Permanently hiding the appearance of items and creatures.

**Feliks878** · 2010-10-06, 03:04 PM (ISO 8601)

Greetings.

I'm currently playing a wizard for the first time (this is actually the first time I've really played 3.5 rather then DMing). The game's been going on for a few weeks, and we're currently at level 11, having started at level 8.

In the campaign my allies and I own a nice house in a large city and spend much of our time going about our business in between adventures. One of the things my character has been doing has been rising in power in the local Mage's Guild, having attained the highest level of membership short of elected or appointed office. I've ambitiously set my sights on such positions, hoping to eventually elevate myself through the ranks...but I have some problems.

First off, because the campaign was an evil campaign from the beginning, I play a Neutral Evil Diviner who worships Vecna. I do wear a ring of mind shielding in order to avoid pesky Paladins, but I would like to craft a Robe of the Archmagi. I know it's not a great item, but this is mostly for flavor, we stick near core elements in the game, not really accessing books beyond PHBI & II, DMG, MM, CArc,CAdv,CDiv,and CWar.

How do I disguise my black robes from being identified as Robes of the Archmagi (Evil)? Is it possible?

Additionally, I'm interested in becoming a Lich one day. Is there any way to disguise this? Will trueseeing blow up my illusions? Is a mundane disguise the best route, and will it sufficiently hide my lichyness? Is Gentle Repose of any help? Being a secret Evil Lich who Masquerades as a Neutral Wizard leading a Mage's Guild sounds awesome, but I'm not sure if it's possible. I don't want to approach my DM with the plan until I have some ideas to back it up.

Thanks!

**WarKitty** · 2010-10-06, 03:06 PM (ISO 8601)

There's always an overcloak...

**Tyndmyr** · 2010-10-06, 03:09 PM (ISO 8601)

Well, there's gentle repose. Keep those fleshy bits from rotting off. Grab a hat of disguise, and use mundane disguises as well. Magic is useless against the fake mustashe.

Prestidigitation can change the colors of things.

**Forged Fury** · 2010-10-06, 03:19 PM (ISO 8601)

Depending on interpretation, Magic Aura will conceal the magic auras and alignment of your robes, making them appear as normal well-crafted black robes. I would say that it may be questionable whether Magic Aura conceals the alignment component (while the item description doesn't appear to specify whether there is an alignment component to the aura, I think it is safe to assume the white and black versions do have one).

If a stricter interpretation of Magic Aura is used that doesn't conceal the alignment component, you can use Misdirection to conceal yourself.

Neither method is foolproof, however.

**Fax Celestis** · 2010-10-06, 03:21 PM (ISO 8601)

Liberal usage of the Disguise skill should cover you.

**Thiyr** · 2010-10-06, 03:22 PM (ISO 8601)

Magic Aura is my first thought in terms of disguising the robes. If you're crafting it yourself, you can presumably make it look however you want, and then just keep a Magic Aura up on it to make it seem mundane (albeit well made). At that point, people probably won't look too much farther into it.

Blasted ninja-ry!

**Diarmuid** · 2010-10-06, 03:32 PM (ISO 8601)

True seeing will indeed blow up any/all illusions...that's just what it's there for. It is the "paper" to illusion's "rock".

**Forged Fury** · 2010-10-06, 03:32 PM (ISO 8601)

Originally Posted by Thiyr

Magic Aura is my first thought in terms of disguising the robes. If you're crafting it yourself, you can presumably make it look however you want, and then just keep a Magic Aura up on it to make it seem mundane (albeit well made). At that point, people probably won't look too much farther into it.

Make sure to also sew sequins all over your robes and call them [Character Name's] Robe of Fabulousness.

**Forged Fury** · 2010-10-06, 03:37 PM (ISO 8601)

Originally Posted by Diarmuid

True seeing will indeed blow up any/all illusions...that's just what it's there for. It is the "paper" to illusion's "rock".

Although I wonder if this part:

In addition, the spell effects cannot be further enhanced with known magic, so one cannot use true seeing through a crystal ball or in conjunction with clairaudience/clairvoyance.

Means you can't use true seeing in conjunction with Detect spells.

**Fax Celestis** · 2010-10-06, 03:40 PM (ISO 8601)

No, it means you can't use true seeing when remotely viewing something: it has to be within the spell's range.

**Forged Fury** · 2010-10-06, 03:49 PM (ISO 8601)

Originally Posted by Fax Celestis

No, it means you can't use true seeing when remotely viewing something: it has to be within the spell's range.

Seems fair, it's just somewhat ambiguously written.

**Grendus** · 2010-10-06, 03:56 PM (ISO 8601)

I'd go with the basics of magic aura, prestidigitation, and other mundane disguises. Odds are, if you're going to be found out your DM plans to use it as a plot hook anyways (kill the mage who's blackmailing you before he tells the paladins about you).

Another idea would be to make it well known that you killed a VERY evil creature and took a trophy magic item from him. Then even if someone pierces all your illusions, you can claim they're detecting the evil artifact. Won't work for too long, but if you claim that, say, they have no experience with evil artifacts or that their experience is with artifacts exposed to a lesser evil (combined with a damn good bluff score) you might pull it off.

**Feliks878** · 2010-10-06, 04:38 PM (ISO 8601)

Thank you for the replies everyone. From the sound of it, here's what I"m planning for.

1) Ask if I can make my Robe of the Archmagi out of grey cloth intentionally, to fool people. (Follow up: It doesn't say explicitly in the description, I think...does the Black Robe actually detect as evil?)

2) Ask for a ruling on the limitations of Magic Aura.

3) Start dumping skill points in Disguise/Bluff. I'm a loremaster, so I get a good amount of skill points per level, and my Arcana and Spellcraft are both Skill Focused (For Loremaster and eventually Archmage respectively) so they can afford to lose a few ranks in the future.

4)When/If I go lich, start spamming gentle repose (I have some questions about that but I'll get my thoughts in order before I ask them).

Thanks for the help, and I'd be happy to hear any other suggestions.

**ashmanonar** · 2010-10-06, 04:59 PM (ISO 8601)

Originally Posted by Tyndmyr

Well, there's gentle repose. Keep those fleshy bits from rotting off. Grab a hat of disguise, and use mundane disguises as well. Magic is useless against the fake mustashe.

Prestidigitation can change the colors of things.

Aha, the ultimate disguise!

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**monkey3** · 2010-10-07, 10:54 AM (ISO 8601)

From memory, so sorry if the spells names are not exact.

In Player's Handbook there is a spell: Nondetection. That should help against detect evil and such (24 hr duration I think)

In Spell Compendium there is a spell: Desguise Undead. It does what it says for 24 hours. Perfect for a lich, and his undead mount/familiar/army ;)

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