How to create an illusion of a group of creatures? - Found the answer!

[LokiDR]

Sort of makes Hallucinatory Terrain (4th level) and Mirage Arcana (5th level) no where near as useful if you can mimic the effect of multiple trees and objects with a 1st level spell as you suggest.

Not even. Hallucinatory terrain can do look, sound and smell. So, it is really a compareson to major image to hallucinatory terrain. MI has duration of concentration + 3 rounds. HT has a duration of 2 hours/level. MI affects 3 10' cubes + 1 cube/level. HT affects one 30' cube/level. HT is an obviously more powerful spell. However, you don't need that if you are just creating a momentary distraction.

 

[Lucius Foxhound]

Found it!

Sorry to bring back this old topic, but I found out that Persistant Image can, in fact, create a group of creatures by the rules... and most likely, so can Silent Spell, Major Image, etc.

Check out the description of Persistant Image:

Persistent Image

Illusion (Figment)
Level: Brd 5, Sor/Wiz 5
Duration: 1 minute/level (D)

As silent image, except the figment includes visual, auditory, olfactory, and thermal components, and the figment follows a script determined by the character. The figment follows that script without the character's having to concentrate on it. The illusion can include intelligible speech if the character wishes. For instance, the character could create the illusion of several orcs playing cards and arguing, culminating in a fistfight.

So this spell at least provides for a group of several images... and since all these illusory spells are linked, all of them should be able to provide multiple images.

 

[Baumi]

That's strange. Why did they write an object, creature, or force and then made an example like that??

Has "The Sage" ever mentioned the spell?

 

[Atavar]

How about the Screen spell? Would that do it?

Thanks,

Atavar

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"Sorry Roy!" -- Crazy Cora

 

[Lucius Foxhound]

Screen would probably do it since it mentions a "column of a marching army."

Which leads me to believe that illusions are intended to be able to create a "scene" of multiple people.

Why they wrote "an object, creature, or force" is a mystery.

 

[Apok]

Why they wrote "an object, creature, or force" is a mystery.

Maybe it was one of those things a final screening didn't catch. Perhaps the intent of the spell changed during the conception phase but the editors didn't catch that little glitch.

Of course, this begs the question; what was the glitch? Was the spell ultimately intended to produce illusions of multiple objects, creatures, or forces? Or are the examples just editing mistakes from a previous incarnation?

Very interesting...