Is the Illusionist Dead?

[yennico]

As always, the selection of the Illusionist, as a single class character, requires a far more intelligent and capable player, than say... an evoker, simply because one must understand how the spells work, and how to best manipulate them, because they often do not give direct control limits. Damage-dealing spells are straightforward; cast --> effect. Not so with an Illusionist, who has to actively seek to generate the desired effect. This, in turn, requires a DM who has the capacity to adjudicate the results within game reason, and not turn the potent abilities of the class into something moot and useless. If the Wizard is the "thinking-man's class" then the Illusionist is the "magna cum laude." It requires flair, style, wit, and a deep understanding of the nature, and the lack of such, in everything around the character. Everything, to the properly played Illusionist, is a lethal trap, a weapon to be added to his already wonderful arsenal. This, again, is why the class, often is mixed with another... especially something like Rogue, or in the case of pre-3.X, Assassin, due to the boosting capacity the class provides. It has been retained throughout D&D, but the showmanship has been dwindled, mostly because the powerful spells, the "save or die" effects that used to be present, the ability to cast any Wizard spell (up to a certain level, gained at a certain level), has been lost. It is a shame to see the class treated as discarded refuse... but, to me, this means the class has not changed, but the class of the gamers.

I totally agree with you.

 

[yennico]

The real problem for illusionists starts to really pop up at high levels, and that's true sight. Suddenly your speciality doesn't work, at all, against the bad guy.

That is true. Not all bad guys have true sight, but one with troue sight is enough to look through ypur illusions. One way to deal with true sight is to kill this guy first.
Anoither is to mix illusion spells with non illusionary damage spells. Your first spell on a target without true seeing is a real fireball, the second only a illusionary fireball.

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

When it comes to specialist mages, my top 3 preferences are, respectively: Transmuters, Diviners, and Illusionists.

While I have played necromancers, they never really grabbed me.

Then again, I always play what I'm inspired to play, so I guess the concept got to me once or twice.

As for evokers being boring...not if they're alcoholics: "Oh yeah (hiccup) M'lord? FIREBA (hic) FIREBA (hic) FIREBALL!...Dammit- wrong ari..aris...noble!"

I do, however, agree that playing Illusionists requires thought. My last one was a Gnome Alchemist who supplemented his array of spells with various grenades, acids, and so forth. When the firebreathing dragon actually sets a fire...

 

[Dr. Strangemonkey]

Supposedly the Warlords of the Accordlands will have a dedicated Illusionist class. I've seen the fluff for it and am looking forward to the crunch.

The new mage game is doing something interesting where illusions are a subject not of mind or sense but of general metaphysics. That's an idea I like a lot.

 

[Psion]

The other potential problem with illusionists is the good ol' Spellcraft check. If you recognize that the guy over there is casting major image, you're probably not going to believe that the ogre who suddenly comes crashing through the door is real.

Ayup.

Last session featured an illusionist as a villain. It was a slaughter. In part due to this. The spellcasters were able to identify that the already-losing illusionist was casting mislead. Which sort of nullified the point of the spell. The big greatsword fighter ran him through, stoneskin notwithstanding. Conan would have been proud.

I also noted that when he was not specifically out of sight to begin with, things turn ugly for illusionists. There spell lists are somewhat limited, though the addition of various "shadow" spells obviate this somewhat.

FFG's School of Illusion (on Sale now) is nice to help round out the illusionist a little. I am not a big fan of the dedicated illusionist class (it makes a somewhat weak choice even worse), but the prestige classes are interesting and the spells add some possibilities to the class.

I was thinking about adding some complexity to the over-simplified Spellcraft identify rule. A simple spellcraft roll will let you identify a common spell on your list, but you may need a (potentially much more difficult) Knowledge (Arcana) roll to specifically place rare spells.

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

If your main villain is an illusionist, treat him like any other BBEG- let him prepare!

He has only 1 or 2 opposition schools, so he'll have a wide variety of spells available to accentuate his illusions; he should have items that help cover his weaknesses; he should have allies- some of which should be able to hide in plain sight. He should have SOME illusions already in place. The feats Still/Silent Spell should at least make those Spellcraft checks much more difficult...I'd use Spell Thematics as a guideline. What about Contingency? Project Image? Why were they even facing the real Illusionist? In his real sanctum sanctorum? My BBEG illusionist would have had some bodyguard standing there under an illusion that made him look like the illusionist, while the illusionist himself was casting from within a "piece of furniture" or otherwise obscured from sight. Unless someone's got True Seeing active, that buys the illusionist time, and time kills.

Consider the module Vecna Lives. Vecna dissembles the Council in seconds. Why? He was prepared for them and caught them off guard. Your BBEG Illusionist should be the same- prepared!

 

[serleran]

Consider the module Vecna Lives. Vecna dissembles the Council in seconds. Why? He was prepared for them and caught them off guard. Your BBEG Illusionist should be the same- prepared!

While true in principle, the fact is different. In fact, it was not even Vecna that did the killing, but some sort of Undead (Vampire, or Zombie, something...) using the Hand of Vecna. The use of the Time Stop spell is an inescapable situation, and indicates poor design... but, the designer does specify at he start that it was meant to be such, to destroy the Council quickly.


Otherwise, I agree that the Illusionist villain should/would be prepared, but it can be done without resorting to the abandonment of "everything can be escaped."

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

Actually, as I recall, it was the Council attacking a Vecna wannabe, doing OK, then Vecna Time Stops them ALL, kills them all, then leaves.

But the main point was that BBEG's should be prepared. They should generally not be caught unawares by noisy parties breaching their defenses.

 

[I'm A Banana]

I think specialist wizards suffer from the same problem as specialty priests, but compounded.

Specifically, an Illusionist is it's *own* archetype. It is a trixster, a prankster, a spellcaster and magical creature who is here one minute, gone the next. They are savvy and worldly; more like magical rogues than like scientific wizards...but they are shoehorned into the Wizard archetype, and so made to be just one particular flavor of studious magic....bleh...

The Illusionist (like other big-name specialists, like Necromancers, Conjurers and Enchanters) should have her own set of abilities, her own class of skills. She should be able to hide spellcasting, she should be able to overcome true sight, she should be able to pull the wool over the most observant celestial's eyes. She should become invisible with a Hide check, she should be able to levitate items with a Sleight of Hand check, she should be able to pull a rabbit out of a hat and saw a woman in half and make the Statue of Liberty DISSAPPEAR! She should not just be someone who knows an extra Illusion spell. She should be *defined* by the choice of illusion, and the illusions she learns should be just as potent in their own way as any other beings' powers at her level. Not just an illusion-focused wizard, but a magical, mystical master of the unseen and unknown!

I've done it IMC by making them more like a cleric, with things like domain powers and a more limited spell list, but with broadened powers related to their focus.

That said, the Gnome/Bard thing makes sense once you realize that the Bard is just a mis-named D&D class. The Bard would ideally be focused on performance magic, instead of all this dabbling and dibbling he's doing....

But then again, that's when I rule D&D with an iron fist and command legions of gamers to do my bidding....

 

[Scarbonac]

Hasn't everyone heard? The Illusionist was found dead in the bathroom of a Stuckey's in Ohio, shot twice in the back of the head, execution-style.