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Illusions, lighting, and reflectance
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<blockquote data-quote="toucanbuzz" data-source="post: 7547152" data-attributes="member: 19270"><p>This is how I've played illusions for the last 20 years, and it seems consistent with 3rd edition's 4-part series on illusions and 5th.</p><p></p><p>1. <strong>Illusions aren't real and don't create real, physical objects, so they don't and can't "block" anything, including light.</strong> They are figments of your imagination, tied to magical beacons that keep trying to fool you even when disbelieved (hence the sensory residue that persists until the spell ends).</p><p>2. <strong>Illusions are only as good as the victim's mind </strong>(see mirror discussion below).</p><p></p><p><em>For example, an illusionary tree in a desert won't protect you from sunburns or allow you a cool place to rest. If you see one, you might try a short rest underneath it. Your mind tells you trees provide shade, ergo you can rest under it. With illusions, your mind is tricking you into believing the illusion operates with the same physics as the rest of the world. But, your mind cannot make the sun stop burning your skin, nor the heat to stop searing your lungs, and so on. </em></p><p></p><p>Keep this in mind and we'll go along.</p><p></p><p><strong>#1-3. </strong>By default, the light is not "blocked" because there is nothing real and physical blocking the light. So if Alice is in a dungeon and around the corner there's an illusionary wall blocking a torch, Alice doesn't know the wall is there. It isn't real. It cannot block torch light, nor heat or crackle. Because her mind isn't being fooled (yet), she actually might see torchlight from up ahead and come around the corner to investigate. When she arrives, the area is still illuminated (because the wall isn't real, it doesn't stop anything), yet she sees a wall. She might get suspicious, or she might believe a wizard put up magic to illuminate the area. Who knows.</p><p></p><p><em>But, a good illusionist will make sure he doesn't screw up and give the victim tips there's something awry.</em></p><p></p><p>Now, let's try something a bit trickier. Let's say Alice sees the Illusionist in front of the torch and his disco ball. He declares "goodbye Alice. I'm sealing you into this corridor for eternity with my wall of stone!" Then he casts the illusionary wall between her and the light. <strong>Alice's own mind is now her enemy</strong>. She knows walls block light. So her mind tells her she's now sealed into a corridor of darkness. Until she interacts with the illusion, she'll continue to believe the illusion in this way. If you were to teleport a stranger into the situation who didn't know the illusionary wall was cast to "seal her in darkness," he'd see a wall and illumination as above, and he'd see Alice fumbling around as if she were in the dark. </p><p></p><p>It's all in your head.</p><p></p><p><strong>#4-6.</strong> Yes, you can make an illusion of a mirror, but remember, it's not real. It's only as good as the viewer's mind and doesn't actually reflect anything because...it's not there. It's all in your head. </p><p></p><p>So, the mirror only works as good as the target believes. If you approach the mirror with your torch, you know mirrors reflect light so you'd see yourself with a torch. Your mind would create the illusion of yourself in the mirror even though it's not really there, and light isn't being reflected and so on. If you failed a save and used a hand mirror to look around a corner, it would be blank (unless you'd been around that corner). Why? Because your mind fills in the reality, and only what you know. If you were using the mirror and a friend quietly walked in, you wouldn't see them in the mirror until you became aware of who they are and what they're wearing. Your mind makes it up and fills in the blanks. </p><p></p><p>And, if you're from a culture or a creature that has never seen a mirror, you'd see nothing but blank glass because your mind can't fill in those blanks. So mirrors generally make really bad illusions, but no, you can't create an illusionary mirror for your pal Jake to peek around the corner with. You could create an illusionary mirror, however, to shove in the face of Ms. Medusa and possibly make her believe she turned herself to stone, assuming you convince your DM that Ms. Medusa isn't stupid and knows exactly what a mirror is and does.</p><p></p><p><strong>#7.</strong> Each illusion spell specifically says how it is defeated. So unless it says "being told" causes the spell to fizzle, nothing happens.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="toucanbuzz, post: 7547152, member: 19270"] This is how I've played illusions for the last 20 years, and it seems consistent with 3rd edition's 4-part series on illusions and 5th. 1. [B]Illusions aren't real and don't create real, physical objects, so they don't and can't "block" anything, including light.[/B] They are figments of your imagination, tied to magical beacons that keep trying to fool you even when disbelieved (hence the sensory residue that persists until the spell ends). 2. [B]Illusions are only as good as the victim's mind [/B](see mirror discussion below). [I]For example, an illusionary tree in a desert won't protect you from sunburns or allow you a cool place to rest. If you see one, you might try a short rest underneath it. Your mind tells you trees provide shade, ergo you can rest under it. With illusions, your mind is tricking you into believing the illusion operates with the same physics as the rest of the world. But, your mind cannot make the sun stop burning your skin, nor the heat to stop searing your lungs, and so on. [/I] Keep this in mind and we'll go along. [B]#1-3. [/B]By default, the light is not "blocked" because there is nothing real and physical blocking the light. So if Alice is in a dungeon and around the corner there's an illusionary wall blocking a torch, Alice doesn't know the wall is there. It isn't real. It cannot block torch light, nor heat or crackle. Because her mind isn't being fooled (yet), she actually might see torchlight from up ahead and come around the corner to investigate. When she arrives, the area is still illuminated (because the wall isn't real, it doesn't stop anything), yet she sees a wall. She might get suspicious, or she might believe a wizard put up magic to illuminate the area. Who knows. [I]But, a good illusionist will make sure he doesn't screw up and give the victim tips there's something awry.[/I] Now, let's try something a bit trickier. Let's say Alice sees the Illusionist in front of the torch and his disco ball. He declares "goodbye Alice. I'm sealing you into this corridor for eternity with my wall of stone!" Then he casts the illusionary wall between her and the light. [B]Alice's own mind is now her enemy[/B]. She knows walls block light. So her mind tells her she's now sealed into a corridor of darkness. Until she interacts with the illusion, she'll continue to believe the illusion in this way. If you were to teleport a stranger into the situation who didn't know the illusionary wall was cast to "seal her in darkness," he'd see a wall and illumination as above, and he'd see Alice fumbling around as if she were in the dark. It's all in your head. [B]#4-6.[/B] Yes, you can make an illusion of a mirror, but remember, it's not real. It's only as good as the viewer's mind and doesn't actually reflect anything because...it's not there. It's all in your head. So, the mirror only works as good as the target believes. If you approach the mirror with your torch, you know mirrors reflect light so you'd see yourself with a torch. Your mind would create the illusion of yourself in the mirror even though it's not really there, and light isn't being reflected and so on. If you failed a save and used a hand mirror to look around a corner, it would be blank (unless you'd been around that corner). Why? Because your mind fills in the reality, and only what you know. If you were using the mirror and a friend quietly walked in, you wouldn't see them in the mirror until you became aware of who they are and what they're wearing. Your mind makes it up and fills in the blanks. And, if you're from a culture or a creature that has never seen a mirror, you'd see nothing but blank glass because your mind can't fill in those blanks. So mirrors generally make really bad illusions, but no, you can't create an illusionary mirror for your pal Jake to peek around the corner with. You could create an illusionary mirror, however, to shove in the face of Ms. Medusa and possibly make her believe she turned herself to stone, assuming you convince your DM that Ms. Medusa isn't stupid and knows exactly what a mirror is and does. [B]#7.[/B] Each illusion spell specifically says how it is defeated. So unless it says "being told" causes the spell to fizzle, nothing happens. [/QUOTE]
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