D&D 5E Minor illusion cantrip question

[Joe Liker]

The minor illusion cantrip has a casting time of 1 action and a duration of 1 minute, no concentration required.

Could you not, using two or more actions, work around the 5-foot-cube size limitation by successive castings of the spell?

There's a practical limit of 10 simultaneous illusions, of course, as you'd then have to recast the first one as it expires, but if you only need a slightly bigger space (say, to mask a 10-foot-high door), it seems quite doable, right?

 

[KarinsDad]

N/A.

 

[Syntallah]

The minor illusion cantrip has a casting time of 1 action and a duration of 1 minute, no concentration required.

Could you not, using two or more actions, work around the 5-foot-cube size limitation by successive castings of the spell?

There's a practical limit of 10 simultaneous illusions, of course, as you'd then have to recast the first one as it expires, but if you only need a slightly bigger space (say, to mask a 10-foot-high door), it seems quite doable, right?

Nope, first paragraph of spell description: "The illusion also ends if you dismiss it as an action, or cast this spell again"

 

[Joe Liker]

Nope, first paragraph of spell description: "The illusion also ends if you dismiss it as an action, or cast this spell again"

Ah, there's the thing I missed. Thanks.

But two casters working together could probably do some interesting things. It's surprising how restrictive that 5-foot-cube can be!

 

[Syntallah]

No worries. I have a player who gets very abusive, err, creative, with that spell, so I have looked at it closely…

 

[KarinsDad]

No worries. I have a player who gets very abusive, err, creative, with that spell, so I have looked at it closely…

Examples?

 

[Boarstorm]

Did you know Minor Illusion is one of only 8 spells in the PHB that doesn't require a verbal component? (I was looking into the viability of a mute bard. Prognosis: Terrible.)

 

[Syntallah]

Examples?

Note: I’ve known this guy for almost 30 years, and he is a good friend. We just clash philosophically at times because he likes [Easy Button] scenarios, and I don’t DM that way.

He would like this cantrip (the lowest level magic in the Game) to do things like instant walls > negating ranged attacks, or instant fog > granting mass invisibility; that kind of thing. He would like to bring back the heady days of our teen years where an illusory pit could kill if the target thought it was real etc, etc, etc.

I allow him to cast it as such, but have house ruled that this cantrip does not need a full Action to examine. If cast in combat, a participant is in a heightened sense of awareness (typically, although situations may vary of course), and is allowed a pseudo-passive save to allow him to see it for an illusion. If not in combat, I compare the passerby’s Passive Perception to the PC’s save DC, and grant an Intelligence save as applicable. I will charge the creature with their Reaction or Bonus action depending on their proximity to the illusion, field of view, etc.

 

[machineelf]

Did you know Minor Illusion is one of only 8 spells in the PHB that doesn't require a verbal component? (I was looking into the viability of a mute bard. Prognosis: Terrible.)

You just made me laugh out loud at work, and I had to cover for it.

 

[samwinchester]

Interesting question, Joe! A good way around is taking successive castings to enlarge the falsehood. However, it would suit static scenes better, and dealing with several illusions on dynamic occasions may be tedious. So, what are you going to do with it?