Invoke Duplicity and Fear Effects

[Nagog]

Hey y'all! I have another interesting and fun topic: Invoke Duplicity! Invoke Duplicity is the Channel Divinity for the Trickery Domain Cleric, and it creates an illusory duplicate that moves separately from yourself that you can cast spells through. The conundrum comes up when involving a multiclass into the Conquest Paladin, and their Channel Divinity called Conquering Presence, which is essentially a Mass Cause Fear. Could I use a second class' Channel Divinity through my Duplicate? If so, would those who fail the save only be afraid of the duplicate or of both me and the duplicate? If the spell doesnt work/doesn't cause fear of both me and my duplicate, would a high Intimidation roll cause fear of both me and my duplicate?

[JackPhoenix]

Invoke Duplicity only allows you to cast spells through it, nothing else. Channel Divinity isn't a spell. Neither is any ability check.

[Nagog]

Invoke Duplicity only allows you to cast spells through it, nothing else. Channel Divinity isn't a spell. Neither is any ability check.

Ok but if the target is afraid of you, and they see you, they'll run from you. Considering the point of the duplicate is to draw fire and be an illusory copy of you, would they not be afraid of it as well? Or if your Duplicate casts Cause Fear, would it work the other way around?

[JNAProductions]

You cannot use Channel Divinity from your duplicate.

However, I would allow the duplicate to count as yourself for the purpose of the Frightened condition.

[NNescio]

Ok but if the target is afraid of you, and they see you, they'll run from you.

Frightened creatures don't necessarily have to run away from the subject of their fear. (The Fear spell being a notable exception because it contains a specific proviso that states "a creature must take the Dash action and move away from you by the safest available route on each of its turns", but this doesn't apply to all Frightened effects. Like how every Charm effect is different with its own riders.)



Considering the point of the duplicate is to draw fire and be an illusory copy of you, would they not be afraid of it as well?

Cause Fear causes a creature to "become frightened of you". Same goes for "Conquering Presence". It is not frightened of "your illusory copy".


Or if your Duplicate casts Cause Fear, would it work the other way around?

Your duplicate does not cast Cause Fear. It can't cast anything. (It can't do anything, really, it's not even a creature or an entity.) You are the one casting the spell. The duplicate merely allows you to "cast spells as though you were in the illusion's space".

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Now, with all that said, I believe it is a reasonable DM ruling for creatures who are afraid of a Trickery Cleric (or any other creature) to choose to run away from the latter, Frightened condition or no. They may also choose to run away if they see something that resembles the Cleric, like another PC using Disguise Self (or mundane disguises), or an illusory effect including the one created by Invoke Duplicity. But the Frightened condition doesn't carry over, so the creatures are not (magically or otherwise) compelled to stay away (and eat disadvantage on ability checks/attack rolls and other rider effects). This is therefore entirely up to the DM's call.

(But even then, you can't Channel Divinity through a Invoked duplicate, because that's not casting a spell.)