Illusion your best idea
- Thread starter Raspen
- Start date
Particle_Man
Explorer
I had a dragon cast a major image of a minurature castle around itself (big enough to be in the spaces around it). the party spent time talking about it and got into a nice cone formation for the dragon breath.
Sejs
First Post
It was very situational, but it'll forever live on as one of my fonder gaming memories.
The setup: The PCs are infiltrating the hidden temple compound of this large, particularly fanatical death-god cult, here to save the professional sacrific...er.. innocent plot-pertinent princess who everyone and their mom keeps trying to snatch away for their own nefarious ends. All the cultists are in the main chapel, praying up a storm while their high priest whips them into a frenzy with some wicked-awesome sermoning. The rogue/sorcerer is sneaking around to the far side of the altar to the door leading to where Her Royal Importance is trussed up and skimply attired. The wizard is out of line of sight behind some cover providing overwatch for if and when it hits the fan. The rog/sor is just passing the dais when it happens.
The delivery: The preacher is preaching his black heart out. The cultists are eatting it up, praying like the world is about to end. Hell, praying THAT the world is about to end.
HIGH PRIEST - ...and WE the Black Lord's chosen people shall flow forth like a righteous tide into the streets and homes of *etc, etc, etc*
CULTISTS - *praying, moaning, rocking back and forth, etc*
WIZARD - *lightbulb appears over his head!*
WIZARD - *from his concealed location, casts Major Image, his casting going unheared over the already burbling torrent of voices in the chapel*
MAJOR IMAGE - *image of a giant, charred corpse's chest and head pushing thru the shadows at the ceiling of the chapel like a caul, the likeness in-line with any of the roughly 8-billion icons of this death god strewn about the place*
MAJOR IMAGE - *deep yet rasping voice* 'Lo, my children... your voice has reached beyond the black sands of nothing to grace my thoughts, and I come before you to answer those prayers. Heed my call, the call of the destiny of all things. Join with me in final baptism and I shall make you the instruments of my will, death undying, to cleanse all the world.
MAJOR IMAGE - *giant dagger (deity's favored weapon) descends from the shadowy ceiling, shrinking as it goes, to point directly at the high priest's heart. Every cultist is carrying a dagger just like this one on them*
HIGH PRIEST & CULTISTS - *dead silence, enraptured with religeous extacy*
ROGUE/SORCERER - *hidden near the altar and High Priest, still unnoticed by everyone*
ROGUE/SORCERER - *Casts a silent Suggestion on the High Priest, who, thankfully fails his save* Follow your god.
HIGH PRIEST & CULTISTS - *all commit suicide*
...it was beautiful.
The setup: The PCs are infiltrating the hidden temple compound of this large, particularly fanatical death-god cult, here to save the professional sacrific...er.. innocent plot-pertinent princess who everyone and their mom keeps trying to snatch away for their own nefarious ends. All the cultists are in the main chapel, praying up a storm while their high priest whips them into a frenzy with some wicked-awesome sermoning. The rogue/sorcerer is sneaking around to the far side of the altar to the door leading to where Her Royal Importance is trussed up and skimply attired. The wizard is out of line of sight behind some cover providing overwatch for if and when it hits the fan. The rog/sor is just passing the dais when it happens.
The delivery: The preacher is preaching his black heart out. The cultists are eatting it up, praying like the world is about to end. Hell, praying THAT the world is about to end.
HIGH PRIEST - ...and WE the Black Lord's chosen people shall flow forth like a righteous tide into the streets and homes of *etc, etc, etc*
CULTISTS - *praying, moaning, rocking back and forth, etc*
WIZARD - *lightbulb appears over his head!*
WIZARD - *from his concealed location, casts Major Image, his casting going unheared over the already burbling torrent of voices in the chapel*
MAJOR IMAGE - *image of a giant, charred corpse's chest and head pushing thru the shadows at the ceiling of the chapel like a caul, the likeness in-line with any of the roughly 8-billion icons of this death god strewn about the place*
MAJOR IMAGE - *deep yet rasping voice* 'Lo, my children... your voice has reached beyond the black sands of nothing to grace my thoughts, and I come before you to answer those prayers. Heed my call, the call of the destiny of all things. Join with me in final baptism and I shall make you the instruments of my will, death undying, to cleanse all the world.
MAJOR IMAGE - *giant dagger (deity's favored weapon) descends from the shadowy ceiling, shrinking as it goes, to point directly at the high priest's heart. Every cultist is carrying a dagger just like this one on them*
HIGH PRIEST & CULTISTS - *dead silence, enraptured with religeous extacy*
ROGUE/SORCERER - *hidden near the altar and High Priest, still unnoticed by everyone*
ROGUE/SORCERER - *Casts a silent Suggestion on the High Priest, who, thankfully fails his save* Follow your god.
HIGH PRIEST & CULTISTS - *all commit suicide*
...it was beautiful.
Agent Oracle
First Post
Hypersmurf said:
Actually, if the illusion is on the flat surface of the wall, and they were to push on it, they would be effectively pushing on the wall, which would not yield to their touch... Since the wall is basicly a flat plane, and the door illusion on the wall is also a flat plane, there is nothing for their hands to pass through.
My favorite thing with a major image though? Tossing around faux fireballs of varying magnitude... Since the illusion provides thermal effects.. that includes the searing heat of a firey blast.
"It burns! aieee!"
lukelightning
First Post
I like mixing illusions with summoning spells. Summon Monster, poof! A celestial badger appears and attacks your enemy...then you make an illusion of Poof! A celestial dire ape. It won't kill your enemies but could frighten them, and would at least make them waste their effort.
If you know one of your opponents is an arcane caster, make an illusion of a bunch of allies in a tight group that are just begging for a fireball or other area spell. Or if you can only make one illusion, make an illusion of a troll; the enemy mage will no doubt know that it needs fire to kill it and waste fireball or scorching ray on it.
I also like illusions of incorporeal undead or displacer beasts, since I think it would be harder to disbelieve interacting with something that is insubtantial.
The wall spells are good illusions, as other people have mentioned. Then there is always an invisible illusion; an illusion with sound and smell but no visual component; make the enemy think an invisible rogue is sneaking around and watch 'em panic.
If you know one of your opponents is an arcane caster, make an illusion of a bunch of allies in a tight group that are just begging for a fireball or other area spell. Or if you can only make one illusion, make an illusion of a troll; the enemy mage will no doubt know that it needs fire to kill it and waste fireball or scorching ray on it.
I also like illusions of incorporeal undead or displacer beasts, since I think it would be harder to disbelieve interacting with something that is insubtantial.
The wall spells are good illusions, as other people have mentioned. Then there is always an invisible illusion; an illusion with sound and smell but no visual component; make the enemy think an invisible rogue is sneaking around and watch 'em panic.
kigmatzomat
Legend
Oooh, incorporeal undead is a good illusion! Even magic weapons only have a 50% chance of making contact. Since the party cleric is about to retire in favor of a druid I must remember that one.
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