D&D 5E Illusory Script

[MxBaticeer]

I was looking at this spell earlier and thinking about how it’s very situational and I don’t think it has ever come up in any game I was in. It seems pretty obviously one of those spells that exists so you can have NPCs cast it to set up an adventure plot point, more than as something the PCs will take or use. But if you did end up in just the right situation, there’s room for creativity to do something fun with it.

Have you ever seen Illusory Script used by players at your table? Please share stories.

(I was looking at the 5e spell in particular, but, the spell seems to have existed since 1e in a very similar form, so the question is equally applicable for older editions.)

 

[Eltab]

Haven't seen the spell used at a table (my group cannot stay out of dungeons), but after secret-writing whatever your sensitive information is on the page, the "cover fluff" ought to be the "Campbells Chicken Soup recipe" family letter in Grand History of the Realms.

If you have a character intended to be a spy or merchant lord, that spell has more use than if you are a street thief or soldier.

 

[Shiroiken]

In AD&D is was commonly used to hide the spells of a spellbook, or even the spellbook itself. Magic Users were VERY secretive about their spells, and this was a way to keep it from falling into an enemies hands (or an annoying ally).