Menu
News
All News
Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
Pathfinder
Starfinder
Warhammer
2d20 System
Year Zero Engine
Industry News
Reviews
Dragon Reflections
Columns
Weekly Digests
Weekly News Digest
Freebies, Sales & Bundles
RPG Print News
RPG Crowdfunding News
Game Content
ENterplanetary DimENsions
Mythological Figures
Opinion
Worlds of Design
Peregrine's Next
RPG Evolution
Other Columns
From the Freelancing Frontline
Monster ENcyclopedia
WotC/TSR Alumni Look Back
4 Hours w/RSD (Ryan Dancey)
The Road to 3E (Jonathan Tweet)
Greenwood's Realms (Ed Greenwood)
Drawmij's TSR (Jim Ward)
Community
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Resources
Wiki
Pages
Latest activity
Media
New media
New comments
Search media
Downloads
Latest reviews
Search resources
EN Publishing
Store
EN5ider
Adventures in ZEITGEIST
Awfully Cheerful Engine
What's OLD is NEW
Judge Dredd & The Worlds Of 2000AD
War of the Burning Sky
Level Up: Advanced 5E
Events & Releases
Upcoming Events
Private Events
Featured Events
Socials!
Twitch
YouTube
Facebook (EN Publishing)
Facebook (EN World)
Twitter
Instagram
TikTok
Podcast
Features
Top 5 RPGs Compiled Charts 2004-Present
Adventure Game Industry Market Research Summary (RPGs) V1.0
Ryan Dancey: Acquiring TSR
Q&A With Gary Gygax
D&D Rules FAQs
TSR, WotC, & Paizo: A Comparative History
D&D Pronunciation Guide
Million Dollar TTRPG Kickstarters
Tabletop RPG Podcast Hall of Fame
Eric Noah's Unofficial D&D 3rd Edition News
D&D in the Mainstream
D&D & RPG History
About Morrus
Log in
Register
What's new
Search
Search
Search titles only
By:
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Menu
Log in
Register
Install the app
Install
The
VOIDRUNNER'S CODEX
is LIVE! Explore new worlds, fight oppressive empires, fend off fearsome aliens, and wield deadly psionics with this comprehensive boxed set expansion for 5E and A5E!
Community
General Tabletop Discussion
*Dungeons & Dragons
Illusions, lighting, and reflectance
JavaScript is disabled. For a better experience, please enable JavaScript in your browser before proceeding.
You are using an out of date browser. It may not display this or other websites correctly.
You should upgrade or use an
alternative browser
.
Reply to thread
Message
<blockquote data-quote="Laurefindel" data-source="post: 7546994" data-attributes="member: 67296"><p>As Ovinomancer said, illusions cannot create light, block light, or reflect light. Otherwise, it reacts exactly like a normal object would, as long as it is confined within the area of effect of the spell.</p><p></p><p>I know it doesn't make sense from a physics point of view, but once you accept this as true, the rest is easy(er) to deduce.</p><p></p><p>So Alice would not be in darkness behind her illusory. If she were the bearer of the torch, the illusion would not prevent the corridor from being illuminated (although Alice and the source of light itself would be hidden behind the illusory wall).</p><p></p><p>Since, an illusory object reacts as a real object, a disco ball effect would appear on the illusory object as if it were real, but the illusory object itself would not reflect dots of light on other items outside its area of effect.</p><p></p><p>There are times where an illusion can appear to break the three rules above (can't produce, block or reflect light), but the key word here is "appear". Illusion are about appearance. For example, an illusory item could cast a shadow (even though shadows are by definition light being blocked) because a real object would; but the shadow would need to be confined to the area of effect. Likewise, an illusory mirror would reflect the image of those who look into it, because that's what a mirror does, but it could not be used to reflect the light of the sun inside a cave for example, or send a signal to a far-away place. </p><p></p><p>TL;DR: don't involve physics or optics. Everything about the illusion looks real within its AoE, but you can't cheat the spell to create a source of light when there is none, make darkness where there is none, or reflect light to a point beyond its AoE.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Laurefindel, post: 7546994, member: 67296"] As Ovinomancer said, illusions cannot create light, block light, or reflect light. Otherwise, it reacts exactly like a normal object would, as long as it is confined within the area of effect of the spell. I know it doesn't make sense from a physics point of view, but once you accept this as true, the rest is easy(er) to deduce. So Alice would not be in darkness behind her illusory. If she were the bearer of the torch, the illusion would not prevent the corridor from being illuminated (although Alice and the source of light itself would be hidden behind the illusory wall). Since, an illusory object reacts as a real object, a disco ball effect would appear on the illusory object as if it were real, but the illusory object itself would not reflect dots of light on other items outside its area of effect. There are times where an illusion can appear to break the three rules above (can't produce, block or reflect light), but the key word here is "appear". Illusion are about appearance. For example, an illusory item could cast a shadow (even though shadows are by definition light being blocked) because a real object would; but the shadow would need to be confined to the area of effect. Likewise, an illusory mirror would reflect the image of those who look into it, because that's what a mirror does, but it could not be used to reflect the light of the sun inside a cave for example, or send a signal to a far-away place. TL;DR: don't involve physics or optics. Everything about the illusion looks real within its AoE, but you can't cheat the spell to create a source of light when there is none, make darkness where there is none, or reflect light to a point beyond its AoE. [/QUOTE]
Insert quotes…
Verification
Post reply
Community
General Tabletop Discussion
*Dungeons & Dragons
Illusions, lighting, and reflectance
Top