Dark illusory room

[Thanee]

Just a simple question... can an illusion (figment) show a dark room, which can only be seen in with darkvision (or some form of illumination)?

Bye
Thanee

 

[0-hr]

I would say no. Since an illusion cannot shed real light, I would not allow it to shed real darkness either. It also seems to be adding power to the spell to allow it to selectively effect either normal or darkvision.

 

[AuraSeer]

I'd allow this effect. You couldn't create real darkness, but you could make a visual illusion inside a naturally dark area.

If you have darkvision, you can cast illusions normally in a dark area. They'll be visible to other people with darkvision, and if anyone turns on the lights, they'll be visible to normal sight as well.

If you don't have darkvision yourself, just light the room with torches, and then put the torches out after you've created the image. In a pinch, I'd allow you to cast a figment even if you couldn't see what you were doing (in magical darkness for instance), but anyone seeing it would get a hefty bonus to their disbelief roll.

 

[Astlin]

I would say no. Since an illusion cannot shed real light, I would not allow it to shed real darkness either. It also seems to be adding power to the spell to allow it to selectively effect either normal or darkvision.

Well... there are exceptions:
(from the SRD)
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Continual Flame

Illusion (Figment)
Level: Clr 3, Sor/Wiz 2
Components: V, S, M
Casting Time: 1 action
Range: Touch
Effect: Illusory flame
Duration: Permanent
Saving Throw: None
Spell Resistance: No

A flame, equivalent in brightness to a torch, springs forth from an object that the character touches. The flame looks like a regular flame, but it creates no heat and doesn’t use oxygen. The flame can be covered and hidden but not smothered or quenched.

Material Component: Worth 50 gp.
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Astlin

 

[Crothian]

It seems it could.

 

[0-hr]

Have you checked the erratta for Continual Flame?

 

[Thanee]

Ok, I don't want to create darkness where there is light, but only change the appearance of a dark room to another dark room keeping the light level as present.

The illusion should be visible, when someone uses light or darkvision (or any other method to see in the dark), as if there was a real dark room.

Bye
Thanee

 

[Astlin]

Have you checked the erratta for Continual Flame?

Bah! Less than half a page of 'on page xx insert tab b after line 3 and change x to y on the fifth line...' and my eyes start to go all fuzzy...

Oh well. Thanks for the heads up.

Astlin

 

[Grundle]

I would say no. Since an illusion cannot shed real light, I would not allow it to shed real darkness either. It also seems to be adding power to the spell to allow it to selectively effect either normal or darkvision.

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.

Suppose you were traveling in sunlit meadow and happened upon an illusion of a windowless hut. If you failed your save, entered and closed the door, would still be just as light inside as out?

 

[KarinsDad]

Visual illusions absolutely shed light, especially figments.

Mirror Image sheds a boatload of light. It just happens to be more light in a well lit area and less in a darker area.


As to the original question, there is no core illusion spells that do what you want (that I can find).

However, this functionality seems to combine part of Persistent Image and Programmed Image. So, you should be able to create a 7th level illusion spell that gets what you want.

The problem is that the illusion has to normally be in one state, and then it must react to an outside circumstance (i.e. light entering the room).