D&D 5E Phantasmal Force question - logical actions

[ECMO3]

A player cast phantasmal force and had an enemy believe a bunch of leeches were swarming his face and body. The NPC (human champion) spent two turns trying to get them off - basically taking damage and doing nothing of value. Then on his third turn I decided that the champion assumed they were a spell, not an illusion but that the Sorc had summoned leeches and put them on him, and he charged the Sorcerer in the hopes of breaking concentration to free himself from the leeches.

I think this was a fair reaction after 3 turns, the player was not happy though. The player thought I should have made a check instead to see if the illusion was real, but I didn't think he had any reason to think it wasnt real. Also the PC got 2 full turns of inaction out of it.

What do you think?

 

[Bill Zebub]

A player cast phantasmal force and had an enemy believe a bunch of leeches were swarming his face and body. The NPC (human champion) spent two turns trying to get them off - basically taking damage and doing nothing of value. Then on his third turn I decided that the champion assumed they were a spell, not an illusion but that the Sorc had summoned leeches and put them on him, and he charged the Sorcerer in the hopes of breaking concentration to free himself from the leeches.

I think this was a fair reaction after 3 turns, the player was not happy though. The player thought I should have made a check instead to see if the illusion was real, but I didn't think he had any reason to think it wasnt real. Also the PC got 2 full turns of inaction out of it.

What do you think?

I think that player should find a new hobby if they don't like DMs making judgment calls.

 

[iserith]

There's nothing about the spell that suggests the target must do anything in particular except believe that the phantasm is real. Combined with the context of the target living in a world of swords and sorcery, I would say it's reasonable to believe that these are real leeches summoned by the sorcerer and that killing the summoner might cause the summoned leeches to be dispelled. The target would still be subject to any damage applied by the spell until such time as the spell ended.

The player got two rounds of the target doing nothing in exchange for a 2nd-level spell, plus damage if you applied that. This is not a terrible result in my view, and it sounds like a cool scene to describe.

Ultimately, this is a mismatch of expectations between the DM and the player. Because illusion spells can be very much up to interpretation and their efficacy much less specific than other spells, ideally in my view the player should be reasonably specific about what they hope to achieve with the spell at the time of casting so as to minimize these mismatches of expectations. That's perhaps something to be mindful of in the future. "What effect do you think this will have on the target?" you might ask, then settle on something that makes sense to you both before proceeding. This mitigates the chances you both perceive the spell's outcome differently.

 

[bloodtide]

Their are several limitations with Phantasmal force.
Phantasmal force does not impose any conditions on the target. So choose something that could cause inaction from the target.
Remember that the illusion cannot move from its square, and nothing prevents the target from fleeing.
So if you place something on the target,(such as manacles, collar) you break your own illusion once the creature gets a turn and moves.

In your example the target is not making a save as they still believe the illusion.

 

[Irlo]

I think you made a fair call. If the player objects, ask them what their PC would do in that situation … Pick ineffectually at the leeches or try to take out the greater threat?

 

[Flamestrike]

A player cast phantasmal force and had an enemy believe a bunch of leeches were swarming his face and body. The NPC (human champion) spent two turns trying to get them off - basically taking damage and doing nothing of value. Then on his third turn I decided that the champion assumed they were a spell, not an illusion but that the Sorc had summoned leeches and put them on him, and he charged the Sorcerer in the hopes of breaking concentration to free himself from the leeches.

I think this was a fair reaction after 3 turns, the player was not happy though. The player thought I should have made a check instead to see if the illusion was real, but I didn't think he had any reason to think it wasnt real. Also the PC got 2 full turns of inaction out of it.

What do you think?

It's fair if you gave the attacks Disadvantage.

He was 'covered in leeches' after all. That's disadvantage for mine.

 

[Lanefan]

I'll join the growing chorus of "you got it right". The player has no cause to complain; maybe he'll learn in-character, and next time have the Sorcerer cast from a place of concealment......

 

[Enevhar Aldarion]

Remember that the illusion cannot move from its square, and nothing prevents the target from fleeing.

So if you place something on the target,(such as manacles, collar) you break your own illusion once the creature gets a turn and moves.

This. As soon as the target goes charging at whoever he thinks caused it, the illusion is broken and the leeches are gone. This should also give the NPC a check to realize it was an illusion or maybe he thinks they were real and just fell off, meaning he would still target the sorcerer.

 

[Paul Farquhar]

It sounds like a good, well balanced and fair call to me.

 

[Lanefan]

Their are several limitations with Phantasmal force.
Phantasmal force does not impose any conditions on the target. So choose something that could cause inaction from the target.
Remember that the illusion cannot move from its square, and nothing prevents the target from fleeing.
So if you place something on the target,(such as manacles, collar) you break your own illusion once the creature gets a turn and moves.

It's truly sad how badly illusions have been nerfed over the years.

If that's all I can do with an illusion, I can still cast one of a heavy cage (that conveniently happens to be 5x5x[however high] feet) falling out of the ceiling and trapping the target in its square. Then once the rest of the combat is mopped up, everyone just stands back and shoots the fish in the barrel.