Mirror Image vs Stone Golem

[dabirds]

Opinions desired!

A spell caster casts a mirror image spell when being attacked by a Stone Golem.

Would the golem "see through" the illusion?

The golem has magic immunity to any spell or apell-like ability that permits spell immunity.

Mirror Image does not even have an immunity category as it is a spell you cast on yourself only.

Mirror image only works against opponents who can see. Does a golem see?

 

[shilsen]

The spell would work. As the golem descriptions specify, their magic immunity works against spells that allow SR (it's effectively unbeatable SR). Against spells that do not allow SR (such as Mirror Image) the magic immunity has no effect and they work just fine.

As for the last question, the answer is - yes, golems see. They, or at least those in the MM, have no other mentioned ways of detecting anything, and considering that they have darkvision or low-light vision, I'd say it's fairly evident that they see.

 

[dok]

Yes & yes

Yes, the spell would work against the Golem. A golem's Magic Immunity means that it is immune to spells that target or directly effect it. Mirror image does not target the golem, nor does it directly affect it. (I've seen more absurd arguments along these lines, including that a Golem should be able to walk through a Wall of Force) A golem's magic immunity is a passive, reactive defense.

Yes, a Golem sees. Sean K. Reynolds makes the case that unless otherwise stated, all creatures possess the normal five senses of humans. Actually, he merely references the Sage who made the case, but the point holds.

 

[Koldun]

A little off topic, but something that came to mind that I'd been wondering..

A Rakshasa is immune to all spells up to 8th level, as if the caster had failed to overcome spell resistance. Does this imply that spells without SR will affect a Rakshasa?

 

[Sir Whiskers]

A little off topic, but something that came to mind that I'd been wondering..

A Rakshasa is immune to all spells up to 8th level, as if the caster had failed to overcome spell resistance. Does this imply that spells without SR will affect a Rakshasa?

I don't have the 3.0 MM in front of me, so I can't speak to the actual wording of their spell resistance. I do know that their resistance does not affect spells cast on another target, so for example, true seeing would work on a rakshasa, allowing the viewer to see its true form.

Note, this problem was eliminated in 3.5 - rakshasas have SR 27, but no special immunity to lower-level spells.

 

[Sejs]

A Rakshasa is immune to all spells up to 8th level, as if the caster had failed to overcome spell resistance. Does this imply that spells without SR will affect a Rakshasa?

Yep. Spell Immunity for the Rakshasa functions as if they had infinite SR. If a spell doesn't allow for SR, then it bypasses Spell Immunity and works on the Rakshasa as normal.

Same with Golems for that matter. So yeah, Mirror Image would work just fine against a golem as the spell functions on the caster, not the golem.