Caltrops and Mirror Image?

[Shin Okada]

Assuming a creature using Mirror Image steps into a square with caltrops, should all the images and the creature be attacked separately? Or, should caltrops attack only one of images and the real creature? I guess the former is the case, but want other DMs' opinions.

 

[Cleon]

Assuming a creature using Mirror Image steps into a square with caltrops, should all the images and the creature be attacked separately? Or, should caltrops attack only one of images and the real creature? I guess the former is the case, but want other DMs' opinions.

The 3E mirror image spell is only effective against attackers that can see the figments. Standard caltrops are blind, being inanimate objects and all, so their attack rolls can't target any of the figments and you only need to roll for the real creature.

On the other hand, If the caltrops were turned into Tiny Constructs by an animate objects spell...

 

[Shin Okada]

The 3E mirror image spell is only effective against attackers that can see the figments..

Thanks. I have overlooked that part.

I was thinking about using Caltrops spell and it seems that the spell ignores the images either, as the cltrops created by the spell attacks, not the caster.

Is there any good spells to erase (not just ignore) Mirror Image?

 

[Cleon]

Thanks. I have overlooked that part.

I was thinking about using Caltrops spell and it seems that the spell ignores the images either, as the cltrops created by the spell attacks, not the caster.

Is there any good spells to erase (not just ignore) Mirror Image?

Hmm...

Well, any spell that allows the caster to attack multiple opponents would allow them to erase the same number of images (or the same minus one if they happen to hit the real target as well), so something like a magic missile or scorching ray could be used, although that might not target enough opponents to hit all the images.

Ideally, you'd want something that attacks every opponent in an area, like black tentacles, but unfortunately with that it's the spell making the attacks not a creature, not the caster, so it's effectively "blind" and doesn't erase the images.

I've got it! Cast summon swarm - the summoned creatures can see the images and swarms attacks ALWAYS hit. Better still, you don't need to concentrate for the swarm to keep on attacking. Oh, and if they happen to attack the real target, they'll keep on attacking it every round and whittle away the images in three squares next to the real opponent in every subsequent round.

Bat swarms would seem the best choice for this tactic, since they can fly and move faster than an average humanoid.

 

[Greenfield]

Summon Swarm attacks as an area effect. No "attack" roll is made.

It's like Fireball. I don't think it would take down the MI.

On the other hand, it would still hit the real one, so...

Here's an odd point many people, both Player and DM, overlook about the Mirror Image spell: The confusing "dance" isn't an ongoing thing. The caster gets to switch places with an image on their move action. That means that if someone finds the real caster and can communicate that to others, they can all target the caster, ignoring the images, until the caster's next action.

So the spell isn't as powerful as many seem to think it is.

 

[Cleon]

Summon Swarm attacks as an area effect. No "attack" roll is made.

It's not the spell doing the damage directly though, is it. It's the creatures summoned by the spell that do the damage using a swarm attack, which should count as an "attack" for purposes of a mirror image.

 

[Greenfield]

And as soon as that swarm rolls a successful attack on the image, it will vanish.

specifically, they vanish if struck by at attack. No attack roll is ever made for a swarm, and swarms never "target" anyone, image or otherwise.

 

[Cleon]

And as soon as that swarm rolls a successful attack on the image, it will vanish.

specifically, they vanish if struck by at attack. No attack roll is ever made for a swarm, and swarms never "target" anyone, image or otherwise.

There's no mention in mirror image that an attack roll is necessary. Just "Any successful attack against an image destroys it". A swarm attack is automatically successful, ergo any images who are in the swarm's Space at the end of its move will be successfully hit and vanish.

To argue that a swarm attack doesn't count as an "attack" because it does not require an attack roll seems absurd to me.

The swarm attack represents an averaging of the individual attacks of those members of the swarm that are biting/stinging/whatevering the creatures in its area. It's just a shorthand to spare the DM from rolling a bucketfull of attack rolls for each of the rats/bats/whatever's in the swarm. It's not a terribly realistic one, because the amount of damage should really vary depending on the armour of the target - like it did in some AD&D swarms - but that's irrelevant for this discussion.

EDIT: Imagine an individual rat makes a bite attack roll high enough to hit the target's AC and rolls 1 damage. What difference is there between that and a swarm of rats doing 1 damage to the target that would make one of them an "attack" and the other not an attack? They ought to both make a mirror image vanish. In both cases, the target has taken a point of damage from being bitten by a rat - why should it matter to the image if it has a swarm of rat buddies with it?