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General Tabletop Discussion
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
9 simple guidelines for determining when to disbelieve illusions, mostly derived from RAW (also for 3.5)
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<blockquote data-quote="RUMBLETiGER" data-source="post: 6251692" data-attributes="member: 6674868"><p>One reason to still consider what you see as real, even after being told it's not, is because it's really scary. If there's a raging, armored Orc running at me, and somebody shouts, "Don't worry, it's not real!", my adrenaline is still pumping, my defensive reflexes are still kicked in, and I'm thinking "If he's wrong, this is really going to hurt in about 6 seconds...." So it might still be believed simply because disbelieving wrongly could be dangerous. </p><p>If there's a pit in front of me, and I'm told it's just an illusion, I'm still likely to be wary about stepping over it. </p><p>Secondly, even if I disbelieve, I don't know what's really there. If a doorway has an illusion cast over it to make it look like a solid wall, and you tell me there's a door over there, I still can't tell. If someone walks through the illusion into the door I can't see, I'd be more able to find it than if someone just pointed and said "a door is right there".</p><p>Thirdly, there may be reason to distrust the one saying it's fake. A party member you've traveled with for years you may trust without question. An NPC or dude in the party you don't like, might be lying to you about that charging rhino. (Actually, I might just do that in a game I'm currently playing, shout "Don't worry, it's an illusion!" when something is clearly not. That'd be hilarious.... for me).</p><p></p><p>I've always understood the "Disbelieve with a +4" to represent your character squinting saying "Really?" to confirm for themselves instead of simply trusting the statement of someone else. This might not be the same thing as "Studying Carefully", because if the above said charging Rhino is coming, I'm not going to look at it rationally/passively/cautiously, I'm going to be looking frantic while at the same time readying my body to flee.</p><p></p><p>Unless I've succeeded in a spellcraft check (or Sense Motive vs. Bluff, see below), my PC really isn't going to know if the enemy just cast "<em>Summon Monster III" </em>or "<em>Minor Image</em>".</p><p></p><p>To Illustrate: <a href="http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0805.html" target="_blank">"Celestial Tree Sloth Attack!"</a></p><p></p><p>I like your ideas though, and appreciate the attempt to clarify for the rest of us what is often messy interpretation.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="RUMBLETiGER, post: 6251692, member: 6674868"] One reason to still consider what you see as real, even after being told it's not, is because it's really scary. If there's a raging, armored Orc running at me, and somebody shouts, "Don't worry, it's not real!", my adrenaline is still pumping, my defensive reflexes are still kicked in, and I'm thinking "If he's wrong, this is really going to hurt in about 6 seconds...." So it might still be believed simply because disbelieving wrongly could be dangerous. If there's a pit in front of me, and I'm told it's just an illusion, I'm still likely to be wary about stepping over it. Secondly, even if I disbelieve, I don't know what's really there. If a doorway has an illusion cast over it to make it look like a solid wall, and you tell me there's a door over there, I still can't tell. If someone walks through the illusion into the door I can't see, I'd be more able to find it than if someone just pointed and said "a door is right there". Thirdly, there may be reason to distrust the one saying it's fake. A party member you've traveled with for years you may trust without question. An NPC or dude in the party you don't like, might be lying to you about that charging rhino. (Actually, I might just do that in a game I'm currently playing, shout "Don't worry, it's an illusion!" when something is clearly not. That'd be hilarious.... for me). I've always understood the "Disbelieve with a +4" to represent your character squinting saying "Really?" to confirm for themselves instead of simply trusting the statement of someone else. This might not be the same thing as "Studying Carefully", because if the above said charging Rhino is coming, I'm not going to look at it rationally/passively/cautiously, I'm going to be looking frantic while at the same time readying my body to flee. Unless I've succeeded in a spellcraft check (or Sense Motive vs. Bluff, see below), my PC really isn't going to know if the enemy just cast "[I]Summon Monster III" [/I]or "[I]Minor Image[/I]". To Illustrate: [URL="http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0805.html"]"Celestial Tree Sloth Attack!"[/URL] I like your ideas though, and appreciate the attempt to clarify for the rest of us what is often messy interpretation. [/QUOTE]
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9 simple guidelines for determining when to disbelieve illusions, mostly derived from RAW (also for 3.5)
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