Particle_Man
Explorer
Ok Ryan Nock! Glad to see that you have taken another shot at Illusion Force, although as expected I have a question:
If you have the Illusion Specialist Feat, you tend to get some "Free" simple effects or "Free" standard effects to add to your illusion.
Since the damage from Illusion Force now depends upon the points spent on Illusions that are not illusion force as components in the spell, do the "free" simple effects or "free" standard effects have any effect upon the non-lethal damage that an illusion does? So if I get simple illusion fire for free, does that add 1d6/2d6/4d6 to the damage? Should damage be calculated "as if" the "free" simple/standard illusions had been paid for?
Basically, I am wondering if the Illusion Specialist feat helps or not, when calculating damage.
If it does not help, that seems like a "hidden cost" of being a specialist, where the specialist can cast the same spell as the non-specialist who casts the illusion, but the non-specialist, because he had to spend more points to get those simple/standard effects, gets more damage out of it. While the illusion specialist either gets less damage because some of the effects are free for him, or "throws points at the illusion", making it a more complex illusion than necessary purely to up the damage dealt.
On the other hand, I have not playtested what would happen if the "Free" simple or standard illusion effects are calculated into the damage as if they had been paid for. It would give reason to learn the "costly" illusions like fire/water/air/earth as a simple effect from them would actually contribute to damage, while simple effects from light, etc., cost 0 anyhow. I don't think it would unbalance the game, but maybe it would. It would certainly make that feat desirable by illusionists, but it was that already.
If you have the Illusion Specialist Feat, you tend to get some "Free" simple effects or "Free" standard effects to add to your illusion.
Since the damage from Illusion Force now depends upon the points spent on Illusions that are not illusion force as components in the spell, do the "free" simple effects or "free" standard effects have any effect upon the non-lethal damage that an illusion does? So if I get simple illusion fire for free, does that add 1d6/2d6/4d6 to the damage? Should damage be calculated "as if" the "free" simple/standard illusions had been paid for?
Basically, I am wondering if the Illusion Specialist feat helps or not, when calculating damage.
If it does not help, that seems like a "hidden cost" of being a specialist, where the specialist can cast the same spell as the non-specialist who casts the illusion, but the non-specialist, because he had to spend more points to get those simple/standard effects, gets more damage out of it. While the illusion specialist either gets less damage because some of the effects are free for him, or "throws points at the illusion", making it a more complex illusion than necessary purely to up the damage dealt.
On the other hand, I have not playtested what would happen if the "Free" simple or standard illusion effects are calculated into the damage as if they had been paid for. It would give reason to learn the "costly" illusions like fire/water/air/earth as a simple effect from them would actually contribute to damage, while simple effects from light, etc., cost 0 anyhow. I don't think it would unbalance the game, but maybe it would. It would certainly make that feat desirable by illusionists, but it was that already.
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