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[Xvareon]

I want to see if I can get a little discussion going on fun & creative ways to use illusion spells, i.e. in tabletop games like Dungeons & Dragons. How would you use them? Here is the D&D 5e description of limitations for the Minor Illusion cantrip (essentially unlimited illusions), which most spellcasters can take right out of the gate if they so choose:

- You create a sound or an image of an object within range that lasts for the duration. The illusion also ends if you dismiss it as an action or cast this spell again.
- If you create a sound, its volume can range from a whisper to a scream. It can be your voice, someone else’s voice, a lion’s roar, a beating of drums, or any other sound you choose. The sound continues unabated throughout the duration, or you can make discrete sounds at different times before the spell ends.
- If you create an image of an object—such as a chair, muddy footprints, or a small chest—it must be no larger than a 5-foot cube. The image can’t create sound, light, smell, or any other sensory effect. Physical interaction with the image reveals it to be an illusion, because things can pass through it.
- Minor illusions last only 1 minute, or until you cast this spell again.

A more limited-use version with more utility (but no sound options) is available, too, called Silent Image:
- You create the image of an object, a creature, or some other visible phenomenon that is no larger than a 15-foot cube. The image appears at a spot within range and lasts for the Duration. The image is purely visual, it isn't accompanied by sound, smell, or other sensory effects.
- You can use your action to cause the image to move to any spot within range. As the image changes location, you can alter its appearance so that its movements appear natural for the image. For example, if you create an image of a creature and move it, you can alter the image so that it appears to be walking.
- Silent images can last up to 10 minutes, but the caster must actively concentrate on them to maintain the effect.

Later on, they can get a better version, called Major Image:

- You create the image of an object, a creature, or some other visible phenomenon that is no larger than a 20-foot cube. The image appears at a spot that you can see within range and lasts for the Duration. It seems completely real, including sounds, smells, and temperature appropriate to the thing depicted. You can't create sufficient heat or cold to cause damage, a sound loud enough to deal thunder damage or deafen a creature, or a smell that might sicken a creature (like a troglodyte's stench).
- As long as you are within range of the Illusion, you can use your action to cause the image to move to any other spot within range. As the image changes location, you can alter its appearance so that its movements appear natural for the image. For example, if you create an image of a creature and move it, you can alter the image so that it appears to be walking. Similarly, you can cause the Illusion to make different sounds at different times, even making it carry on a conversation, for example.
- Major images can last up to 10 minutes, but the caster must actively concentrate on them to maintain the effect.

- Assume a guard is watching a 5 foot-wide doorway. Cast an illusion to make the space appear empty; think of looping security camera footage so CCTV cameras don't see you. Someone looking through that doorway won't see you walk past it, though they could still hear you.
- Go full Metal Gear Solid and create the image of a cardboard box around yourself, or a crate or barrel to crouch in, depending on where you are. Blend in with pretty much everything in a warehouse or dockfront.
- Steal an item, then create an illusion of that item where you took it from so no one knows it's gone.
- When talking to someone and you need a distraction, create the sound of someone knocking on a door.

[Starver]

The ultimate "free pass". Just like The Doctor's 'psychic paper', you can (seem to) hold whatever documentation or badge you need to avoid paying for things, or even grant you significant authority. (Unlike the Psychic Paper, you must know what the pass/whatever must look like, in sufficient detail, you can't just present it, then glance at its apparent after-image to work out what role the recipient has assumed for you - or other similar things seen in canon.)

The minor-illusion would work only really for basic visual presentation. Any handling required suffers from the intangibility element. It is not clear if the major-illusion can duplicate RFID or similar interactions (even if you knew of a valid RFID serial#/data-burst for that situation), though you could clearly allow a ticket to be 'punched' or otherwise physically processed for non-smart tickets.

If in doubt, you could instead make other nearby forms of Id, being presented prior to one's own, look dodgy or weird enough to distract the person scanning the items (if it helped give you time to avoid being checked) or otherwise institute an obfuscation that would be 'seen through' eventually but by the time it is applied to your own 'offered item' it is assumed the same strange  fudge-over-real applies (which you continue to apply to the next few valid items, for good measure. But that may require more casting Actions than the average GM/universe would let you get away with. (A travelling 15ft cube illusion of multiple dynamic 'overlays' within its perimeter, aligned loosely over a single target as they move through your 'range' might be acceptable for the higher-power version, if you can maintain the simultaneous concentrations you need on both illusion(s) and reality.)


The watchword, though, would be 'least fuss' or you might as well create a person in authority, obvious by sight alone, accompanying you with an "he's with me" or "these aren't the droids you're looking for" verbal pass. Unless that is the least fuss.

[scriver]

What level do I need to cast it on to create some illusion of hope of myself

[Kagus]

It's worth noting that this particular debate has sparked an incredible amount of violent disagreement, due mostly to variously deep applications of real-world physics and highly technical interpretations of the specific wording.

In addition, Crawford has stated that Minor Illusion is specifically supposed to only be able to create static images, meaning that they cannot move or be moved. While you would be able to create a badge or helmet with it, the resulting item would sit motionlessly at the exact spot it was created, forcing you to stand perfectly still in order to not give the illusion away (cue first disagreement as to what "static" means with regards to the universe at large, and how much relativity should be applied).

However, he's also stated that the cantrip can create "complex sounds", including recognizable intelligent speech, of whatever length you might choose. You could create an entire recital so long as it falls within the 1-minute spell length. This is vastly more versatile than the image version of the spell, and where its real utility comes in (aside from the good ol' "make this hole look like solid ground, or make that cliff ledge look like it's 5' farther out than it really is").

Some individuals argue that while you cannot make an illusion of a creature with Minor Illusion, animal taxidermy is technically an "object" and should be able to be replicated by the spell. Even so, due to its completely static nature, you would need poor lighting conditions or other special scenarios in order to use this effectively.


It's worth noting that Silent Image can also be acquired as an at-will spell via Warlock invocation as early as level 2, which is part of what makes Warlocks better illusionists than Illusion-Specialty Wizards until level 14. One application is to place a Silent Image of a boulder up on a cliff/mountain, and then use Minor Illusion to create a loud rumbling from its position in order to draw attention to it. Depending on how much you're willing to rules-lawyer (it's actually reasonably consistent with RAW, so it really only depends on how much your DM thinks it's stupid), you could do both during the same turn by previously using a Ready action of "cast Minor Illusion after I next cast Silent Image".


You can also just do dumb things like make an illusion of heavy cover, which would force a ranged opponent to either spend an action trying to Investigate the illusion and figure out that it's fake, or take disadvantage on their ranged attack because they're aiming for whatever tiny portion of you is sticking out from behind said cover. Or the DM could just ignore all of that, because none of your uses are actually protected by the rules, and you are exactly as overpowered or useless as the DM decides you are going to be.


Unless we're talking about real life here (which would explain why this isn't in the DnD thread), in which case ah ha ha physics and illusions do not mix. The only way you'd be able to wing that is by pulling a The Shadow interpretation and saying that the "illusion" is strictly in the eye of the beholder, and you're really just psychically influencing someone else to believe that something is there. In which case, the illusions become useless against electronic surveillance or people you don't know are there.

What level do I need to cast it on to create some illusion of hope of myself

Illusory Reality
By 14th level, when you cast an illusion spell of 1st level or higher, you can choose one inanimate, nonmagical object that is part of the illusion and make that object real. You can do this on your turn as a bonus action while the spell is ongoing.

Unfortunately...

The object remains real for 1 minute.

[pisskop]

Is DnD Illusion strictly the creation of sound or images, or is it also something more like Morrowind Illusion, Covering things like (the illusion of) paralysis, charming and frenzying and rallying of people targeted, or the creation of actual light and/or darksight?

[Kagus]

Is DnD Illusion strictly the creation of sound or images, or is it also something more like Morrowind Illusion, Covering things like (the illusion of) paralysis, charming and frenzying and rallying of people targeted, or the creation of actual light and/or darksight?

It's, um... Slightly complicated. The spell that lets you temporarily change the properties of an area of material is a Transmutation spell, but the spell that lets you physically manifest an actual object of that material is Illusion.

And the spell that lets you take a humanoid form made out of ice and snow, imbue it with powdered ruby dust, and finally enchant it to permanent life with an imprint of your soul is also Illusion magic.


This is all sort of kinda described as being because Illusion magic covers manipulation of material drawn from the elemental plane of Shadow, which is a real and tangible place. Still doesn't really explain Simulacrum, but whatever.

The creation of darkness, however (and not just natural darkness that creatures possessing darkvision can see through) is, instead, an Evocation spell (the creation of matter and energy). Because fuck it.

[scriver]

And spells affecting other people's minds are often Enchantment, aren't they?

[pisskop]

You know, you'd think a prominent scholastic organization would get together and group spells based upon their source of origin, realm they tap, effects, or synergy with one another even...

I guess even the English language was kind of sprawled and decentralized before the Websters.

[Starver]

I guess even the English language was kind of sprawled and decentralized before the Websters.

No love for Johnson, then?

The magical system in the Darksword world is an interesting example of domain-grouping. I may expound further when I get back to where I have the source-book, though.

[Loud Whispers]

I'd set up the ultimate fortune teller show and whisper into people's ears all the time lmao

[Starver]

Spoiler: Darksword's 'elemental' magical classification system (click to show/hide)

Nine elements: Earth, Water, Air, Fire, Time, Spirit, Shadow, Life and Technology.

Technology (a.k.a "Death") is the absence of magic, and technically banned. There is a loose-fitting of sub-aspects of Tech to the traditional elements (Fire, Wind, Water in a triangle, and Stone wedged; between Fire and Wind are Thermal and Combustion techs, Fire and Water have Steam and Chemical techs placed along the edge, the Wind (Stone) Water edge has Aerodynamics and Hydrodynamics. But this is forbidden (socially, to the characters, if not RPy, to the players) and acts without magic. It does, however, give opportunity to copy most other magical domains by other means, so is maybe best described as an apex to a polygon that connects to the 'rim' of active magical elements.

Life is the provision of power to other magic-users (like tech gives ability in the absence) and is definitely the opposing apex in this polygon I described above. The practitioners of Life are only capable of giving Life to those that need power beyond their ambient/background power-gains. They act as 'neutral' clerics, being a political power and the main antagonists against any signs of Technology, which would obviously reduce their importance by providing mundane solutions to the magical means . maybe. They rank according to ability, from Gifters through Enhancers onto those masterful in knowledge of how to use Life (even if they cannot directly do anything with it themelves). As the enablers of all the (non-Technology) magics of any power, they basically ransom this function to everyone else.

Time (the Diviners who can look into the future and history) and Spirit (interactions beyond the mortal veil) have disappeared. Perhaps ironic, in both cases, that these classes died out. The church (Life) definitely caused the latter's demise, in their taking on the mantle of central governance/control.

Earth, as a class, divides into Conjurers (creators from nothing), Magicians (general craftsmen), Alchemists (changing of natures) and Wizards (morphers), with each subtype having most aptitude to that aspect of Earth. Enforced by a caste system, maybe more than any limit to potential.

Water is Healing and nature-shaping. Field druids deal with agricultural issues and related items. The other Druids are minor healers of people (including herbology) who can accelerate natural healing, with Shamans being major healers who are effectively the surgeons (in mystical ways, of course).

Air practitioners divide between localised air motion (including magical transportations!) and full-blown weather-control.

For the Fire-shaping magics, you have offensive magics. Warrior class, the magical world's 'Army' and 'Police Force' in the form of the classica indoctrinated 'taken from their birth-family, the order is their true family, they are loyal to the order' way.

Shadow encompasses the art of Illusion. This would entirely encompass the area of magic that the magic in the OP belongs to. Transitory and fleeting, these people are the artists and performers (of various kinds, visual and audible amongst them) although they can create the illusion of the obvious output of the other classes (objects 'created' or. transformed , flames-without-heat, a healthier-looking palour maybe) without actuating them.

I've seen better from-the-ground-up systems, especially around "elemental aptitudes" such as in the Avatar series with <foo>benders across the four (or more) elements, but it was derived for (or alongside?) a novel series that probably dictated a particular direction more than if starting with theoretical balance and complimentary mix (before then engineering a misbalance for the sake of jeopardy and Plot).

[Kagus]

Some more light-related things... The Light cantrip causes a touched item or creature to radiate bright light in a 20' radius around it. It's Evocation magic. Dancing Lights creates up to 4 small floating motes of light which can move around, or you can mush them all into each other and create an approximately human-shaped silhouette of light. Also Evocation.

Then there's Color Spray, which shoots a spray of colored lights at enemies and can blast them into unconsciousness depending on how much health they have. This is Illusion magic. Later there's a beefier spell called Prismatic Spray, which shoots out a spectrum of colored lights and causes status effects and damage depending on which colors hit the affected enemies. This is Evocation again.

And lastly we have Prismatic Wall, which summons a massive wall of multicolored light into existence, arrayed in a spectrum of layers from red to violet, with each layer having a specific vulnerability and dealing specific damage/effects on enemies attempting to damage it. It also shines with a ridiculous amount of light and illuminates everything in a large area. This is, of course, Abjuration magic, because Abjuration is about defending stuff and walls are defensive.