| Author |
 Topic  |
|
|
Pluddon
Seeker
57 Posts |
 Posted - 06 Oct 2013 : 23:08:02
|
|
I have always been a fan of illusions and illusionists and I would like to know what you're favorite illusions have been. Wether it's you most successful, you showiest, or just you're most outrageous.
|
|
|
Dalor Darden
Great Reader
USA
4211 Posts |
Posted - 06 Oct 2013 : 23:25:00
|
My most favorite illusion I ever pulled was a "reverse illusion" that I used with Dalor Darden in 1e when he was still only an illusionist adventurer.
To trick a band of ogres into thinking he was a powerful "God" of Magic he laid an illusion over a blighted grove of trees. It was complex and included singing birds and that sort of thing. When the ogres came into the clearing of the grove, Dalor spoke to them from behind the power of an invisibility spell and used a spell to throw his voice all around the clearing. Using amplification, it made it sound like he was a mighty God speaking to the ogres.
When one of them doubted him (the leader) Dalor dropped his illusion, making it appear as if the ogre had made the God angry and the God had blighted the area...even the animals dropping dead (where their bones originally lay). When the other ogres were convinced, the leader still doubted Dalor, and so Dalor killed him with a spell (the other ogres couldn't see that their leader was fighting a battle in his mind...and so only saw him drop dead).
The "God" then told the ogres he was sending his servant, who they were to follow to do the God's bidding. Dalor then stepped out and took command of the band. |
The Old Grey Box and AD&D for me! |
 |
|
|
sleyvas
Skilled Spell Strategist
USA
11696 Posts |
Posted - 07 Oct 2013 : 03:49:31
|
my most useful trick was laying out a blacklight spell and a rope trick inside of it while at a convention where we were having a team v/s team combat, then setting up a programmed illusion to have a serious of blast attacks leave from the area of magical darkness (which the blasts stopped after 3 rounds). I then crawled into the rope trick, pulled the rope up behind me, then buffed myself up, and later emerged like 8 rounds later. When I came out, my entire team was already dead after just 2 or 3 rounds of combat, so I was facing off against 5 enemy combatants. But, I had fully detailed all of my contingencies, chain contingencies, algarth's embattlement, sash of spells, (plus spells that lasted hours if not days), etc... before going in and I just came out blasting, while using effects that didn't reveal my position. Meanwhile, the programmed illusion that had been set earlier started blasting again, just to draw the enemy's ire. It worked long enough for me to area effect enough of them that they dropped (I think I had caught a pair of them in a cloudkill surrounded by a hemispherical wall of force) and I had to defer to more traditional attacks on the last guy(I was playing a dual-classed fighter wizard, so wading into melee wasn't so bad). I've long held that "if you can't find me, you can't kill me" is one of the strongest tactics.
Of course, that was second edition, and the rules back then were apt to make wizards a lot stronger. Stoneskin was a godsend... and combined with ironguard... it was hell for fighter types. |
Alavairthae, may your skill prevail
Phillip aka Sleyvas |
|
|
|
The Masked Mage
Great Reader
USA
2420 Posts |
Posted - 12 Oct 2013 : 06:03:27
|
| I was always a fan with the simplest illusions: covering pits or opening with illusory walls or floors, illusionary troops bolstering the ranks of dwindling forces, audible illusions to draw attention, etc. |
|
|
|
Wooly Rupert
Master of Mischief
USA
36779 Posts |
Posted - 12 Oct 2013 : 15:48:46
|
One of my ideas for an illusion involved the escape route of the bad guy the PCs are after. When it becomes obvious he's defeated, he flees down a winding and twisty tunnel that is of course poorly lit. He has a lead on the PCs, and because of the twists in the tunnel, he is frequently out of their sight. Finally the PCs reach the end of the tunnel, and the bad guy is nowhere in sight -- he managed to make a clean getaway, apparently...
Actually, though, there was a side tunnel. The entrance was hidden by an illusion. The bad guy ducked down this side tunnel, and is headed in an entirely different direction. By the time the PCs backtrack and discover the side tunnel, the bad guy is long gone. |
Candlekeep Forums Moderator
Candlekeep - The Library of Forgotten Realms Lore
http://www.candlekeep.com -- Candlekeep Forum Code of Conduct
I am the Giant Space Hamster of Ill Omen!  |
|
|
|
Barastir
Master of Realmslore
Brazil
1600 Posts |
Posted - 14 Oct 2013 : 12:33:57
|
quote:
Originally posted by The Masked Mage
(...) covering pits or opening with illusory walls or floors (...)
Once in a game I DMed the PCs made a pit with stakes for an ogre, and the ogre passed over it as it was solid ground. They discovered, then, that the ogre was an illusion (and the illusionist, a leprechaun, wasn't aware of the pitfall).
I like those simple uses of illusion you mentioned... And the rule of an illusion being way better to deceive when it depicts something the caster has seen or experienced (that's why I tell my players what they've seen in their lives prior to adventuring, and register what they see during the game, in my campaigns...).  |
"Goodness is not a natural state, but must be
fought for to be attained and maintained.
Lead by example.
Let your deeds speak your intentions.
Goodness radiated from the heart."
The Paladin's Virtues, excerpt from the "Quentin's Monograph"
(by Ed Greenwood) |
Edited by - Barastir on 14 Oct 2013 12:35:22 |
|
|
|
The Masked Mage
Great Reader
USA
2420 Posts |
Posted - 17 Oct 2013 : 22:38:11
|
| I also forgot to mention I like masking illusions a lot. It simply does not make sense for an illusionist to ever the let his identity to be known - be it to allies or enemies. And of course, once you cloak yourself in a layer of illusion, its a small simple step to impersonate others or create new fictitious identities to assume. |
|
|
| |
Topic |
|
|
|
Illusions
