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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Dorian_Grey" data-source="post: 6994465" data-attributes="member: 6801878">This is, honestly, why I feel illusion spells should be removed from the game - and I love illusionists since I read about them in 2nd Edition. The problem, however, is that every illusion spell is very malleable, by design. Yet, I've only met one DM who was capable of working with an illusionist and not just nerfing them off the cuff because they wanted too. My own experiences generally indicate one of two "rationales" for DMs: 1) the NPCs are hard core rational actors who, in the middle of a fight, will sit down and work out the logic of the PCs ability to create something from nothing a big component of this is that "magical effects don't happen in the real world so if fire were to appear out of nothing, the NPCs would know it was illusion" which conveniently ignores that magic is part of this world, and fire appearing out of nothing is something that most NPC monster's will have seen their shamans do, the inverse logic is 2) the NPCs are all experts on spellcraft and thus know an illusion when they see one. This is why I generally don't play an illusionist or a spellcaster. I find most DMs want to know EXACTLY what a spell/action will do, and if something is poorly defined in terms of damage rolls or DCs, then the DM is going to take the least favorable to the PC interpretation. If this offends someone reading this, I'm sorry, but that's been my experience.In general, this is what I would expect to see happen:1. Illusionist casts their spell, and a unicorn appears. I'd have the player describe what they're doing: is the Unicorn just manifesting out of thin air or is it "coming" from behind a corner? If "manifesting" I'd give an arcana check at disadvantage to the NPCs to see if they put together that it might be an illusion with the DC dependent on the caster. I'd allow an NPC wizard of equal or higher level to the PC, with direct line of sight and ability to see material components, hear incantations, take a normal skill arcana check - though the PC wizard can attempt an opposed deception check to mask their actions.2. The object now exists and the NPCs can begin to interact with it. The orc fires an arrow and rolls very high. They "know" that their shot was "perfect." I allow the PC wizard controlling the illusion to make a deception check to make it look like the illusion dodges the arrow. If they aren't paying close attention (i.e. threatened within 5' by an enemy) I would impose disadvantage. The DC is the attack roll. If the PC passes, no matter how good the shot, the NPC knows that they "missed."  If the PC fails, I'd allow an illusion saving throw for the orc. This is because the NPC didn't PHYSICALLY interact with the illusion. The ARROW physically interacted with the illusion. Silent image is designed to fool sight, and sight is the only sense that the orc has used so far to interact with the illusion.3. The other orcs, seeing this illusion and seeing the arrow fire and miss realize that they have a new threat, and act accordingly. When an orc decides to charge the illusion, the power of silent image is over as they will have physically interacted at that point. Per the description. Then the others can get a saving throw.</blockquote>

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