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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Elder-Basilisk" data-source="post: 1850946" data-attributes="member: 3146">As a DM, I'm trying to get a grip on how to run illusions. It seems to me that far too many people want to run them (even silent image) like Wish but with a will-save. Things like "I cast an illusion of a metal cage with sharp pointy spikes covered with dripping poison appearing around the enemy. He doesn't get a save unless he touches it because he hasn't interacted with it and he's not going to touch it because it looks like poison. Ha ha ha." Alternatively, "the ground starts to shake and a massive gaping pit with lava at the bottom opens up here, here, and here." (Another SILENT IMAGE !?!? spell I've seen tried).That kind of abuse of illusion spells is what causes me to tend to treat illusions very harshly in game. (I really crack down on Suggestions for similar reasons). A lot of DMs share my caution in this regard.The kind of illusions that almost always pass muster are the ones that are cast before the victims see them and that look natural. The PCs spot the giant before it spots them and cast an illusion of a snowbank covering them all up. The giant hears some spellcasting and looks and sees a snowbank. He pitches a rock into it just to make sure, fails the will save and walks on. Or the PCs duck behind a wall and cast Silent Image to make it look like a dead end. The pursuing goblins look at it and if they don't know the area, they probably scratch their heads a bit or look for a secret door. If they do know the area, they debate briefly whether it's a real or illusionary magic wall and either go back to get pickaxes or poke it and find out it's an illusion.WRT spellcrafting illusion spells, I think that is probably most analogous to being told the result is an illusion--immediate save with a +4 bonus. It's not incontravertible proof that the spell is illusionary unless you cast it yourself.</blockquote>

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