D&D 5E Effective Illusions

[Scorpio616]

Well, apparently rival spellcasters can auto detect what spell level you are casting, so if you try to create an effect incongruent with the spell level of the illusion, they'll be on to you.

When using Counterspell you know the level of the target spell, or you have to guess?

Mike Mearls
you know the level

And pay attention to each spell's components. The fewer folks who see you waving your hands the better. Thankfully 5E's verbal components are merely described as "chanting" rather than "to speak in a strong voice" as was the case in 3era. So maybe you can convince your DM that Illusion and Enchantment verbals should be slightly more subtle than Evocation's incants.

 

[EvanNave55]

Man, you guys are really negative about illusions.

Yeah, once you really get rolling, using them on the fly in combat is your ultimate goal, but there's a lot of useful things you can do with the most basic illusions that rarely will have encounter DM issues:

* Create an illusion of the real wall, just six to nine inches further in. Have everyone hug the real wall and be quiet. Congrats on group invisibility at a very, very low cost.
* Create illusions of things that people already expect to see. That noise down the alley? That's not your stupid fighter, that was a rat nosing around with a piece of metallic garbage.
* Use it to empty out full things, like armories, treasure rooms and the like, forcing patrolling guards, or whomever, to take off running looking for where it has "gone." You, of course, are standing in the "empty" space, ready to scoop up everything they've just abandoned and run the opposite direction.
* Closed and locked doors replace the ones you just opened (especially if it was kicked down).
* Dead/unconscious guards out of earshot can be replaced with illusory ones standing at their posts.
* Animals and low intelligence foes are the best targets for illusions on the fly. Predators, even without scent, will scare them -- even the shadow of a predatory animal flying overhead can terrify them -- as will fire at a distance.
* And taking a page from Doctor Who, illusion up some documents to show to authorities. That's a visual-only illusion, most of the time, and should work so long as you've seen what legitimate versions of the documents look like.

Glad to see I'm not the only one with these sorts of ideas and thinkig you can do this with illusions.

 

[iserith]

Illusion spells are offend praised for being one of the strongest options for spellcasters; minor image alone seems to be a required spell for all the casters who have access to it.

I myself have never been fond of illusions; for all their flexibility, they're too dependent on the DM's interpretation for me to want to use them too often, beyond the standard Invisibility and Mirror Image. That being said, I was hoping to give them a try in an upcoming game, and was wondering if I could get some advice.

I intend on playing a warlock, and so I'll have access to unlimited illusion usage through the minor image cantrip and the Misty Visions invocation. My question is, can anyone offer any advice on how to make the illusions as effective as possible, both in and out of combat? I realize that that is an open ended request, but I'd like to have a few examples in mind to build off of.

I think the best way to make illusions as effective as possible is to be absolutely clear with your goal and approach when describing what you want to do to the DM. If you just say "I create an illusion of X..." this describes the approach, but not the goal. So instead say "I create an illusion of X in an effort to make Y happen..." This will communicate to the DM what you're doing and what you expect will happen if you're successful which makes it easier for the DM to adjudicate fairly.

 

[Saeviomagy]

First of all talk to your DM. Pose some scenarios as hypotheticals and see how he would adjudicate them. Then decide whether you want to play an illusionist.

That should basically be step 1 of playing just about any oddball build that may require adjudication. If you think it's iffy or unusual, talk to the DM about it. It's just a shame that illusionists require this when they're a core part of the game, and don't specifically call it out.

 

[TheCosmicKid]

Be careful. Per RAW, it's pretty clear that silent image can make "an object, a creature, or some other visible phenomenon". It can't turn anything invisible -- other than through the mundane means of obscuring line of sight between the thing and the observer, of course. So as a DM, I would have to give the thumbs-down to an illusion like an empty treasure room in place of a full one, or an illusory pit. That would require casting invisibility or similar spell. I also read some significance into the use of the singular: it's "an object", not "objects".

Now, personally, I've got a freewheeling style and tend to make exceptions for sufficiently original and clever ideas. And my players don't like to play arcanists, so I don't have much practical experience adjudicating the spell in any case. But if I were going to put on my rules lawyer pants, that's where I'd stand. And I wouldn't blame other DMs for standing in the same place.

Even with those caveats, it's still a really versatile spell.

 

[Jaelommiss]

I have an arcane trickster in one of my games use Silent Image to create 15-foot cubes of darkness (I think he describes it as a solidly filled cube of black material that reflects no light and is fully opaque). Because the party is aware of this tactic they automatically "discern the illusion for what it is" without needing to spend an action making an investigation check. Thus, the entire party can see through the illusion while all opponents believe that it is an area of true darkness. Party members inside the area can attack at advantage because they are unseen, while enemies attack at disadvantage if inside the area or targeting someone inside of it.

When they assume that the pseudo-darkness will protect them they tend not to position themselves defensively. Creatures with blindsight/tremorsense or area attacks have utterly wrecked them. When they reach higher levels I think that dispel magic and counterspell will do the same.

Even if a DM doesn't allow the party to see through it instantly it could be effective if set up before an ambush so that the party has time to investigate it.

 

[Sword of Spirit]

First, talk with your DM about how he runs illusions. Is he going to have every NPC in the world be unusually suspicious enough to take an action to attempt to see through an illusion all the time? I won't play an illusion using character if I know that is going to happen. Same thing goes with creating disguises (magical or not). Is every passerby getting a roll to see if they notice something off about your disguise? I'm not playing that character then.

The beauty of illusions is that they aren't usually expected and therefore people aren't usually spending that action-level worth of effort to stare them down and see if something is out of place. Most people believe what they see (or hear, or smell) 99% of the time. If you don't have a pre-existing reason to be suspicious, you aren't going to take an action to effectively doubt your senses.

At least that's my philosophy and how I run it, so illusions are great when I'm the DM. As a player, you want to make darn sure you don't go into a game thinking your DM is running it that way, only to find out that he's giving all NPCs constant passive Intelligence (Investigation) scores to see through illusions instead.

 

[EroGaki]

First, talk with your DM about how he runs illusions. Is he going to have every NPC in the world be unusually suspicious enough to take an action to attempt to see through an illusion all the time? I won't play an illusion using character if I know that is going to happen. Same thing goes with creating disguises (magical or not). Is every passerby getting a roll to see if they notice something off about your disguise? I'm not playing that character then.

The beauty of illusions is that they aren't usually expected and therefore people aren't usually spending that action-level worth of effort to stare them down and see if something is out of place. Most people believe what they see (or hear, or smell) 99% of the time. If you don't have a pre-existing reason to be suspicious, you aren't going to take an action to effectively doubt your senses.

At least that's my philosophy and how I run it, so illusions are great when I'm the DM. As a player, you want to make darn sure you don't go into a game thinking your DM is running it that way, only to find out that he's giving all NPCs constant passive Intelligence (Investigation) scores to see through illusions instead.

Solid advice. Knowing before had how my DM is going to handle illusions would probably be a good idea.

 

[TarionzCousin]

One thing I've done effectively with illusions as a DM is use them for traps.

Example: put "secret" warning signs in a language the PC's can read but not Common that say to be prepared for poison in this area.

Next, when the PC's trigger something like a door/chest, have a cloud of dark yellow gas expand very slowly toward them. Inside the cloud, they can see a few small flying insects plummet to the ground, apparently dead. They will ask what it smells like.

Ask them "Do you inhale the gas?" Nobody has ever said yes.

The illusory poison cloud moves slowly enough that it is easy to avoid--and PC's will definitely avoid touching it. However, a Gust of Wind or some such spell which should blow the cloud away has no effect. Now they get a saving throw.

 

[Andrew Blair]

Would a ref allow an illusion of a mirror or an illusion of a reflective surface? Would that surface behave like a conventional mirror? Or would you have to concentrate on what the mirror is reflecting? Night time combat. You make an illusion of a sheet of glass, you throw a stone with light cast on it behind some attackers. Does the illusion reflect light like real glass?