Do you let Magic Missiles destroy Mirror Images?

[Hypersmurf]

Based on the scoreboard above, it at least seems like the issue it subject to interpretation.

Well, Magic Missile targets creatures, and that a spell cast on the wrong sort of target doesn't work.

Figments aren't creatures, and nothing in the rules suggests otherwise - indeed, creatures by definition have a Wisdom and Charisma score.

An FAQ answer should make you say "Ah, that's what that unclear bit meant". There isn't anything unclear that leaves open the possibility of a non-creature being targeted by a creature-targeting spell. The FAQ isn't clarifying or interpreting the spell; it's rewriting and changing the spell.

-Hyp.

 

[Felix]

Based on the scoreboard above, it at least seems like the issue it subject to interpretation.

Who was it that said, "If a million people say a silly thing, it is still a silly thing."

 

[KarinsDad]

And like I said, if you couldn't disbelieve in an illusion in 1ED, you interacted with it as if what you perceived was real. Ergo, you'd see several images completely indistinguishable from being living creatures, and could target them accordingly.

But only with weapons, not spells.

 

[KarinsDad]

Who was it that said, "If a million people say a silly thing, it is still a silly thing."

Someone silly but accurate?

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

But only with weapons, not spells.

No, you'd interact with them normally, regardless of attack mode.

The would RESULTS differ- the weapons would pop images, the spells would not.

 

[Patryn of Elvenshae]

No - a figment is not 'Up to five creatures'...

-Hyp.

Hyp is, as usual, correct.

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

The FAQ isn't clarifying or interpreting the spell; it's rewriting and changing the spell.

Or perhaps the FAQ is correcting an unintended consequence of the 3.X revision of the illusion rules- not changing Magic Missile, but clarifying how "figments" are supposed to interact with spells that target "creatures."

And in fact:

"For all intents and purposes, the figments from a foe’s
mirror image spell are your foes. You aim your spells and your
attacks at the figments just as though they were real creatures.
Any spell you can aim at a creature you can aim at an image.
When you use a spell that allows you to select multiple
creatures as targets, such as magic missile, you can choose
multiple images as targets."

(emphasis mine & assuming the quote is actually the FAQ)

The text is using magic missile as an example of the subset of all "spells you can aim at a creature"- not rewriting the specific spell itself, but clarifying the interaction of figments and spell targeting rules in general.

 

[Hypersmurf]

Or perhaps the FAQ is correcting an unintended consequence of the 3.X revision of the illusion rules...

That's the function of errata.

(Or, perhaps, leatherbound special editions )

-Hyp.

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

I know that distinguishing between errata and FAQs is a popular hobby around here, but I really haven't seen any game company that keeps that kind of distinction intact.

That said, it isn't a rules change or correction- its a clarification. Both the figment rules (PHB p173) and general spell-targeting rules (PHB p175) are silent on the interaction of images created by illusion magic targeted by spells of any kind.

The FAQ ruling fills that gap.

 

[Hypersmurf]

That said, it isn't a rules change or correction- its a clarification. Both the figment rules (PHB p173) and general spell-targeting rules (PHB p175) are silent on the interaction of images created by illusion magic targeted by spells of any kind.

Does an image created by illusion magic have a Wisdom or Charisma score?

-Hyp.