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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Malimar" data-source="post: 1934215" data-attributes="member: 26444">Smoke & MirrorsNo, Mitch can't.  He failed the save, so his mind and body "believe" that there's an orc there attacking him.  With mind over body, if he tried to move through the orc, his body would stop him subconsciously.He could, but if he took an illusionary hit, he'd take illusionary damage.  That damage can stack up and cause the character to go unconscious (like subdual damage) or possibly have a heart attack and die.  That's how I've always played it from 1st edition to now.Since he failed the save, something in the back of his mind fiercely tells him that the orc is real.  Mitch must continue to operate as if the orc was real until something happens to give him another save, the caster dispells the illusion, someone else dispells it, or the illusion "kills" Mitch.Only those who made their saving throws can operate knowing that it's an illusion; the rest fully believe and act accordingly.  With a particularly powerful illusion half the party can "get it" and ignore the illusion (or help the others disbelieve), and the other half are forced to deal with the illusion's elements.For PC illusions I usually make the castor portray the illusions as realisticly as possible.  If they chose they could make that orc dodge every blow... or take heaps of damage... or sprout a dragon's head and breath on poor Mitch... but anything that unbelievable would provoke an additional saving throw.  I do the same for NPC illusions... usually if the npc caster forgets a detail only the PC's would know.If an illusion has no sound, then that might allow another disbelieve check.  If the orc attacking Mitch was perfectly silent (down to silent weapons clanging on Mitch's shield), but looked real, he might get another save.  Back in 1E/2E when infravision was heat vision, illusions without thermal components wouldn't fool elves in the dark, because they wouldn't see the heat.  The elf would get an automatic or additional save.Smells allow illusions to fool creatures with scent... etc...Illusions are tough to adjucate.  They had a large section in 2E that went over guidlines, and even that didn't cover all the possibilities.  Personally I love illusions because it provides for a lot of out of the box thinking for both DM's and players.I hope that clears something up.</blockquote>

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