Bizarre Tactics & Combos

[bret]

A dragon which has, by means of its HUGE spellcraft skill, the ability to spot a familiar coming a mile away...

I would use Knowledge: Arcana myself. You don't use a spell (in the normal meaning of the term) to summon and link to a familiar. It isn't the result of a spell as normally defined since it doesn't take a spell slot to summon a familiar.

 

[Nail]

It's the principle that makes Faerie Fire vs Mirror Image work. In bright light, all the images are surrounded by flickering blue flames, and you don't get any extra clues. In dim light or darkness, all the images are surrounded by blue flames... but only one of them actually pierces the shadows and casts light on the floor...

(hijack)

Apparently a great number of people can say this sort of thing with a straight face. I was mistaken.

....but only in that. It still is one of the silliest rules ever.

"Look! It's a torch!....but it doesn't shed any light!? ..Then how am I seeing it? Ah, of course, the flame is reflecting the light of my lantern!"

(/hijack)

 

[Hypersmurf]

"Look! It's a torch!....but it doesn't shed any light!? ..Then how am I seeing it? Ah, of course, the flame is reflecting the light of my lantern!"

Yes.

"A character faced with incontrovertible proof that an illusion isn't real needs no saving throw. "

If you stick your hand into the illusion of the fire, and it doesn't burn you, you know it's not real.

If you carry the fire into a dim room, and it casts no light, you know it's not real.

Illusions have limitations. That doesn't mean they suck.

-Hyp.

 

[Bonedagger]

[The hijack concerning CL]

Wasn't there something about that the Sages explanations (I know how those who like to mention errata also like to point out that the sage is official. ) on how invisibility works, was that it actually reflected light (Create something that interacts with the physical world)? And therefore don't mess with peoples heads.

So instead of changing the spells school, you could just have changed it from Figments to Glamer...

Who ever is making those errata appear to be wasting my time.

 

[Hypersmurf]

So instead of changing the spells school, you could just have changed it from Figments to Glamer...

Glamers can't illuminate darkness either.

Read about Illusions.

There's a difference between reflecting light and creating light. If you want an illusion that creates light, oddly enough, you need a Shadow.

-Hyp.

 

[Bonedagger]

Glamers can't illuminate darkness either.

Read about Illusions.

There's a difference between reflecting light and creating light. If you want an illusion that creates light, oddly enough, you need a Shadow.

-Hyp.

Still I would call reflecting light a real effect. That would contradict the explanation about what is considdered real when it comes to magic. (Huh?) If it really is a problem you could just say that when illusions make lights they draw it from a semi shadow sources regardless of spelldescription.

The funny thing about illusions compared to other schools of magic is how often people try to make science out of it.

 

[Kae'Yoss]

Are you sure you have to hold material components in your hand?

You must manipulate the stuff, and that's best accomplished with the hands. Simply having the stuff somewhere in the backpack is not enough.

 

[Nail]

If you carry the fire into a dim room, and it casts no light, you know it's not real.

Illusions have limitations. That doesn't mean they suck.

True enough.

But in this case, the rules seem to say: "If you make an illusion that requires the illusion to produce any light, it will suck."

It seems very hard to believe that an illusionary torch, even brought into a brightly lit room, would look amazingly fake if it could not produce light. Think about it.

Surely it would be easier to simply rule that illusions (figments) can produce light. Why are all of these blatantly silly rule contortions necessary?

(I feel like the straight-man in a Monty Python skit.)

 

[Vaxalon]

I would allow an illusion of a torch, if the area was big enough to encompass the room, to include illusionary reflections off of objects in the room. The caster would have to know what the room was like beforehand, however.

 

[incognito]

VAX/Bret...

What kind of HUGE spellcraft or Know (arcana) does a young dragon have? Around 12 +INT for spell craft. Know (arcana)
purchased seperately.

Whats the DC to recognize an animal as a familiar?

Frightful Presence only works when the dragon attacks, charges, or flies overhead. Some dragons do not have this n the "young" age catagory.

Also, why wouldn't their be a toad near a swamp? OR other familiar type (bird, ferret, mouse, etc).