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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Tormyr" data-source="post: 6593522" data-attributes="member: 6776887">Putting out a torch versus blocking light that is being generated is comparing apples to oranges. The comparison with darkness works on one level if minor illusion is allowed to block the light. The spell's description does not give it this ability.Making an illusion of an opaque object does not mean that the illusion is actually opaque. Especially since more than one creature can view it differently simultaneously. Then the question becomes, "What is the 'true' state of the illusion, and what does it do to appear as a real object?  In my opinion, the "true" state of the illusion, what it really looks like, is what it looks like after a creature passes its Intelligence (Investigation) check or has truesight. According to the spell description, the illusion becomes faint to the creature. As for what makes it look like a real object at first, that explanation can work in several different ways which generally start and end with: magic. The optical illusion analogy is just one way of thing about it.Where this becomes a useful question though is what effect the illusion has on other stuff.  If the true state of the illusion is a faint image, then it does not stop anything but the smallest amount of light.The illusion of an opaque object does not need to be opaque itself. An illusion that is truly opaque and did not just appear to be opaque means that it would block the light.  Then it gets into why it is different for those that pass their ability check and not for the others. An illusion that is actually blocking the light that is investigated successfully by an 8 Intelligence barbarian and becomes faint to it means that the barbarian with no magical ability or aptitude has altered the spell. It has altered the spell because the opaque illusion was actually opaque and no longer is for the barbarian, and light now comes through the illusion just for the barbarian.  This also means that the barbarian can alter the spell from any distance away as long as it can see the illusion.It seems to be far more straightforward to view the illusion as truly being faint and the viewer's initial take on it is to misinterpret what it is seeing as a solid object. Back to our example, the light level in the room is the same for everyone.  The only difference that occurs when the creature passes their check is they go from thinking, "Oh, a box on the wall that seems to be casting shadows without glowing," to ,"oh, it is an illusion covering a torch."Out of interest, what is another spell that works on some people in an area and not others?</blockquote>

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