Dark illusory room

[Thanee]

Ok, maybe I should explain my thoughts more in detail, except asking for a little piece of the puzzle:

I want an npc who gets scryed at create an illusionary duplicat of a room via false vision, which is dark (as will be his surroundings, as he is a dark elf).

The darkness part will give him the little time needed to respond to the scry attempt without being noticed, since the scryer needs to cast darkvision after the scry spell to see anything.

The scryer will then most probably teleport to this location, but will find a carefully prepared trap instead of the dark elf at the location which he has seen in the illusion (and which of course also exists in reality).

Is there anything wrong with this idea?

Bye
Thanee

 

[0-hr]

Visual illusions absolutely shed light, especially figments.

From the SRD:

Because figments and glamers are unreal, they cannot produce real effects the way that other types of illusions can. They cannot cause damage to objects or creatures, support weight, provide nutrition, illuminate darkness, or provide protection from the elements.

For someone with such a strong opinion, you do surprisingly little research.

 

[0-hr]

Of course illusions don't shed "real" light, but they can create the illusion of light (or its absence) in the mind of those who believe them.

Again from the SRD:

A figment spell creates a false sensation. Those who perceive the figment perceive the same thing, not their own slightly different versions of the figment. (It is not a personalized mental impression.) Figments cannot make something seem to be something else.

So if by "in the mind", you meant a sensation, then you are right. But if you meant a mental image that exists only within the minds of the beholder(s), then you are thinking of a phantasm.

I blieve that a figment could create a cottage with a shadowy interior, but it would remain shadowy regardless of what sort of light was brought inside (or what time of day it was outside). Unless the caster is nearby to manipulate the image, I don't think a basic figment has enough intelligence to alter itself to match changing "real" conditions.

 

[kreynolds]

Thanee, The Book of Eldritch Might, otherwise known as The Book of Obscenely Unbalanced and Grotesquely Powerful Spells, Feats, and Prestige Classes, has a spell that would accomplish something similar to what you want, but with very little fuss, and the best part is that you wouldn't have to bother with an illusion at all.

The spell is Teleport Redirect. Here's the description...

If any teleportation subtype spell is cast within the
radius of this spell, the destination of the teleport
spell is redirected to a location you chose at the time
of casting teleport redirect. For example, you cast teleport
redirect in a king’s throne room with a prison cell
as a destination. Now, if a hamatula in the throne
room attempts to use its teleport without error ability,
it ends up in the cell.

Basically, just create a permanent glyph of this on the floor of the room, several if needed, and make the Drow immune to it (either with another spell or with a magic item). Then, when the players teleport in, teleport the Drow out. When the players try to teleport out, they go to whatever location you have assigned to the glyphs.

Not exactly what you wanted, but a pretty devious idea nonetheless.

 

[Thanee]

We don't have BoEM.

Also, what's the casting time on that one?

With False Vision he can do that pretty much everywhere (he doesn't exactly know, when they will try to get him, he just knows, that they tried before).

Bye
Thanee

 

[kreynolds]

We don't have BoEM.

It really is a pretty neat book. I ran a Knight of the Chalice and a Fighter/Rogue through The Demon God's Fane a few months ago. Very interesting adventure.

Also, what's the casting time on that one?

1 action.

 

[KarinsDad]

I want an npc who gets scryed at create an illusionary duplicat of a room via false vision, which is dark (as will be his surroundings, as he is a dark elf).

Screen doesn't exactly do this, but it's close.

 

[Thanee]

Well, false vision does that, I'm just not sure, if it works the way I think it does...

Bye
Thanee

 

[KarinsDad]

From the SRD:

"Because figments and glamers are unreal, they cannot produce real effects the way that other types of illusions can. They cannot cause damage to objects or creatures, support weight, provide nutrition, illuminate darkness, or provide protection from the elements."

For someone with such a strong opinion, you do surprisingly little research.

Uh huh. I might surprise you with how much I've looked into this topic.


And yes, I am aware of that error. But, all figments can produce light. For example:

Dancing Lights
Illusion (Figment)
Depending on the version selected, the character creates up to four lights that resemble lanterns or torches (and cast that amount of light)

Granted, Mirror Image and other Image spells typically reflect light as opposed to producing it.

But, some of them can generate Sound (sound is a real effect). If they can generate Sound, they can generate Light. If they can generate Thermal (thermal is a real effect), they can generate Light, etc.

For example, if your Wizard has a Light spell on him when he casts Mirror Image, all of the images are illuminated as well. If this were not the case, then you could figure out that some of the images were not in the center point of the spell and hence were not valid. Since the spell does not allow this, it must generate light in this case.

Another example of this is a Wizard with Produce Flame and Mirror Image. The Mirror Image spell must reproduce the glow of the flame in his hand, otherwise the Mirror Image spell would not prevent someone from telling which image did not have a glowing flame. Ditto for Fire Shield and Mirror Image. Ditto for carrying a candle with Mirror Image.

Ditto for Silent Image, Minor Image, Major Image, etc.

This is just an obvious mistake in the books. And, for people who rarely play illusions, it is a mistake that is easy to make based on the figment description.

Now, the effect is not powerful enough to counter a Darkness spell, but it is powerful enough to illuminate a small area. And as DM, since it does not state how powerful the "real effects" can actually be in figments, you have to decide. Can a Major Image be as loud as a roaring Lion? Can a Major Image light up as much as a bonfire?

Quite frankly, what good is a Major Image of a bonfire which gives off heat and sound, but not light?

Common sense has to apply here when a phrase in the book is obviously incorrect and even ignored by a spell also written in the book (i.e. Dancing Lights).

 

[0-hr]

And yes, I am aware of that error.

Ah of course, the books are wrong! I should have guessed. When there is a conflict between KD and the books, we just need to apply common sense and we will realize that KD is always right. I envy the happy world in which you dwell.