their strengths and shortcomings.

And if you are still unsure, AD&D 2nd edition has a few pages on how to rule illusion magic for some reason, telling DM's it is one of the most powerful effects in the game and most difficult to rule.

Don't be afraid of ruling it wrong, just be sure you consider the situation appropriately and give it reasons for why it should/shouldn't work. I would also say you could have considered the use of a spell in this manner to be an intimidation check with advantage.

[Chronos]

For wolves specifically, it'd have very little effect, because smell is so important to them. But for intimidating humans, say, an image of a bear might work just fine. The lack of sound is still a little problematic there, but only a little, because even real bears can be quite quiet.

[Dalebert]

I feel like illusionist should have gotten Minor Illusion as a bonus action at 2nd instead of what they got. Would make Silent Image a lot better for them.

I disagree that they'd disregard it just because they can't smell it. They're not going to ignore a giant threat that's right before their eyes. In fact they might find it quite troubling that they can't smell it. They might not recognize it as a bear, something they're familiar with the smell of.

[Tallytrev813]

I think had the player not rolled a 20 (natural or with mods?) then the lack of smell/sound should have distracted the wolves for a round allowing the players to pound on them.

But imo you roll a nat 20...”It works, somehow”

[Coffee_Dragon]

* Fear is a 3rd-level spell and allows a save...
* And I also would have considered the smell bit...
* But I don't see anything particularly wrong with what you did...
* Especially if the encounter wouldn't have been hard anyway...
* And you didn't exactly set a precedent for the spell as a reliable encounter-ender against beasts and animals.

[Kurt Kurageous]

But imo you roll a nat 20...”It works, somehow”

That's a thing that's not a thing in 5e, but a thing at some tables because the DM allows it. RAW, 20 and 1 only matter on attack rolls.

And if your DM abdicates their responsibility to decide if a thing could happen, then that's what you get. "It works, somehow."

I like how the OP handled the encounter. Wolves are skittish, and encountering stuff in an fantasy setting would make them even more so. The die roll was irrelevant. Unless they were desperate, diseased, or possessed, I'd think they would be weirded out by the bear that was not a bear.