Illusion Cantrip: Illusionary Spell

[Damon_Tor]

Illusionary Spell
Illusion Cantrip
Casting Time: 1 Action
Range: Varies
Components: Varies
Duration: One Round
Classes: Sorcerer, Wizard, Bard, Warlock

You emulate the visual and auditory effects of a spell you know or have seen cast, fooling observers into thinking you've cast that spell. The emulated spell must have a casting time of one action and an instantaneous duration. The components and range of this spell are the same as the emulated spell, though it consumes no material components. This spell cannot be used to alter the appearance of another magical effect: for example, an emulated Dispel Magic will not make a Wall of Fire appear to vanish.

Creatures which could theoretically be damaged by the emulated spell were it real (for example, creatures in the area of an emulated fireball) which can see or hear the effect of the spell must pass an intelligence save or believe the spell to be real. Up to one creature of your choosing which fails this save takes 1d4 psychic damage as they believe the spell to have seriously injured them. Creatures who fail the save but take no damage believe they avoided the harmful effects by some luck or skill of their own, but still believe the spell to have been real. Any lasting effects of the spell (such as the fires started by an emulated fireball) are also illusionary and vanish at the start of your next turn.

The maximum number of creatures you can damage with this spell increases by 1 when you reach 5th level, and again at 11th level, and one last time at 17th level.

The spell allows for charlatanism, keeping an enemy guessing as to what your true abilities are, what spell slots you have left, etc.
You might make yourself seem like a more powerful spellcaster than you really are to encourage another spellcaster to back down from a duel.
You might use this spell to make yourself appear to be a different type of spellcaster, a warlock casting Magic Missile to pretend to be a wizard for example.
A sorcerer might cast this spell as a Quickened Spell while casting another spell as a Subtle spell as a way to obfuscate his true purpose.
Someone attempting to draw out another spellcaster's counterspell might use this to emulate a powerful 9th level ability.
It can be useful to burn up a legendary creature's Legendary Resistance uses early in the battle without expending spell slots on more powerful magic.
In combination with other illusion spells you can craft more elaborate illusionary scenarios, like firing an illusionary Fireball at wooden structure then casting Major Image to create a convincing inferno.
If you're impersonating a particular type of creature who can cast a certain spell at-will, this would give you the ability to fake that spell as often as is required.
A character with the Magic Initiate feat or access to a cantrip as a part of a racial ability could use this spell to fake being a full spellcaster.
Working with a partner, you could use this to fake a murder: the caster uses Illusionary Spell as a lightning bolt or other well-known lethal spell, while the other acts like he's been killed.
A conman might play the role of a traveling cleric, taking Diamond Dust as a payment for a resurrection spell, appearing to perform the spell (while pocketing the diamond dust, which would not be consumed) then claim the person's soul was unwilling to return to life, assuring the grieving family members that the departed is a blissful inhabitant of paradise.
A legitimate use, performers in a stage play could use this as a safer alternative to real magic.
At level 5 and above, it's a rare cantrip in that it can damage more than one creature, over a potentially very large area and range depending on the spell you're emulating.
Psychic damage is rarely resisted and intelligence is frequently a weak save.


Changelog 4/27:

Changed the number of creatures you can damage from 1/2/4/8 to 1/2/3/4 at levels 1, 5, 11 and 17.
Added a prohibition against using the spell to change the appearance of other magical effects.
Only creatures in the AoE of the emulated spell are entitled to a save to detect the fraud, making it more powerful for fooling an outside observer.
The damaged creature(s) are selected from among those who already failed their save to detect the fraud.

[Greywander]

I was going to say that you could already kind of do this with Silent Image (for example, making an illusion of a Wall of Stone), but I didn't catch that the illusion only lasts for one round. This means it could combo nicely with a subtle Silent Image on the next round to make a lasting illusion of the Wall of Stone.

There is, however, one thing I have to point out that doesn't work:


A sorcerer might cast this spell as a Quickened Spell while casting another spell as a Subtle spell as a way to obfuscate his true purpose.

If you cast a spell as a bonus action, even a cantrip, you can't cast any other spells on your turn, except cantrips. If you could find a way to make this work, though it could be interesting.

Overall it definitely looks like an interesting cantrip. I'm a bit wary of the AoE damage, but since it's pretty weak it should be fine.

[Hellpyre]

Having a reaction to notice it as an illusion seems a tad...off, if you assume this might ever be used by an NPC. Asking your players if they'd like to use a reaction to make a check to find out this was an illusion is either a dead giveaway if you do it only with this, or basically the most unappealing reaction you could take if it's a choice after all spell casts, in which case it becomes moot since no one with any other possible reactions will waste it in that way. I'm also concerned by the very wide area you could damage with some higher-level emulated spells, considering most AoE cantrips manage a 5-foot burst at most.

Overall, I like the concept, but I think the execution could use some polish.

[Kane0]

So how would it work if i fake a Dispel Magic?

[Damon_Tor]

Having a reaction to notice it as an illusion seems a tad...off, if you assume this might ever be used by an NPC. Asking your players if they'd like to use a reaction to make a check to find out this was an illusion is either a dead giveaway if you do it only with this, or basically the most unappealing reaction you could take if it's a choice after all spell casts, in which case it becomes moot since no one with any other possible reactions will waste it in that way. I'm also concerned by the very wide area you could damage with some higher-level emulated spells, considering most AoE cantrips manage a 5-foot burst at most.

Overall, I like the concept, but I think the execution could use some polish.

Requiring an action and an intelligence check to determine if something is real or not is fairly standard illusion stuff, but of course this effect only lasts a few seconds, so a reaction is required. Yes, the only reason to take this reaction would be if someone was already suspicious of the caster for some reason, watching them extra closely for some giveaway. An NPC might choose to do this after noticing one of your victims wasn't actually burned after being "hurt" by your fireball.

As a DM, no, I wouldn't offer this option to my players any more than I would invite them to inspect Major Image as an action, but if they were suspicious an NPC was using this they could choose to do so themselves.


So how would it work if i fake a Dispel Magic?

You appear to faithfully execute the verbal and somatic components of Dispel Magic. If in the setting in question the spell comes with any kind of flash of light or a buzz and pop of static, those effects are reproduced. I don't expect that it would make another spell appear to vanish for a few seconds if that's what you're asking: I think that's probably beyond the scope of the spell.

[Lvl 2 Expert]

So how would it work if i fake a Dispel Magic?

All the visual and auditory effects of the affected spell disappear, but it still does damage. If you team up with one person casting spells and the other fake dispelling them you can cast invisible fireballs. :smallbiggrin:

(No, bad idea.)

[sandmote]

Certainly flavorful. Mechanically, this might work better if only the target of the spell sees the illusion (see: Phantasmal Force) and the damage increases without increasing the number of targets, as is normal for a cantrip.

[Greywander]

It occurs to me that Prestidigitation could probably be used to produce most of the visual effects of another spell. The main difference would be that spellcasters would be able to tell what spell you actually cast (Prestidigitation) by observing the components, and that there are limits to what it can do. Prestidigitation isn't specifically designed to mimic other spells, but it lets you do some flashy stuff that could be used to mimic spells.

[Damon_Tor]

It occurs to me that Prestidigitation could probably be used to produce most of the visual effects of another spell. The main difference would be that spellcasters would be able to tell what spell you actually cast (Prestidigitation) by observing the components, and that there are limits to what it can do. Prestidigitation isn't specifically designed to mimic other spells, but it lets you do some flashy stuff that could be used to mimic spells.

Another problem with prestidigitation is that it only has a 10 foot range. That puts a pretty hard limit on the number of spells you could convincingly mimic.

[Segev]

Illusionary Spell
Illusion Cantrip
Casting Time: 1 Action
Range: Varies
Components: Varies
Duration: One Round (Six Seconds)
Classes: Sorcerer, Wizard, Bard, Warlock

You emulate the visual and auditory effects of a spell you know or have seen cast, fooling observers into thinking you've cast that spell. The emulated spell must have a casting time of one action and an instantaneous duration. The components and range of this spell are the same as the emulated spell, though it consumes no material components.

One creature of your choice which could be damaged by the emulated spell were it real (for example, a creature in the area of an emulated fireball) and can see or hear you must pass an intelligence save or take 1d4 psychic damage, as its mind simulates the pain of the illusion. Creatures who take no damage may simply believe they successfully avoided the harmful effects of the spell. Any lasting effects of the spell (such as the fires started by an emulated Fireball) are also illusionary and vanish at the end of the turn on which this spell is cast. An observing creature who takes no damage from this spell may use a reaction to make an intelligence check against your spell save DC to determine the spell was an illusion.

The number of creatures you can damage with this spell doubles when you reach 5th level, 11th level, and 17th level.


This is very, very flexible, but ultimately is limited by the fact that its only real impact is the 1d4 psychic damage. I like it. Creative. Though I would say that doubling the number you can effect is off from the standard cantrip progression. I greatly appreciate that it does more creatures reather than more damage, but it should be +1 creature per upgrade, not doubling. Being able to cantrip down a small army of kobolds or other weak threats in massive numbers is still too much, I think, for 5e's paradigm of "armies matter."

So I would recommend language something like this:


Creatures which could theoretically be damaged by the spell were it real (for example, creatures in the area of an emulated fireball) which can see or hear the effect of the spell must pass an intelligence save or believe the spell to be real. Up to one creature of your choosing which fails the save takes 1d4 psychic damage as they believe the spell to have seriously injured them. Creatures who fail the save but take no damage believe they avoided the harmful effects by some luck or skill of their own, but still believe the spell to have been very real. Any lasting effects of the spell (such as the fires started by an emulated fireball) are also illusionary and vanish at the start of your next turn.

The maximum number of creatures you can damage with this spell increases by 1 when you reach 5th level, and again at 11th level, and one last time at 17th level.[/INDENT][/INDENT]


This does increase its flexibility: a massive AoE spell will almost guarantee you your 1d4 damage as you can pick somebody AFTER you know they failed the save. I suggest this to make up for the fact that the scaling is much reduced and it's not much damage.

I also made the lingering illusory effects last until the start of your next turn, because your spell duration is 1 round. (Technical note: you don't need to add "(six seconds)" after "1 round" in the duration.)

This has some fun potential in conjunction with silent image and minor illusion's auditory version; you can make an illusory summoned monster and keep casting the cantrip to make it do "real" damage.

[Damon_Tor]

snip

Great notes. I've gone ahead and implemented most of your suggestions, thanks.

[Segev]

Great notes. I've gone ahead and implemented most of your suggestions, thanks.

You're welcome. Glad to have been able to help. I do like this spell; if I get to play an illusionist, I might try to talk the DM into letting me take it.


One thing that occurs to me: what's this look like if you use it to emulate, say, polymorph? Cast it on an enemy to turn them into a frog; if they fail their save, do they believe they've turned into a frog? Do observers automatically see them turn into a frog?

Cast it on an ally or yourself to turn into a spider; are you a lot harder to notice now?

I'm not recommending any changes at this time, just some thought and discussion on how this should work with such effects. Obviously, using it to fake, say, conjure woodland beings isn't such a big deal: illusory versions of the critters you could theoretically summon show up. Does it permit illusions of upcast spells? ...don't want to let it emulate high-level illusions, I don't think. Imagine a round of mirage arcane. Even if it's JUST visual and audial, that kind of AoE for even a round is a bit excessive for a cantrip.

...Hm. It may need to be limited to Evocations. And mention that it can't shed real light...though its 1 round duration means it's not really stepping on light's toes even if it does emulate light perfectly for one round.

Highly flexible spells take some delicate thought. What do you, Damon_Tor, and you all, forumites, think?

Never mind. You thought of all that by making it only work on Instantaneous duration spells!

[Damon_Tor]

Never mind. You thought of all that by making it only work on Instantaneous duration spells!

There are still a few edge cases where you can find things that last a little bit longer. For example, most summoning spells aren't functional, but Animate Dead would be, creating what appears to be a zombie for a round. There wouldn't be a good way to maintain that particular illusion convincingly: the corpse would rise for 6 seconds, maybe stumble around a bit, then vanish, and if you looked back where it was to start with, the corpse would still be there, as dead as it was when it started. Still, you might get a round of confusion the first time you try it.